Cottage Holidays Scotland

Holiday cottages in North East Scotland - skiing and salmon fishing galore

The North East of Scotland embrace the counties of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Angus and Perth & Kinross. This rugged highland area is dominated by the Grampian Mountains and the Cairngorms - all cut through with glacial valleys, rivers and lochs.

With its mountains, pine-clad slopes and wide river valleys, the North East region offers a very distinctive landscape. The high plateau of the Cairngorms provides a backdrop to every view. These high places lie at the heart of the recently-created (2003) Cairngorms National Park, the largest in Britain at 3800 sq km.

At lower levels, the area is covered with ancient Caledonian pinewoods - the remnants of natural forests from long ago. As well as rocky passes and high mountain tundra, forest and moorlands, the North East also boasts extensive marshlands and lochs. It is in these locations that you are likely to see the majestic osprey in summer.

Why do so many people book holiday cottages in this distant and picturesque corner of Scotland? It's partly the welcome from the friendly locals, and partly the huge range of tourist activities and cultural feasts to entertain yourself. Self catering holidays are the best way to experience the real Scotland.

Main towns and cities include Aberdeen on the east coast (a major port serving the oilfields of the North Sea) and Dundee in the south of the region. Numerous coastal towns such as Fraserburgh, Peterhead and Montrose have their character defined and dominated by the sea, with fresh fish on the menu and marine activities on offer. Marine activities include dolphin-watching in the Moray Firth, watersport and sea fishing.

Holiday cottages that welcome adventurers and families relaxing

Anglers from all over the world visit the North East of Scotland to fish for salmon on the rivers Spey, Dee, Don and Deveron. The River Don in particular is a great salmon and sea trout river, but it also offers some first class brown trout fishing. The rainbow trout fisheries in Aberdeenshire are some of the best in Scotland while the many lochs throughout the North East offer extremely good, hard fighting trout fishing in some of the most beautiful locations imaginable.