COMPETITION: Win a two-night break at the Elphinstone Hotel, Biggar
We’ve teamed up with The Elphinstone Hotel to offer readers the chance to win a two-night stay for two with breakfast and dinner on one evening.
Holidays
Picture bliss – a day at the spa: Lovely Stobo Castle offers luxurious relaxation
As we followed the meandering country roads that would lead us to Stobo Castle in Peeblesshire, the transition from stressful city life to uninterrupted relaxation was already taking place.
I love both Perths but this one is Oz-some: A trip to the Australian city blessed with sand, sunshine and strong Scots links
It always intrigued me as a boy that my uncle ventured from Scotland across the vastness of the oceans to set up a new life in the “Other Perth”.
Travel: India’s sights, smells and sounds are unforgettable
It’s 5.30am and I’m bleary-eyed from the early start – but as soon as I reach the south Bombay fish market, the smell hits me and shocks my weary senses awake.
Travel: Live like royalty in Portugal’s coastal wonders
I LOVE talking about the weather as much as the next person, and am delighted to learn before I board my flight to Lisbon that, in meteorological terms, the Portuguese capital is the inverse of Scotland.
Joe Nutt’s Favourite Holiday: St Basil’s, the Bolshoi, and a trolleyful of booze
A former teacher with 20 years of experience, Joe Nutt has written books on Shakespeare, John Donne and, most recently, a guidebook to Milton’s Paradise Lost.
Tranquillity and a spot of Beatlemania in quaint little Perthshire village of St Fillans
On a wet October night in 1964, four weary travellers checked into a country hotel on the banks of Loch Earn.
Stacks and Stax of Memphis memories: The history, music and fab food of Soulsville USA
Save for the wreath pinned to the front of the second-floor balcony, this could be any run-of-the-mill motel.
A quick break to recharge the batteries… Waterway to spend 48 hours in hidden Hamburg
While fortnight-long holidays are fabulous for fully recharging the batteries, a two-night break can be just the ticket when it comes to banishing winter blues and putting a spring in your step.
Good for the northern soul: A relaxing journey into the past in Northumberland
It's quite a size to be kept secret.
A little more conservation: Elvisworld, where clocks stop for the king of rock
Two snarling stone lions stand guard over a fabulous white-column porch. Apparently, there is a mock Hawaiian waterfall in the basement. Oh, and a couple of jet planes out back.