Travel in county Highland

All travel is by definition quixotic — the most seasoned globetrotters can be led on wild goose chases, deceived, and/or just plain make huge mistakes all by themselves about what's around that next corner. Trekking up to the Scottish highlands to look for "Nessie," aka, the Loch Ness "monster," allegedly "sighted" — perhaps even several times — a half-century ago in the Highlands' breathtakingly gorgeous 23-mile-long freshwater lake just south of Inverness, is an epic, decades-long wild goose chase.

It’s inevitable: Every spring when we pull together the Hot List, our annual collection of the world’s best new hotels, restaurants, and cruise ships, a staffer remarks that this latest iteration has got to be the best one ever. After a year’s worth of traveling the globe—to stay the night at a converted farmhouse in the middle of an olive grove outside Marrakech, or sail aboard a beloved cruise line’s inaugural Antarctic voyage—it’s easy to see why we get attached. But this year’s Hot List, our 28th edition, might really be the best one ever. It’s certainly our most diverse, featuring not only a hotel suite that was once Winston Churchill’s office, but also the world’s largest cruise ship and restaurants from Cape Town to Bali. We were surprised and inspired by this year’s honorees, and we know you will be too. These are the Hot List hotel winners for 2024.

At the risk of sounding like a culinary simpleton, I’ve always been a fan of buffets.

"The energy is shifting. Can you feel it?” It is a cloudy Sunday afternoon in Highland Park. A perfect day to hear about ghosts.

Krakow has no shortage of medieval monuments and tucked away bars to explore. But a few days in Poland’s compact second city is enough, giving you time to explore further afield.

Wild landscapes and deserted beaches. Fine food and outdoor adventure. Deer, dolphins and mythical monsters. As Rough Guides contributor Keith Drew discovered, the Scottish Highlands have all the ingredients for a family holiday to remember. Read on to discover his top things to do in the Highlands. You might also want to discover the most beautiful places in Scotland, as voted by Rough Guides readers.

Georgia’s leafy capital is due its time in the spotlight. Dynamic, progressive and home to one of the country’s most exciting food scenes, Atlanta is the new star of the South. Whether you stay for a week or stop by on a layover, you’ll soon discover why it’s one of our top 10 cities to visit this year.

If you live in North America you’ll probably need no introduction to Outlander. This epic TV series is already massive on the western side of the Atlantic and has finally hit UK TV screens courtesy of Amazon Prime. For the uninitiated, think of Outlander as a cross between Game of Thrones and the movie Braveheart.

Despite its industrial heritage Glasgow is actually one of the greenest cities in Europe. In this guide we will introduce you to the parks in Glasgow.