Make it a year to remember with these travel tips

From Scotland to Sri Lanka, 2018 is looking to be an excellent year to enjoy cultural delights both home and abroad

It’s that time again, when we start to look back over the past 12 months and also, crucially for travel, turn our minds towards what the new year will bring. So I’d like to share some handy travel tips and explain why I think 2018 is going to be massive for tourism in Scotland. In Edinburgh we have the arrival of Fingal, a unique deluxe floating hotel in Leith. It comes from the people behind the HMY Britannia so expect luxury that’s literally fit for royalty.

Recently I was at the new Clydeside Distillery in Glasgow. It’s just opened on the banks of the river and is a great spot for a gorgeous working distillery. The first malts won’t be released for at least another four years, though the impressive visitor centre is already up and running so I suggest popping in next year.

When I heard that 2018 has been named the Year of Young People by VisitScotland and the Scottish Government (yoyp2018.scot) I immediately presumed it wouldn’t have anything for me.

I couldn’t have been more wrong as the aim is not only to engage younger people in cultural activities, but also to bring in families and the young at heart too.

The programme runs for the whole calendar year and will be a mix both of revamped and rebranded existing festivals and events, but also one-off extravaganzas to celebrate this unique year for tourism.

For once the main spotlight on urban Scotland won’t be focused on Edinburgh and Glasgow. That is because of the massive revamp of the Dundee Waterfront, when 2018 will see the opening of the spectacular V&A Museum of Design.

I reckon it could do for Dundee what the Guggenheim has done for Bilbao and bring visitors in their droves from all over Scotland and further afield.

Speaking of further afield, did you know the Shetland capital of Lerwick is closer to Bergen, Norway, than it is to Aberdeen? Big things are afoot there too next year.

The Road Equivalent Tariff (RET), which has already been introduced in the Firth of Clyde and the Hebrides, is coming to the Northern Isles of Shetland and Orkney. Its introduction revolutionised travel by slashing ferry costs for both people and vehicles and foot passengers further south and I reckon it will have a similar effect here, making travel to these northernmost isles much more affordable.

It doesn’t stop there for the Northern Isles as there is now competition in the skies too. Loganair recently parted company with former partner Flybe. Now the two are operating flights up to both archipelagos from Scottish cities.

Another handy new development on Orkney is that the local company Motorhome Hire Orkney (www. motorhomehireorkney.com) have a second campervan on offer for 2018, which I will be reviewing very soon.

Scottish tourism is booming at the moment with the Isle of Skye, and the now world famous North Coast 500 driving route, attracting such numbers that there is media talk of saturation and infrastructure issues.

VisitScotland, of course, welcome all visitors as numbers boom, but are keen also on dispersing them a bit more, especially in and around the Highlands.

One new dispersal initiative is the North East 250 (www.northeast250. com), an alternative driving route around the Highlands that might just catch the imagination in its first full year in 2018.

I’ve had a good look at the route and it covers a great sweep of castles,