Make a holiday cottage in Scotland your home away from home

If you’re planning a getaway to a holiday home in Scotland then HomeAway can help you pinpoint the accommodation that’s matches your plans. Scotland is a country known for its impressive, wild and natural scenery, with spectacular coastline, mountains, forests and lakes. You can specify the scenery around your holiday rental, whether it’s on the coast, in the mountains, set in a village or in a thriving city centre. Many Scotland holiday cottages are traditional in style but equipped with contemporary amenities. You can also define the guest facilities at your cottage in Scotland to make sure every detail is taken care of - from gardens and on-site parking, to Internet access and washing machines.

Things to do from your cottage in Scotland

-Visitor attractions. Scotland has a wealth of well-preserved historical heritage. Among the many highlights are the Edinburgh and Stirling Castles, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg, with a host of other castles, cathedrals, ancient landmarks, abbeys and stately homes to discover.

-Cities. The cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh offer great nightlife, shopping, dining and cultural attractions. The Old Town of Edinburgh boasts a host of historic structures from the medieval era onwards, while Glasgow is home to some excellent museums, most notably the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, with its wide-ranging displays of anything from Van Gogh to fossils.

-Golf. The sport was born here, and there are more than 550 courses spread throughout the country, some of which are brand new and some that date back centuries. Among the most prestigious are Carnoustie, Muirfield, Turnberry and the Old Course at St Andrews in Fife, where colf has been played for 600 years.

-Nature. With national parks at Loch Lommond and the Cairngorms, Scotland boasts huge swathes of beautiful and unblemished scenery both on the coast and inland, served by trails ideal for walks, bike rides, horseback rides and all kinds of other outdoor recreation. Watersports are popular too, with sea kayaking a wonderful way to experience the beauty of the Highlands.

-Events. Scotland hosts a number of internationally renowned festivals throughout the spring and summer. There’s the Edinburgh Festival, which consists of a range of inter-connected cultural events. For popular music fans there’s the T in the Park Festival, which takes place in Kinross-shire and draws some of music’s biggest names.

Weather in Scotland

Scotland is a country known for its temperate climate, which results in very changeable weather, but also has an absence of either extreme highs or lows. Winters are cool and damp, with freezing weather only occurring in short spells, and snowfall consistent only on very high ground. Spring and autumn conditions are mild, and prone to sudden showers that move on quickly, and temperatures that sit around 10 degrees. Summer weather is pleasant and mild, bringing temperature that get up to the high-teens and sometimes the low-20s or more for a few days at a time.

Travelling to your holiday cottage in Scotland

There are a number of motorways in Scotland, serving in particular the more densely populated areas around the Central Belt. Elsewhere there’s a wide-ranging network of A roads extending out to all corners of the country. To reach your holiday cottage in Scotland from abroad, the major airports are Inverness (INV) in the far north, Aberdeen (ABZ) in the east, and Edinburgh (EDI) and Glasgow (GLA) in the central regions. For public transport, there are comprehensive rail and bus networks, with numerous commuter lines serving Edinburgh and Glasgow.