The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Picnic time
As National Picnic Week draws to a close, Bridget checks out some of the best locations in Scotland to set out your fayre
Your guide to the best picnic hotspots for al fresco fun during the long summer days.
OK, so we’re in the last weekend of National Picnic Week, but that doesn’t mean we’re a few sandwiches short of a picnic yet...does it? Unless Minnie has been around – in which case, we could well be!
Our dog is not known for her manners when it comes to scoffing whatever food she can get hold of, especially during picnic season, when I have to watch for her making a dive for anything in reach.
Of course, with the school holidays almost upon us, picnics are both child and dog-friendly and an easy way for us to eat when we’re on holiday.
Having just enjoyed the hottest May on record in the UK (and especially Scotland) for the past 200 years, I hope this good spell of weather may last just a little bit longer.
The best picnic spot in Scotland for 2018 is Glenkiln Sculpture Park near Dumfries, with last year’s winner the Fairy Pools on Skye as runner-up, but if you’d like to vote for your favourite picnic location for next summer, then visit nationalpicnicweek.com
Other contenders were Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park; Pollok Country Park near Glasgow and the Cairngorms National Park.
These locations were chosen due to their outstanding natural beauty, cultural significance and broad range of settings, offering something for everyone.
I would like to add a few suggestions of my own…
The picture-perfect East Neuk village of St Monans will be host to several foodie markets this summer. The first Bowhouse Food Weekend kicks off from July 7-8 2018 on the Balcaskie Estate (balkaskie.co.uk). With so many tempting stalls from local food and drink producers, there will be ample opportunity to stock up on picnic items and then head to the nearby harbour or beach at Elie to graze in the sun.
If the weather isn’t so hot, then the Speyside Cooperage at Craigellachie has novel picnic tables in oversized whisky casks. You can also watch a demonstration on the ancient art of coopering – as well as nip along to one of the nearby distilleries for a dram.
Canoeing, paddle boarding or rowing on lochs to an idyllic, shore-side picnic spot is fun. For water sports lovers, Red Original (redoriginal.com) has come up with the perfect waterproof picnic cool bag and deck bag suitable for a paddleboard – as well as a onehand insulated drinks bottle which, incidentally, can be used to chill white wine as well as keep soup hot.
Families may want to try out the pedalos on the lagoon at The Helix where the Kelpies provide a panoramic backdrop for picnics as well as walks, cycle paths, swings and chutes to keep youngsters entertained. Or have a safari picnic and visit the nearby Falkirk Wheel, too, for dessert, perhaps taking a boat tour to test out the engineering marvel.
Or why not enjoy a night-time picnic in the Dark Sky Park at Galloway Forest Park – or anywhere away from light pollution? Scotland has some of the largest expanses of dark sky in Europe and a canopy of stars above the picnic blanket would make a night to remember.
For more information on the above destinations, go to visitscotland.com
If the weather isn’t so hot, then the Speyside Cooperage at Craigellachie has novel picnic tables in oversized whisky casks