Fodor's Essential Scotland

by Fodor's Travel Publications Inc.

Written by locals, Fodor's travel guides have been offering expert advice for all tastes and budgets for 80 years.

Scotland offers astonishing its iconic lochs and mountains, as well as lively cities such as Edinburgh and Glasgow, have strong allure. St. Andrews is a pilgrimage for golfers; castles dot the country; and whisky distilleries are gaining popularity. Scotland's customs and products--from tartans to tweeds--are known worldwide, but there's nothing like experiencing them firsthand.

This travel guide
· Dozens of maps
· Hundreds of hotel and restaurant recommendations, with Fodor's Choice designating our top picks
· Multiple itineraries to explore the top attractions and what’s off the beaten path
· Major sights such as The Calanais Standing Stones, Tobermory, Isle of Skye, Glencoe, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, and Kelvingrove
· Coverage of Edinburgh and the Lothians; Glasgow; The Borders and the Southwest; Fife and Angus; The Central Highlands; Aberdeen and the Northeast; Argyll and the Isles; Inverness and Around the Great Glen; The Northern Highlands and the Western Isles; Orkney and Shetland Islands

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Scotland, Outlander, Food and Drink

473 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 13, 2018

About the author

Fodor's Travel Publications is a United States-based producer of English-language travel guides and online tourism information. It was founded by Hungarian Eugene Fodor in 1936.
Fodor’s was acquired by Random House in 1986 and sold to Internet Brands in 2016.

Reviews

[carl theaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Planning a trip to Scotland this summer. First time we are trying a t,t,t,tour,  I mean organized adventure, have usually been do it yourself vacationers, so looking forward to not having to plan how to get where-when. Lodging is taken care of, however do have evenings free and some meals, so did my usual and get a variety of books from the library and set about to do my research primarily for pubs, restaurants and wandering around.

I think you could do just fine if you were stuck with any one book. Here’s a note on each :

Fodor’s --- is great for determining places to view and eat. Perfect specific info for Pubs and restaurants, what type they are, such as 'good old' or 'modern gastro'. Fodor’s provided the best info for my requirements for this rip. Not a lot of glossy photos, which is ok with me. All the books have a word to say about Scotch whiskey ! , but interesting that Fodor’s had the best pub into.

Eyewitness travel Scotland -- starts right off with ‘what to do on a 2 day tour, and a 10 day tour, I like that get to the action. Plenty of small pics. Only name and address info provided for places to eat and drink, so not a lot of info there.

Insight Guides Scotland -- almost textbook like. The largest sized book, has a big section on history and best on photographs, most useless index. Wouldn’t want to haul this one around in my daypack, but that is remedied with a free travel app and ebook when you purchase, so these could be most helpful when actually on the road. This may be the way to go for the future of travel, look at your phone until you bump into the door of the place you are looking for. However since I got this book from the library I didn’t try these options out.

[Agnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scotland trip prep #7. As usual, good, concise summaries of the main sites and a good flavor of things to do. Really wish I’d waited to read the Glasgow section until we were on the plane because our flight ended up getting cancelled due to a mechanical issue, so we missed an entire Glasgow day. As it is, the book was still handy.

[Drew Shealy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well organized to get both a broad summary as well as the ability to dig into very good detail, recommendations, and tips on specific areas. This is much more efficient and effective than hours of biased, varied online searches.

[Laurie Byro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always enjoy doing research with Fodor's really good guide, and entertaining to read for pleasure, not just for travel agents (I was one full time salaried for 25 years) but also just for those wanting to get a taste of a place.

[Joe Noto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information that covers everything you need. Needs more pictures and town walking routes to see sights like Rick Steves books have.

[Allyne · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are places missing.

[Donna Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully in-depth book about Scotland. The guide itself splits it into different sections of Scotland like the Highlands and other islands for instance. It goes on to describe the cities and surrounding areas in depth. I really liked how the book split up views, restaurants, hotels, bars, and more for each city or destination. Overall a great book if you need one to look into to traveling to Scotland.

[Emily Hauptmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful mostly up to date photos, but there is only one recommended itinerary and it’s for ten days. There’s also nothing along the lines of family friendly or advice for traveling with kids. The maps in each chapter are good and the book size itself is good for flipping and writing in.

[Regina Allison]

Very informative

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text was pretty good, but it didn't have enough photographs (color or otherwise) to please me - at least in the ebook format.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful photography. Great itineraries. Looking forward to using this book on my trip!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of Scotland

[Hannahstu · Rating 5 out of 5]

HIGHLY recommend!