Five surprising things that actually happen in Scotland...

We have found that many people know a bit about Scotland, things they have heard or seen in a movie, or that someone has told them – things like The Scots wear kilts and play bagpipes, and of course Braveheart which won five Oscars for its portrayal of Scottish warrior William Wallace, who led the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England in the 13th century.

But we bet that there are a few things that you may not know about, and we just love to share more about our beautiful country with visitors and lovers of Scotland when we can 😊

Although Scotland herself is part of the island of Great Britain, she actually has over 900 offshore islands of her very own – now not all of these are able to be lived on, or are even visitable, but island hopping is a great way to explore some of the lesser seen parts of Scotland.

Our islands are made up of the Inner Hebrides, Outer Hebrides, Orkney Islands, and Shetland Islands and many of these are home to the ruins of long-ago settlements and villages, many with ties to the Vikings.

Now because we have so many islands – we also have the worlds shortest commercial aeroplane flight. The flight runs between two of the Orkney islands (Westray and Papa Westray), which are only 2.7 kilometers apart from each other – and the flight is all of 90 seconds in duration!

Loganair runs this flight several times a week in small 8-seater planes – and is usually used by local inhabitants and islanders, however if you want to get to some of the outlying islands this is a great way to get there.

Scotland has the highest percentage of people with red hair in the world. Now there are many debates about why this is, and the heritage of the northern European Vikings is one, but there is also a theory that people with red hair can produce more Vitamin D.

Supposedly when a redhead goes out into the sun, they can generate more Vitamin D faster than other hair colours – exactly right for a chilly climate and making sure you get enough of that all-important immune boosting vitamin. Isn’t that coo!?

Did you know that the Scots did not invent whisky? Yup, and although Scotland is known globally for its single-malts, or ‘Scotch’ most people assume that whisky originated in Scotland, that is not the truth.

Distillation harks back to the ancient Greeks and arrived in Ireland in the 16th century, however the Scots have perfected the art of creating the ‘water of life’ and it has now become synonymous with Scotland.

In fact, for whisky to be declared a ‘Scotch,’ it must have been distilled in Scotland from water and malted barley, and then aged in an oak barrel for a minimum of 3 years. These days Scotland has around 125 whisky distilleries in six different regions.

Scotland has three official languages (of course there are many more spoken here) however English, Scottish Gaelic, and Scots are the three main ones.

Scottish English is English spoken with a Scot’s accent, while Scottish Gaelic originates from the ancient Celtic language (which has its roots in Ireland). Scots itself, however, is an interesting language and some may say that it is a dialect, not a language at all.

If you would love to visit Scotland, why not considering a walking holiday? Many visitors enjoy being outdoors, as well as seeing the sites and this affords you the opportunity to do both. Find out more about our offerings - here.