Wish you were there?
Foreign travel may be out, but as lockdown hopefully eases later this year, you can still marvel at the world’s greatest views ... right on your own doorstep. Here are 10 Scots landscapes that will remind you of that favourite place far from home
ANY remaining glimmer of hope for a holiday abroad was dashed this week as the UK Government admitted that “big lavish international holidays” are just not going to be possible this summer.
However, as Scotland prepares to ease lockdown measures over the coming weeks and months, the country’s tourism sector is preparing for a boom in so-called staycations as we holiday closer to home.
And, it turns out, our own lavish landscapes give some of the world’s most sought-after holiday destinations a run for their money – so much so, you’d be hard-pushed to tell the locations apart.
After all, who would have thought that the Isle of Mull could double for a Barbados beach? Not us.
Yet Langamull beach, one of the island’s best kept secrets, bears a striking resemblance to Crane beach on the eastern Caribbean island.
And if you take in the splendour of Loch Awe in Argyll and Bute, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re on New Zealand’s South Island, while the 180ft Mealt Falls on Skye is the spitting image of Háifoss Waterfall in Iceland.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s mountaintops rival some of the most well-known peaks in the world.
Ben Nevis’ Observatory Gully draws parallels with Mont Blanc in the Alps.
And the Bidean nam Bian, a hefty ninehour trek for those interested, has been compared to the Himalayan mountains.
Lunan Bay, in Angus, has been compared to Massachusetts’ Cape Cod while Smoo Cave, Durness, is just like Krabi in Thailand.
Want a flavour of the ragged Mediterranean coast? Lochinver’s Achmelvich beach and Saleccia in Corsica are difficult to tell apart.