Scotland's long and storied history is more than just the story of one person. 5% of Scotland's favorite movie was real events. The history of Scotland is easy to find in this land.
There is a difference between places that were real-life locations for history and places that still feel alive. Millions of people visit Edinburgh Castle, but there are dozens of less busy historical sites across the country.
Explore the planet's most surprising adventures with our weekly newsletter delivered to your inbox.From Orkney and Shetland to the rain-lashed glens of the central Highlands, here are our picks of the best places to connect with Scottish history. You could be walking in the footsteps of your ancestors.
There are many ancient villages in the Scottish Islands. The people lived here thousands of years ago. There were Bronze Age people living here. People from the Iron Age lived here. People lived here. Vikings resided here. The sprawl of turf-topped Iron- Age wheelhouses, longhouse ruins and medieval walls is like a cutaway view of the history of Scotland.
The lonely setting, tucked onto a grassy spit beyond Shetland's main airstrip, only adds to the magic of a site that includes ancient dwellings, a ruined broch, the walls of Viking longhouses and the fortified 16th-century home of Robert Stewart. There isn't much else to disturb the sense of swirling history except for sea spray and bird song.
More than 70,000 highlanders and islanders were forcibly relocated from their homes in Scotland to the Highland Clearances in the 17th and 18th century. The scars of this time cast a long shadow after the end of the depopulation campaign of Patrick Sellar and James Loch.
Hearing the stories of those affected by the Clearances is important in getting closer to the struggle. The museum uses historical relics and pictures created by local school children to deliver personal experiences of the Clearances.
You need to stay in an unrestored cottage if you want to understand the difficult lives of crofters. There is an open fireplace and space for a sleeping bag, but not much else, and you will have to hike in your own firewood. Ben Alder Cottage is reputed to be haunted by the ghosts of its former inhabitants and is located on the shores of Loch Ericht.
Skara Brae has the most evocative discovery story. The inhabitants of this Neolithic village left behind some of their most prized possessions when they left in 2500 BCE. The village was hidden beneath the sand until 1850, when an Atlantic storm revealed a collection of stone-walled homes.
Skara Brae spills out of the grass onto the beach on the largest island in the Orkney group. The sound of the sea and the call of gulls can be heard in the background. The life of these urbane early Scots can be seen on the clifftop walk to the nearby Broch of Borwick.
Kathleen Fidler wrote The Boy with the Bronze Axe, a story about the abandonment of Skara Brae.
Sir Walter Scott, novelist, poet, playwright and historian, created a lot of heroic figures from Scottish history. A castle-like country estate on the banks of the River Tweed is where the great narrator of Scotland wrote many of his masterpieces.
The author's home was very fancy and extravagant. When his publishers went out of business, Scott had to put up Abbotsford as a security for his debts. The last resting place of Robert the Bruce is said to be the ruins of Melrose Abbey.
There is a tower-house on the estate where Scott was sent to convalesce when he was a child. The lookout known as Scott's View, where the writer who forged the Scottish narrative came to gaze out over the Tweed, is close to Scott's mausoleum.
You can't walk a hundred yards in Orkney without stopping to look at another tomb. Some tombs have more mystery than others. You will enter the Tomb of the Eagles on your back, lying prone on a wheeled trolley. The remains of some 340 people and 14 white-tailed eagles were found in this Neolithic tomb.
Maeshowe is noteworthy not only for its place in Stone Age history but also for the tomb raiders who came after. The ancient burial site was raided by Vikings in the 12th century in a scene worthy of a movie.
The interlopers left their mark in the form of rune graffiti, which included a boast about an X-rated liaison between Thorni and Helgi. The setting sun shafts into the main chamber during the winter season.
The Scots are fond of imagining the Scots are fearless and bravehearted. The people who helped drive back the Romans were the ones who forged Scotland's reputation. There is a string of ancient symbol-carved stones that recall the conversion from paganism to Christianity in the county of Angus.
St Vigeans Museum near Arbroath has a collection of intricately carved Celtic crosses and symbol stones, as well as the village of Forfar, which has a fine carved stone collection. While you are here, you can take a stroll across the fields to see St Orland's Stone, a cross-slab still standing in its original location.
The broch is one of the most impressive styles of building in Scotland. The Iron Age inhabitants of the highlands and islands stacked the towers up. The ingenuity of the people who built them is reflected in the fact that some stand almost intact today.
The broch at Mousa is close to being perfect. The Iron Age families used to live side-by-side in the chimney-like interior of the hollow walls, with winding passageways leading to the upper levels. The site was mentioned in a couple of stories. Adding to the fairytale is the setting on an island that is a reserve for storm petrels and other seabirds.
There is room for one stop on the coach tour. Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code catapulted Rosslyn Chapel to global fame, and you won't want to share it with a crowd.
The chapel was built in 1446 and is embellished with carvings of American plants and depictions of pagans, including the Green Man.
On the other hand, they might just contain some skeletons of monks, but it is nice to imagine...
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