Scotland voted the most beautiful country in the world

Yes that is right – Scotland has been voted as the most beautiful country in the world as voted by Rough Guide. They noted:

“Who can deny that the wild beaches, deep lochs and craggy castles are some of the most wonderful and beautiful sights in the world? Add in thousands of years of history, more delicious whisky than you could taste in a lifetime and excellent golfing, hiking, and biking trails and you’ve got a very special place indeed. Well done Scotland!”

The top 10 were:

  1. Scotland
  2. Canada
  3. New Zealand
  4. Italy
  5. South Africa
  6. Indonesia
  7. England
  8. Iceland
  9. USA
  10. Wales

For us Scots, it is not a surprise.

Scotland has one great advantage in that it is a small country and it very easy to visit varied and different scenery by just travelling relatively short distances. In Mabel’s blog, we try to show how you can visit these stunning places or hike, play golf or enjoy visiting a whisky distillery whilst using Powdermills Bed and Breakfast near Inveraray as a staging post.

A major attraction for visiting Scotland is embarking on the whisky trail. Argyll and the Isles is known as the ‘whisky coast’. Fourteen world-class distilleries dot Argyll’s coastline. The different areas within Argyll each produce whiskies with a distinctive character, shaped by the local history, culture and landscape. Campbeltown whisky is defined by a smokiness with a touch of salt, Islay is famed for its peaty drams, Oban has a misty, briny character while Tobermory produces two very different malts: the lightly peated Tobermory and the more robustly peated Ledaig.

Islay
Islay is a famed world-wide for its peaty malts and has no less than eight distilleries and one on neighbouring Jura. Bowmore, one of Scotland’s oldest distilleries, is a great place to see traditional whisky-making from the malting of the barley to the peat-fired kilns. See Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg – the ‘southern distilleries’ by following the Three Distilleries Pathway. Jura is just a short hop on the ferry from Islay and is home to the historic Isle of Jura distillery.

Campbeltown
Campbeltown once had 34 distilleries, but today just three are left to maintain this regional subgroup of single malt whiskies. A guided tour of Springbank Distillery is a fascinating experience. It’s the oldest independent family-owned distillery in Scotland.

Oban and Mull
Oban Distillery nestles beneath the steep cliff that overlook Oban just a stone’s throw from the sea. It’s one of Scotland’s oldest sources of single malt scotch whisky and offers a fascinating guided tour. Tobermory Distillery on Mull has an old-world charm. Its ten-year-old has a unique and mysterious character.

Of course, touring the Argyll distilleries is fantastic but enjoying a dram is the great fun of a trip!