EmbraceScotland's February Homepage Highlight: Brilliant Boating

Brilliant Boating

Sailing, fishing, enjoying!

If boats are your thing – sailing, fishing, rowing, canoeing, cruising - Scotland is the place to do it. But unless you’re actually living aboard, make sure you stay close to the real Scotland, where your gear won’t annoy the staff and meals can coincide with your schedules, not the accommodation’s.

Whether you choose to stay in a luxury modern apartment, or an ancient stone-built cottage, only a self-catering ‘home-from-home’ can give you real freedom and independence.

With EmbraceScotland you book direct with the owner, giving you access not only to the best prices, but also a wealth of local knowledge and advice about how to make the most of the area, where to launch and where to go.

Fife Jazz Festival: 5 - 7 February, 2010

The Fife Jazz Festival is an enhanced Jazz Festival that will bring national and international stars to Fife in the first weekend of February. Both the connoisseurs and casual listeners will enjoy a range of exciting, high quality concerts taking place in towns and villages across the Kingdom of Fife.

The programme will feature over 20 different events in concert halls, theatres, village halls and many unusual locations from St Andrews to Culross. A host of jazz styles are covered across 3 packed days from Dixieland to electric blues; jump jive to cutting edge.

This is the Festival that gets Fife swinging!

Scottish Snowdrop Festival: 1 February - 15 March 2010

Back by popular demand, the Scottish Snowdrop Festival showcases some of the nation’s most popular and impressive snowdrop gardens, woodlands and estates.

The beauty of the snowdrops in such inspiring surroundings will ensure your visit is both peaceful and relaxing, giving you the perfect opportunity to re-charge your batteries.Experience the crisp whiteness of Scotland’s gardens. Many estates and houses have a welcoming little tearoom, so warm up and grab yourself a tray bake or two before heading out to discover just what else might be in store.

Many of these houses, which are often closed in winter, have opened their walled-gardens up to the public exclusively for the Scottish Snow Drop Festival.

So wrap up warm and spend an afternoon exploring Scotland’s best asset - its natural beauty.

Aye Write! - 5 March to 13 March 2010

Aye Write! celebrates the diverse variety of Glaswegian writing and also brings the very best of Scottish and international writers to the city. It is also committed to the next generation of writers and readers with a free week-long children’s festival for schools.

Most of the festival events take place in the Mitchell Library, the largest public reference library in Europe and one of the architectural gems of the city.

Help us enjoy, examine and discuss the literary connections of the Scottish migration and the impact this has had on Scottish writing.

Wild Weather Holidays

Long before any of the current discussions of climate change the weather has always fascinated us. From wondering if we were going to get soaked, to marvelling at the many moods of nature, weather watching has an enduring appeal, not to mention a special place in the British psyche – after all, there are few topics that complete strangers can talk about in such total safety!

The coastline around Banffshire, an hour or so north of Aberdeen, offers some of the most wild weather of mainland Britain. Here the winter storm winds driven across the North Sea from the Arctic make first landfall with severe gales common often accompanied by gusts well into hurricane-force.

Today’s weather watchers really can have the best of both worlds – enjoying the rugged lure of the wild, without having to risk life and limb to do it. You can sit in front of a warm & cosy fire in your self-catering cottage listening with intent fascination as the storm swirls past.

And of course, the Aberdeen & Grampian property pages on the EmbraceScotland website can help you find that perfect home to weather the storm.

WINTERFEST 2010 - Winter Walking in Glen Affric 29th January – 1st February, 2010

Shake the mothballs from the down jacket and brush the cobwebs from the ironwork – it’s time for WinterFest 2010!

Bag your first winter Munro on the High Level Walks or learn a new skill on the Winter Skills Sessions, each led by your professional guide. Other events include low level walks, evening talks, slide shows, gear hire, kit testing all within the beautiful Glen Affric.

EmbraceScotland's Homepage Highlight: Refresh the Spirit

EmbraceScotland's January Homepage Highlight: Refresh the Spirit

Boost your wellbeing.

Scotland is an ideal destination for a bit of peaceful spiritual refreshment, whether you want empty hills or full-on luxury to take you away from it all. But make sure you get away to the real Scotland, away from crowds, annoying staff and other people’s schedules.

Whether you choose to stay in a luxury modern apartment, or an ancient stone-built cottage, only self-catering ‘home-from-home’ accommodation can give you the space and the pace to relax fully.

With EmbraceScotland you book direct with the owner, giving you access not only to the best prices, but also a wealth of knowledge and advice about how to make the most of the area, and ensuring you come back relaxed and refreshed.