Edinburgh is to London as poetry is to prose, as Charlotte Brontë once wrote. One of the worlds stateliest cities and proudest capitals, its built—like Rome—on seven hills, making it a striking backdrop for the ancient pageant of history. In a skyline of sheer drama, Edinburgh Castle watches over the capital city, frowning down on Princes Street’s glamour and glitz. But despite its rich past, the city’s famous festivals, excellent museums and galleries, as well as the modern Scottish Parliament, are reminders that Edinburgh has its feet firmly in the 21st century.Nearly everywhere in Edinburgh (the burgh is always pronounced burra in Scotland) there are spectacular buildings, whose Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian pillars add touches of neoclassical grandeur to the largely Presbyterian backdrop. Large gardens are a strong feature of central Edinburgh, where the city council is one of the most stridently conservationist in Europe. Arthurs Seat, a mountain of bright green and yellow furze, rears up behind the spires of the Old Town. This child-size mountain jutting 822 feet above its surroundings has steep slopes and little crags, like a miniature Highlands set down in the middle of the busy city. Appropriately, these theatrical elements match Edinburghs character—after all, the city has been a stage that has seen its fair share of romance, violence, tragedy, and triumph.Modern Edinburgh has become a cultural capital, staging the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe Festival in every possible venue each August. The stunning Museum of Scotland complements the city’s wealth of galleries and artsy hangouts. Add Edinburgh’s growing reputation for food and nightlife and you have one of the world’s most beguiling cities.Today the city is the second most important financial center in the United Kingdom, and the fifth most important in Europe. The city regularly is ranked near the top in quality-of-life surveys. Accordingly, New Town apartments on fashionable streets sell for considerable sums. In some senses the city is showy and materialistic, but Edinburgh still supports learned societies, some of which have their roots in the Scottish Enlightenment. The Royal Society of Edinburgh, for example, established in 1783 «for the advancement of learning and useful knowledge,» remains an important forum for interdisciplinary activities.Even as Edinburgh moves through the 21st century, its tall guardian castle remains the focal point of the city and its venerable history. Take time to explore the streets—peopled by the spirits of Mary, Queen of Scots; Sir Walter Scott; and Robert Louis Stevenson—and pay your respects to the worlds best-loved terrier, Greyfriars Bobby. In the evenings you can enjoy candlelit restaurants or a folk ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee, a traditional Scottish dance with music), though you should remember that you havent earned your porridge until youve climbed Arthurs Seat. Should you wander around a corner, say, on George Street, you might see not an endless cityscape, but blue sea and a patchwork of fields. This is the county of Fife, beyond the inlet of the North Sea called the Firth of Forth—a reminder, like the mountains to the northwest that can be glimpsed from Edinburghs highest points, that the rest of Scotland lies within easy reach.

The Isle of May in Scotland is owned and managed by Scottish Natural Heritage as a National Nature Reserve and is an important breeding ground for approximately one-quarter of a million seabirds. In fact, over 40,000 puffin burrows have been counted as occupied. Not only kittiwakes, shags, eiders, and guillemots but also Razorbills, Arctic Terns, Sandwich Terns and Common Terns, Lesser Gulls, Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls nest here. View less The island is located roughly four nautical miles off the coast of mainland Scotland and is used by biologists for surveying migrating passerines and for ringing breeding seabirds to better study their movements and breeding success. While hosting an impressive array and quantity of seabirds, the island itself is small at only 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) long, and less than half a kilometer (one-third of a mile) wide.

Керкуолл, расположенный на материке, является основной гаванью и столицей Оркнейских островов. Каменные дома с отвесными крышами лежат вдоль улиц, которые вьются вокруг средневекового собора Св. Магнуса. Музей с Оркнейскими историческими артефактами находится в Tankerness House 16-го века. Другие достопримечательности острова включают Maes Howe, место лучше всего сохранившейся мегалитической гробницы Британии, а также деревню каменного века Скара-Брей. Скапа-Флоу служит напоминанием о более поздних временах, когда во время обеих мировых войн, здесь была расположена военно-морская база Великобритании.

Lying mid-way between Shetland and the Orkney islands, Fair Isle is a tiny jewel in the sea. Famous for birds, knitwear and historic shipwrecks, the island offers a warm and friendly welcome to visitors. With a population of only around 70 people this island is truly a beautiful setting and is one of Britain’s most successful communities. View the cloudy light turquoise water as it drifts out to sea beneath the breath-taking Sheep Rock, rising over 100 metres, which is almost an isle of its own.

Adrift between the Scottish and Norwegian coasts, the craggy Shetland Islands form the most northerly point of the British Isles. Sprawling across 100 islands, connected by sandy bridges and crisscrossing ferries, explore the highlights of this scenic archipelago outpost. With incredible Neolithic history, spanning 5,000 years of human heritage, these islands, which sit just shy of the Arctic Circle, are an isolated and immense treasure trove of history and thrilling scenery. Look out over dramatic coastline from atmospheric Iron Age towers.

Exploring the sandstone cliff faces of the Isle of Noss will reveal ledges loaded with gannets, puffins, guillemots, shags, kittiwakes, Razorbills, fulmars and Great Skuas. The island was recognized as a National Nature Reserve in 1955, and has one of Europe’s largest and most diverse seabird colonies. Sheep have grazed the inland hillsides of Noss since the late 1800s and early 1900s when around twenty people lived on the island to manage the sheep farm. Along with the sheep, shaggy Shetland ponies graze the windblown slopes of Noss.

В более 600 милях от западного побережья Дании лежат Фарерские острова, треугольник из 18 островов, 17 из которых населены. Только 47 241 человек и около 70000 овец бродят по этим отдаленным землям. Большая часть наследия острова отражает средневековое прошлое, начиная с прибытия фермеров из Западной Норвегии, которые поселились здесь в 9-м веке. Свидетельства этого скандинавского наследия сохранились из-за многих столетий изоляции; древние сооружения все еще можно увидеть в деревнях, которые группируются вокруг старых церквей.

Surrounded by the mountains of Hægstafjall, Økslin, Loysingafjall, and Moskurfjall, Vestmanna sits quietly on the banks of Streymoy, on the North Atlantic Ocean. With 1,200 inhabitants, the colourful little village itself is lovely; a few shops and cafes selling locally made cakes and handicrafts, as well as the island’s native seafood soup dish. While those wishing to stretch their legs will enjoy the surrounding area for its stunning countryside, Vestmanna’s main attraction is beyond any doubt its bird cliffs. View less Youi don’t have to be a birder to appreciate these magnificent cliffs, although if you are the cliffs are the stuff of dreams. At almost 700-metres high (and six kilometres long), the cliffs rise steeply out of the water and are covered with tens of thousands of seabirds, zooming through the air, swooping into the water and nesting in the crevices. The near vertical cliffs are home to numerous species including kittiwakes, Common Guillemots, Black Guillemots and the oh so charismatic Atlantic Puffin. Visually, they are stunning: waterfalls thunder into the sea, cliff tops cut jagged lines into horizon and the whole landscape seems straight out of Jurassic Park. Dressed in a cloak of mist and emerald green moss, to say that the feeling is otherworldly is an understatement. To gage the true beauty of the region, one must take to the sea. The experience of sailing under the cacophonic cliffs, juxtaposed by the silence of calm caves is simply unforgettable.

Сейдисфьордюр, красивая норвежская деревня 19-го века на восточном побережье Исландии, считается один из самых живописных городов Исландии, не только благодаря своей впечатляющей окружающей среде, но и потому, что нигде в Исландии старые деревянные здания не сохранились так хорошо, как здесь. Поэт Маттиас Йоханнессен назвал Сейдисфьордюр «Жемчужиной в ракушке».

The northernmost inhabited Icelandic territory, Grimsey represents a unique destination for guests who wish to experience the Arctic Circle. This tiny, charming island stands alone far out on the horizon, surrounded by the expansive Arctic Ocean. Steep cliffs can be found everywhere, except along the southern shoreline. Despite its northerly latitude, Grimsey is generally mild due to the North Atlantic current, which brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico

Огонь, лед и вода символизирует красный, белый и синий флаг Исландии и подразумевают лед и снег ледников, горячие грязевые бассейны, гейзеры и светящиеся потоки лавы в вулканических регионах страны. Заселение острова восходит к 874 году, когда норвежец по имени Ingolf Arnarson прибыл в современный Рейкьявик. В 930 году поселенцы сформировали законодательную власть, Альтинг, которая была началом Содружества Исландии. С 10-го до 14-го века в Исландии была разработана литературная форма, исландская сага, которая распространилась по всей Северной культуре, а также в английский и немецкий языки. Ее использовали для написания истории о богах, записи исторических событий и прославления героев. Как столица Исландии и главный центр населения страны, город Рейкьявик — это увлекательное сочетание традиций и модернизма. Так как Исландия является уникальной страной — суровой и отдаленной, но технически очень развитой, так и ее столица, наслаждаясь северными стандартами богатства, является весьма необычным городом. Она доминирует в жизни Исландии почти во всех отношениях. Более половины от общей численности населения страны, 270 000 человек, живет в столице и вокруг нее, а экономика всей нации зависит от Рейкьявика. Почти 60 процентов импорта Исландии получены и распределены, а 40 процентов экспорта страны загружаются для отгрузки через порт Рейкьявика. Кроме того, это штаб-квартира, вероятно, самой передовой промышленности морепродуктов в мире, которая составляет передовой экспорт Исландии.