What's new for visitors to Scotland this summer?

From an International Piping Festival, to Indian picnics, virtual golf and foody heaven at the Edinburgh Festival, Scotland has a lot to offer it’s tourists this summer. Read on to find out what else the Highlands has in store for visitors.

Launch of Piping Live

Thousands of the world’s top international pipers are set to descend upon Glasgow from 6th – 12th August 2007 to perform alongside the crème de la crème of Scottish homegrown talent as part of Piping Live! Glasgow’s International Piping Festival.

Visit: Pipinglive.co.uk

Fancy a Tiffin?

Indian restaurant, Voujon in Edinburgh has launched Tiffin Boxes, a take away picnic ideal for spontaneous outdoor dining on warm summer evenings. Packed in the traditional tiered boxes, Voujon’s Tiffin includes a starter, curry, dhal and nan bread, Indian desserts and cold Cobra beer or soft drinks. The Tiffin Boxes can pre-ordered by telephone and picked up en route to the picnic destination.

Visit: Voujon.com

Journey to Your Heart

Edinburgh based overland tour company; Wild in Scotland is celebrating its 10th anniversary by introducing a new tour. The tour – entitled Journey to your Heart – combines Highland scenery, folklore, history, life coaching and Shamanic fire walking.

Guests will stay at Lendrick Lodge, a holistic hideaway, set in the picturesque setting of the rolling Perthshire hills and the tour itinerary includes sightseeing, life coaching and shamanic firewalking.

The tour operates over a long weekend, which will allow free time for guests to spend sightseeing or taking up any additional treatments they may prefer at the lodge such as reiki, yoga, reflexology, acupuncture and aromatherapy, which are available from £33 per session.

Visit: Journeytoyourheart.com

The Outsider Festival

The Outsider brochure is now available for download! The Festival has something for everyone which includes music, comedy, films and activities.

With a strong environmental agenda The Outsider isn't hiding from the issues. It's a festival for people who care about the world and want to participate rather than just consume. Just goes to show that wanting to save the planet doesn't mean you can't have a good time!

Visit: Outsiderfestival.co.uk

Foodies at the Festival

The first ever dedicated food event at the Edinburgh Festivals will launch on the 18th and 19th August at the Capital’s Roxburghe Hotel and the George Hotel. The event which is close to the Book Festival and other Festival venues will be a celebration of a broad range of Scottish food and drink and superb cooking by some of the country's top chefs. The art of food will be illustrated through demonstrations by Michelin Star chefs including Martin Wishart, Tom Kitchin and Jeff Bland, as well as fresh, local food and drink stalls, whisky tasting and other culinary treats.

Hook ‘n’ Cook Your Lunch at Ardanaiseig This Summer

Catch your own lunch fresh from the waters of Loch Awe at Ardanaiseig, a luxury 16-bedroom country house hotel on the West Coast of Scotland. This summer the hotel is launching Hook ‘n’ Cook, offering both novice and experienced fishermen the opportunity to enjoy a morning’s fishing on the loch, which is renowned for its unusually large trout, followed by an al fresco lunch on the lawn cooked by the hotel’s award-winning chef with the morning’s catch.

Visit: Ardanaiseig.com

New Luxury Hotel Planned for Aberdeen

A new 222 bedroomed hotel is to be built by the Radisson Edwardian Group and due for completion in 2009.

Scottish Food Fortnight, 1st – 16th September

An annual celebration of Scottish produce has been backed by some of the country’s leading culinary names. Food columnist and cookery experts Lady Claire Macdonald and Wendy Barrie, along with Michelin star chefs Martin Wishart and Gordon Ramsay have all voiced support for the two week long event, to be held later this year.

Visit: Scottishfoodfortnight.co.uk

Virtual Golf Anyone?

VIRTUAL reality golf centre in Edinburgh will offer golfers the chance to play more than 50 of the world's leading courses. The indoor complex - the first of its kind in Scotland - is expected to open its doors by early June.

The Clubhouse, at Edinburgh Quay, will feature the Old Course at St Andrews, the Centenary course at Gleneagles and Pebble Beach in California on six virtual reality simulators.

Kirkcudbright International Arts Festival 2007

Filipino Shadow theatre, French contemporary dance and South African art will all be arriving in Kirkcudbright in July under the banner of the New Kirkcudbright International Arts Festival 2007, and the town will be buzzing because we are talking about Human Rights.

Working closely with the South African charity, Art for Humanity the Festival will be exhibiting two beautiful and emotive sets of work, one based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and one on ‘Women for Children’, highlighting the problems faced by women and children mainly in sub-saharan Africa, but which are true the world over.

Visit: Kbtarts.com

Scotland’s Oldest Public Museum Becomes its Newest…

The University of Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum re-opened to the public on 23 May 2007 after an extensive period of refurbishment. Regular visitors to the Hunterian Museum will notice immediately the changes that have been made. The Entrance Gallery, and the two smaller rooms at either side, have been completely redisplayed and now contain a permanent exhibition on the Hunterian’s founder, Dr William Hunter.

In summer 2007, a special exhibition in the Art Gallery, “My Highest Pleasures”, will showcase Hunter’s art collection.

Visit: Hunterian.gla.ac.uk

The Jolomo Lloyds TSB Scotland Awards

Lloyds TSB Scotland and the Jolomo Foundation are organising an exhibition of shortlisted artist’s work. Four works of art from each artist, depicting the Scottish landscape, will be displayed during the exhibition which will run from 1 to 17 June at the Lloyds TSB Scotland head office in Edinburgh. Exhibition opening times will be Monday to Friday from 9.30am-4.30pm and 9am-6pm on Saturday and Sunday. It promises to be an impressive exhibition. And the paintings will be for sale - so this could be a great opportunity to invest in a piece by one of Scotland’s up-and-coming artists.

Visit: Jolomofoundation.org

Forest Trail Is All Zipped Up

Adrenaline junkies are invited to tackle Britain’s longest zip wire. The thriller at the Go Ape High Wire Forest Adventure in Aberfoyle, Stirlingshire, is a staggering 1,397ft long.

Visit: Goape.co.uk

Whytes Coaches are Carbon Clear

Whytes Coaches have announced that they have become the first Scottish coach operator to become Carbon Neutral. In conjunction with emissions specialist Carbon Clear, Whytes have identified ways to improve their environmental impact and have offset the emissions caused by their vehicles and other energy use.

Iron Brew Adds Fizz to Sausages

An award-winning butcher has come up with two special Scottish sausages which are being tipped as the perfect hangover cure - Iron Brew bangers. The soft drink, Irn Bru, is often used to ease hangovers, along with fry-ups.

Stuarts of Buckhaven are launching the Pork Iron Brew Banger and the Pork Sweet Chilli Iron Brew Banger in Fife next week following successful trials.

The Bruichladdich Bar

Ideal for the single malt enthusiast, ‘The Bruichladdich Bar’ is a creation of The Spirited Soap Company which uses whisky to make transparent soap using alcohol to clarify it. The bar, commissioned by the Bruichladdich distillery on the idyllic island of Islay, is made using the traditional ‘cold process’ technique to capture the very essence of whisky-making.

This involves cooking the soap with sugar, vegetable glycerine and finally adding the spirit. To avoid the ‘alcoholic’ smell, the soap is then scented with essential oils and whisky-drenched oak shavings from inside the cask.

Visit: Whiskycoast.com

Consider the Lilies

‘Consider the Lilies’ is an exhibition of Scottish paintings from the collections of the City of Dundee and includes around 40 works by Scottish artists for the period 1910-1980. Dundee’s McManus Galleries and Museum is the permanent home of this collection, but the gallery is currently closed for a major programme of refurbishment and improvement works. The exhibition will be on show at Kirkcudbright Town Hall this summer running from 7th July – 27th August.

Visit: Dumgal.gov.uk/museums