City-break travel puts Glasgow and Edinburgh on the map

Two Scottish cities are among the top five destinations for breaks in the UK, according to an online travel booker.

Expedia.co.uk, which saw its highest volume of sales ever last week, said Edinburgh ranked second in its list of the top ten places customers had booked to visit in January. The capital was only beaten by London, which took the top spot.

Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, came fourth, behind third-placed Manchester.

Mike Cantlay, chairman of VisitScotland, said: “To see both Edinburgh and Glasgow feature in the UK’s top five destinations is tremendously welcome.

“With history at every turn and newly refurbished attractions such as the National Portrait Gallery, the National Museum of Scotland and a wide array of great dining experiences available, Edinburgh continues to charm visitors.

“Glasgow is becoming increasingly well-known for museums and shopping. And with new hotels and arenas, the host city of the 2014 Commonwealth Games is quickly earning a reputation as one of the UK’s most exciting cities.”

Expedia said an increase in bookings to UK destinations show that Britons are happy to stay on home soil as a way of kicking off the new year.

Andy Washington, managing director of Expedia in the UK and Ireland, said: “A holiday is a much-needed antidote to the stress and strains of modern day life and as Expedia.co.uk has seen its highest volume of sales ever last week and a third of our polled consumers see a holiday as an essential buy.”