My guide book Scotland the Best, now going into its 11th edition, is an ongoing project, in a way I’m researching it all the time.
The next edition will be out around this time next year. But people frequently ask me where are my absolute favourite places, where should they go when they’ve got only a few days, say in the Highlands.
So from over 2,000 places listed in Scotland the Best, I thought it would be interesting to choose the crème de la crème, the places that might constitute the ultimate must-go list. It seemed like a good idea to enlist Scotland’s best photographers to help convey what’s so special about the very eclectic range of places selected.
So it was gratifying to discover just how many great photographers were keen to be involved, offering not only pictures to fit with my suggestions but also their own. I was amazed at how many people spend hours – weekends – photographing the places they love, waiting for the right light, the right moment. Like me in my writing they wanted to capture the essence of the place.
In the forward to the book I refer to “sui generis”, the essential spirit and atmosphere of the place. And that’s what I hope will be evident from these pages of beautiful photographs and my short descriptions that accompany them. At the back of the book is a directory of recommendations of where to walk, eat and sleep nearby; once again only the very best are listed. Hopefully, they will help to make a visit there truly one of the best experiences of Scotland you might have in a lifetime.
- Scotland The Best 100 Places, by Peter Irvine, published October, £25, hardback.