Brand new from Bradt, North West Scotland is the latest addition to its range of Slow Travel guidebooks, and the most comprehensive guide to this increasingly popular region. There are few places in the UK as remote and wild as North West Scotland. Even in the height of summer it's possible to drive (or walk) for miles without meeting another person. There's also a huge diversity of landscapes here: the comparatively gentle and accessible east coast gives way inland to the vast Flow Country, the largest expanse of blanket bog in Europe (and much more appealing than that title might lead you to believe); the coast north of here has a stark emptiness to it, with craggy peninsulas punctuated by coves of golden sand, while the west coast is characterised by its deep sea lochs and looming peaks. Over on this side, too, is Fisherfield, often referred to as Scotland's 'Great Wilderness' and the epitome of the middle of nowhere ? Ordnance Survey says that the furthest point from a road on the UK mainland can be found here, on Ruadh Stac Mor mountain. But one of the joys of exploring this region is that you don't have to trek for hours to get into the wilderness ? it's usually just a case of parking your car or stepping out of your B&B, and within moments you're striding among scenery so enchanting and dramatic it feels like it's been conjured up by someone's imagination. This is the kind of place that gets its teeth into you ? this is a place that people return to again and again. Bradt's provides clear, thorough information and advice for your visit, with plenty to appeal to walkers/hikers, wildlife enthusiasts, history lovers, campers, surfers and kayakers. Points of interest abound, whether it's the site of the last legal execution of a witch at Dornoch, the subtropical flora of Inverewe Gardens and the small village of Plockton or . Europe's largest one-day sheep sale, held annually in Lairg. Bradt's is the perfect aide and companion for your trip. AUTHOR: Emma Gibbs is a freelance writer and editor based in South Oxfordshire. She is the author of North Coast 500: Britain's Ultimate Road Trip and i-SPY Scotland and has researched and updated a number of guidebooks, including Great Britain for DK Eyewitness and Europe on a Budget for Rough Guides. She is Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning JRNY Travel Magazine and has project managed, edited and proofread countless Slow guides for Bradt. After years of exotic holidays and research trips, she discovered ? much to her surprise ? that she's never happier than when she's pootling around the quiet corners of northwest Scotland. 80 colour photos, 17 maps
