Millions of tourists take cheap flights to Scotland each year. So beautiful is Scotland with its green, rolling hills, towering mountains, ancient castles, lively cities and picturesque villages, that when the British Royal Family want to get away from it all, they vacation here.
Edinburgh is capital and seat of government, dominated by the castle that looms over the city from its perch at the top end of the Royal Mile. The Mile ends with another castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen's official Scottish residence. Summer is when Edinburgh hits its stride - hit by festival fever - but it's a great going-out city year round.
The largest city is Glasgow, 74km from Edinburgh. Once the Second City of the British Empire, Glasgow's centre boasts a wealth of Victorian buildings. New art galleries, fashionable stores and high-end restaurants tell the story of this city's renaissance in recent years.
For many travellers taking cheap flights to Scotland, the Highlands and Islands are the real Scotland. Made up of counties such as Argyll, Inverness-shire, Caithness and the Orkney, Shetland and Hebrides islands, the wild landscape, remote communities and distinct cultural heritage, all speak of Scotland's unchanging ways.
In the cities there are good public transportation networks. Edinburgh has Bus Edinburgh, Glasgow has an integrated bus, rail and underground network that serves the city and outlying areas, Strathtay runs bus services around Dundee's city centre and First Aberdeen and Stagecoach Bluebird operate bus services in and around Aberdeen. There are good train links too, linking the bigger cities and more remote parts of Scotland.
For travellers touring around rental car is the best option. After disembarking their cheap flights to Scotland, visitors will discover that all the major rental car companies are represented at the airports.