towns in Scotland

There are lots of them. ; ) First, in the Borders, I stayed at Melrose one and enjoyed it. It's small, but also near the Abbey's and other Border tourist destination. Second, in Perthshire, I really enjoy Dunkeld. It's a small town on the Tay river. There are lots of walks in the area and you can explore. The history is interesting and you visit the cathedral. They have a good little TI. Also, in Fife, you should explore the fishing village of East Neuk. In the west, on Isle of Mull, Tobermory would be a good choice. The island itself has interesting history. From Tobermory you can catch wildlife cruised, have a drink in the Mish, visit the local distillery and visit castles as well as visit Iona and Staffa if you drive down to the other end of the island. Also on the west coast, I love Ullapool. it's setting is fantastic. And you can explore beautiful countryside near by. All the way in the North in Sutherland, I drove through Tongue and thought it looked like an interesting village to stay in. On Orkney, both Stromness and Kirkwall are great little towns and wonderful places from which to explore the islands. I often stay in Fortrose on the Black Isle, and Cromarty is also a good choice. In Aberdeenshire I stayed in Ballater and thought it was good. You can easily explore Deeside from Ballater. Lastly, while it's not a small village, and I'm not sure it's picturesque, but I want to encourage you to visit Inverness. It a real city, where real Scots work and live. Pam

I llike Blair Atholl- and the castle is nice, too. Aivemore is not great as far as "pretty" goes, but the surrounding area and the moutains are lovely. Durmnadrochit and Inverness are both good.

All above good, also: Plockton, Braemar, Hawick, Pitlochery, Peebles, ... list is endless (I'm VERY biased)