Scottish Highlands

Golf was invented here. That is not marketing — it is a matter of historical record. The Old Course at St Andrews has been played continuously since the 15th century. The R&A, which governs the rules of golf worldwide, is headquartered fifty metres from the 18th green. When you stand on the Swilcan Bridge, you are standing where Tom Morris stood, where Bobby Jones stood, where every major figure in the history of the game has stood.

But Scotland's links golf extends far beyond St Andrews. Royal Dornoch, in the far north, is consistently ranked among the world's top ten courses — and it plays through a landscape so remote that getting there is itself a journey worth making. Turnberry's Ailsa course, overlooking the Firth of Clyde and Ailsa Craig, is one of the most visually dramatic settings in golf. Carnoustie is the hardest major championship course in Britain.

The single malt whisky trail — Speyside, Islay, Highland — pairs naturally with a golf circuit. A week combining the Speyside distilleries with golf at Royal Dornoch and Brora is one of the great connoisseur journeys available in Europe.