What to do in St Andrews

Golf may have put St Andrews on the map, but Central Scotland's charms run to castles, lochs and the odd feat of engineering too. Tee off on the Old Course, where the game began, then wander the ruins of St Andrews Cathedral and climb St Rule's Tower for views over the university spires and out to the North Sea, before stooping through the siege tunnels beneath the castle next door. West of here, Stirling Castle's Great Hall and Royal Palace still echo with royal intrigue, and the National Wallace Monument rewards the climb with a view over the Forth Valley. Cruise the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, then wind through the Trossachs – the Highlands in miniature – before nosing and tasting your way through a Perthshire distillery. At Gleneagles, try your hand at fly fishing, shooting or archery, then marvel at the thirty-metre steel Kelpies and the rotating Falkirk Wheel nearby.