| Scotland has been permanently settled from the | | | | aside from a guidebook, will be the local tourist |
| Mesolithic (hunter-gatherer stone age) period, and has | | | | information office or museum, where the usually helpful |
| a rich set of archaeological and historical monuments | | | | staff will give you information and directions to the |
| which can be visited today. | | | | best sites. |
| While many monuments and sites are in government | | | | In this way many almost unknown standing stones and |
| care or National Trust for Scotland care and so have | | | | stone circles can be found, or what about a visit to the |
| car parking, information boards or even guides and | | | | enigmatic sites of cupmarked or cup and ring marked |
| tours (such as the major castles), other monuments, | | | | rocks, which often have wide views and whose |
| including standing stones and stone circles (from the | | | | function and significance is still unexplained. Another |
| Neolithic or Bronze age) and duns and hillforts (from | | | | type of site worth visiting is the hillfort, of which there |
| the Bronze age and Iron age) may need a map to | | | | are hundreds whose remains survive, often in the |
| locate and a long walk to visit, and require visitors to | | | | most beautiful locations. Dunadd in Argyll is a great |
| do the exploration and interpretation themselves. This | | | | example. |
| of course is part of the fun! | | | | If your interests tend to more recent history, there are |
| While a visit to Stirling castle or the Callanish stone | | | | many castles and tower houses to be found, as well |
| rows and stone circle or the Culloden or Bannockburn | | | | as hidden gems such as the village of Culross which is |
| battlefields may be a rewarding experience, the major | | | | often used as a film set, and has a ruined abbey and |
| archaeological and historical monuments like these are | | | | palace. |
| attracting huge numbers of visitors daily (including | | | | The industrial monuments of the recent past also can |
| coach parties) and are often noisy and crowded. | | | | be rewarding to visit or just to observe, such as the |
| Trying to visit early in the morning may be a good idea | | | | Forth Rail bridge, or the spectacular Victorian railway |
| in vacation season. | | | | viaducts. If your interest is in architecture, then |
| Luckily, there are also hundreds of spectacular and | | | | Scotland's capital city Edinburgh offers a nice contrast |
| startling monuments of many periods which get very | | | | between the meandering layout of its medieval town |
| few or no visitors at all on most days, and are well | | | | below the castle, and the planned 'New Town' including |
| worth seeking out - and you won't have to pay for | | | | Princes St, which was laid out in the 18th century. |
| entry. | | | | Whatever your main interest, Scotland's history will |
| If you are visitor to Scotland and are based in a | | | | have something to offer you! |
| particular area, often the best source of information, | | | | |