Best time of year to visit Scotland

[Hirsty]

I may be a masochist but my favourite time of year is middle of winter. Nothing beats seeing the lights of a top boozer like The Three Judge, the Anderson, Jolly Judge, Bow Bar, Halfway House, etc on a cold, dreich night and knowing that there will be guid beer, whisky, and chat in there.

[Tomo]

Any other recommendations ?

In terms of distilleries - if you are heading to Skye a side trip to Raasay is worthwhile - great to see how one of the newer distilleries is looking to add some 'maturity' into the process. Torabhaig (another newbie on Skye) has adopted a different method - and it's quite easy to do both (for the sake of comparison, of course) - and maybe throw in a trip to Carbost and the old stager Talisker, if you fancy something more traditional.

In other terms, I love visiting Kilmartin Glen (so much to see) and easy enough to include if you are heading to Isaly, Kintyre, Cambeltown or Oban.

[Hirsty]

Strathearn distillery is well worth a visit. Ken and Craig are excellent distillers.

[SF Jeff]

I've been twice - mid April and mid September. By my standards (YMMV), we had great weather both times. On the April trip, we hit Ben Nevis on a perfectly warm and clear spring day and inquired at the visitor center about climbing it. "Do it!" was the reply. "We rarely get weather this nice!" so we hiked up the trail on the backside to the summit. Spectacular views.

Headed to Skye the next day and drove past the north face and it was all socked in with clouds and rain, couldn't even see the summit. Perfect timing on that one.