Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
are now the bigger employers, alongside the region's other main industry - tourism.
Since the former depends on development, and the latter conservation, it's a fine
balancing act between tapping new opportunities and maintaining traditional values:
a dilemma that has been voiced repeatedly in debates before the vote over Scottish
independence in September 2014.
For all that, the region is no time warp. Although tradition remains part of the weft
and weave of Highlands life, you don't have to travel far to see a renewal of Highlands
culture. Nowadays, shortbread and twee tearooms are out, superb super-fresh local
ingredients are in, showcased at outstanding gastropubs and gourmet restaurants in some
of the most remote locations. Similarly, artists have reinvigorated traditional crafts as
more people seek a life in the slow lane and set up shop in former crofts. Even the visitor
profile is changing: the visitors still come to clamber over castles and wrap themselves in
tartan nostalgia, but just as many people now visit specifically to see whales and
dolphins, to summit a Munro or wild camp their way along the West Highland Way.
Nor is walking the only activity on the agenda. In recent years, the potential of the
wilderness in Britain's backyard has been realized too, as adventure-junkies explore the
frontiers of Scotland's mountains and coastline; the opportunities for mountain biking,
scuba diving, surfing, kite surfing and sea-kayaking here are truly world-class, and there's
also the best ice-climbing and skiing in Britain.
Of course, activities here can be a mite colder than elsewhere, but what could be more
Scottish than shrugging of a wee bit of weather?
Search WWH ::
Custom Search