10 of Scotland's best visitor attractions revealed

The magazine has asked a panel of experts to nominate their favourite holiday spots from across the UK, including a substantial number of Scottish destinations.

Across the twelve award categories, ten Scottish tourist attractions have been nominated by a panel of the Britain’s most respected travel, nature and outdoors writers and broadcasters.

VisitScotland Chief Executive, Malcolm Roughead said: “It’s wonderful that once again so many great examples of the superb quality and range of Scotland’s tourism assets have been shortlisted in the BBC Countryfile Magazine Awards. The panel has picked outstanding nominees which richly deserve to be named as national winners so I would encourage as many people as possible to take the time to vote for each of our Scottish finalists so that we can celebrate just how special and appreciated they are.”

Countryfile presenters, Anita Rani and John Craven, have both chosen Scottish destinations to nominate for awards. Rani’s choice for “Holiday Destination of the Year” is the Isle of Mull, most famous for its colourful harbour town, Tobermory. Craven has picked out Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park as a contender for “National Park of the Year”.

Best-selling travel writer Bill Bryson has also nominated a Scottish attraction for a Countryfile Magazine award. His favourite for “Heritage Site of the Year” is Skara Brae, Orkney. Skara Brae is the best preserved Neolithic settlement in Western Europe, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Another author, food and drink writer Pete Brown, has picked The Stein Inn on Skye as his “Country Pub of the Year”.

Hermione Cockburn, a presenter of Coast, has nominated two Scottish beaches for the award “Beach of the Year”. The beaches she has chosen are Balephuil Bay on Tiree and Seacliff in East Lothian.

Seacliff beach in East Lothian looking towards Bass Rock. Picture: submitted

Joe Swift of Gardener’s World has nominated Inverewe Gardens in Wester Ross as a contender for the “Garden of the Year” award.

Amy Liptrot’s novel, ‘The Outrun’, has been named as a nominee for the “Book of the Year Award by Fergus Collins, editor of the BBC Countryfile Magazine. The novel is set on Orkney and is the winner of the 2016 Wainwright Prize.

There is also an award for “Reader Photo of the Year”, which has ‘Gannet Glory’ as one of the nominees. This photograph was chosen by the Countryfile presenter Naomi Wilkinson, and was taken on the Bass Rock in Fife.

Fergus Collins said: “It’s been another fantastic year for nominations from Scotland – again reflecting the thrilling diversity of landscapes and visitor attractions across the country. It’s a reminder to those who haven’t visited Scotland to make immediate plans!”

Members of the public can vote for their favourite nominees online, at the BBC Countryfile Magazine website. The deadline for votes is 28 February.

Around 12,000 votes were cast by almost 18,000 voters in last year’s BBC Countryfile Magazine Awards, which saw three Scottish winners. Dumfries and Galloway was named “Holiday Destination of The Year”; Bass Rock took the “Nature Reserve of The Year” title; and The Applecross Inn, Strathcarron, won “Pub of The Year”.

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