Experience the spectacular autumn colours of Scotland
Instead of flying to New England to witness stunning autumn foliage, VisitScotland is inviting lovers of gardens and the outdoors to choose the environmentally-friendly option as well as making the most of their holiday budgets by exploring home-grown autumn highlights.
Accommodation located close to some of Scotland's most iconic gardens is on offer with prices starting at 3 nights for £75 until 30 November.
Autumn garden highlights include:
Benmore Botanic Gardens, Argyll
These mountainside gardens boast an awe-inspiring avenue of Giant Redwoods. The yellow and red foliage of the witch hazels, colourful cotoneasters and autumn-flowering rhododendrons and azaleas make this a perfect garden to visit in autumn.
Book it: Foxbank Guesthouse is offering 3 nights bed and breakfast for £75 per person.
Dawyck Botanic Gardens, Scottish Borders
The foliage of this famous arboretum is transformed into a vivid array of colours, with leaves starting to change in early September. Autumn fruits are in plentiful supply, from acorns, colourful crab apples, maple keys, fir cones and beech nuts, not forgetting everyone’s childhood favourite, the conker!
Book it: The Tontine Hotel in Peebles is offering 3 nights bed and breakfast for the price of 2 (£110 per person in total).
Ardkinglas Woodland Garden, Argyll
Overlooking Loch Fyne, this garden and arboretum is famed for its award-winning trees. Visitors can relax along peaceful trails that pass a Scriptorium full of literary quotes, a woodland lochan and the remains of a 17th century mill, while also keeping their eyes open for the charming red squirrels, which frequent the gardens and are particularly busy making the most of the fruits of the season.
Book it: Loch Fyne Hotel & Spa in picturesque Inveraray is offering autumn visitors a special rate of £79 per room on a bed and breakfast basis.
Mellerstain House, Scottish Borders
This lovely Robert Adam designed stately home stands in 80 hectares of magnificent parkland with an Italianate formal terrace garden at the rear and a sweeping stretch of lawn descending to a lake. These gardens and woodlands, displaying fabulous shades of gold, russet and amber, were designed around 1910 by Sir Reginald Blomfield.
Book it: Lochton Farm Cottages near Coldstream are offering 4 nights for the price of 3 in their self-catering cottages (from £175 in total).
Arduaine, Argyll
The mild climate of the west coast means that this garden boasts a long flowering season of perennials and flowering shrubs. With 20 acres of woodland plants and spectacular coastal and island panoramas from the cliff top viewpoint, this garden is a colourful favourite.
Book it: Oban Bay Hotel & Spa is offering autumn visitors a special rate of £79 per room on a bed and breakfast basis.
For more information on autumn colours, to browse over 150 accommodation and attraction offers, and to make a reservation, go to visitscotland.com/autumn.