Welcome to land of 'bigotry and booze'

The latest edition of Lonely Planet Scotland - while finding much to praise about the people, cities and countryside - makes a series of cutting observations that will have the nation’s tourism chiefs reaching for their tranquillisers.

The guide, which sells around 60,000 copies of each edition, pulls no punches when dealing with some of the contemporary issues facing the country.

The guide is officially published tomorrow, but Scotland on Sunday found the book already on sale last Thursday.

The opening ‘Snapshot’ suggests the first thing visitors to Edinburgh should do is ‘toddle down’ to the foot of the Royal Mile and take a look at the parliament building.

"Scots are never happier than when they have something to moan about," states the guide, "and the ever-increasing cost of the new parliament building has been a subject of vociferous complaint for the last few years".

Lampooning the "contemplation chambers" in the MSPs’ offices, the guide says: "No doubt many of them will be sitting there thinking, ‘Jings, these bloody windows cost 17,000 each.’"

Turning to "Scotland’s ‘secret shame’", the book informs readers that since 1999, eight people have died in sectarian violence and thousands have had their lives blighted by religious intolerance.

Visitors to Glasgow pubs are advised to try to pass themselves off as ‘neutral’ Partick Thistle supporters.

Anyone still interested in visiting Scotland might be discouraged from car hire after reading that traffic congestion is "one of the country’s curses". The Forth Road Bridge is one of the worst bottlenecks, with southbound tailbacks "several miles long on weekday mornings".

Moving on to the "national psyche", the guide observes that "a major part of the Scottish national identity lies in simply not being English".

The nation’s drinking habits receive particularly close attention. "Just as the Eskimos are supposed to have 40 different words for snow," says the guide, "it seems as if the Scots have 40 different words for being drunk - bevvied, blootered, hammered, guttered, fleein’, fou, steamin’, stotious, paralytic, plaistered and just plain pished, to name but a few."

Perhaps worried that readers might be missing the point, the guide continues: "Although on average Scots consume less alcohol per head than the French, much of it is in the form of binge-drinking; that is, going out to the pub on Friday and Saturday night and getting, well, blootered."

Readers who haven’t by this stage decided to travel instead to a strict Muslim country are finally advised: "This translates into problems with drunk and disorderly behaviour on the streets, and alcohol-related health problems."

Meanwhile, urban centres around Glasgow are dismissed as a "grim hinterland", and those hardy souls considering a visit to East Kilbride, Hamilton, Motherwell, or Coatbridge, are advised to take no more than a day-trip from Glasgow.

John O’Groats, is savaged. The guide states: "Everything about John O’Groats screams tourist trap. The main attraction is a car park surrounded by shoddy craft and souvenir shops."

Of "rundown" Ardrossan, the guide adds: "The main reason - OK the only reason - for coming here is to catch a CalMac ferry to Arran."

The guide says: "Arran is often bypassed by international visitors in favour of its better-known neighbours. What a mistake."

Elsewhere, the Lonely Planet lavishes praise on Scotland’s scenery, the physical beauty of Edinburgh, and the "oomph" factor of Glasgow. Anyone who can’t have fun in Scotland’s biggest city is recommended to seek therapy.

Tourism employs 200,000 Scots and is worth an estimated 4.5bn to the Scottish economy. Only last week, Glasgow rebranded itself "Scotland with Style".

Rory MacLellan, senior lecturer in tourism at Strathclyde University, said: "These guides do matter and they are taken seriously. While it is true that most people have decided to go to a country before they buy the book, they are crucial when people decide where to go within that country.

"We can’t really expect the guide not to mention sectarianism. It is something that is real in Scotland, and an honest guide to Scotland must include it."

Last night, a spokesman for VisitScotland said: "These views are the opinions of the individual writers and they are perfectly entitled to their views. We don’t think they are necessarily helpful, but that is the world we live in."

George Reid, Presiding Officer of the Scottish parliament, said: "The current indications are that more than 1.5 million members of the public and visitors from overseas will take the opportunity to visit the new Scottish parliament over the first three years. I’m pleased that Lonely Planet shares our enthusiasm."

Speaking from John O’Groats, Angela Cormack, manager of the Last House in Scotland Museum, said: "I think the writers must just have had a bad day here. I admit that in bad weather it might not be to everyone’s taste, but on a good day this place is beautiful."

On the claims that Scotland was a nation of binge-drinkers, a Scottish Executive spokesman said: "The majority of people in Scotland are able to enjoy alcohol in moderation. However, there is no doubt that alcohol problems in Scotland remain a major issue."