CAPTIVATING -SCOTLAND- CAPSTONES : TOURISM 2023. {18}

 

Kilmarten Glen, Scotland : A misty Scottish Stonehenge, with all the mystery and far fewer visitors.

The sun rises over Kilmarten Glen as it has for thousands of years, illuminating an ancient landscape of more than 800 archaeological monuments sprouting in the mist.

This verdant valley on Scotland's wild west is one of the most significant prehistoric sites in Britain, yet it's largely off the visitor circuit' imagine Stonehenge without the crowds.

Wanger among majestic stone circles, standing slabs that jut from the earth, burial cairns and rock carvings of concentric rings, expanding like ripples from a drop of water.

And now the past is getting refreshed.

The Kilmartin Museum is reopening with expanded exhibits and new experiences that delve into the region's relics and flourishing natural life, including Moine Mhor [Great Moss], one of the few remaining raised bogs in Europe, above which looms the Iron Age hill fort of Dunadd.

For full immersion into the Scotland of yore, stay at moody 16th-century Kilmartin Castle, which was recently transformed into a boutique hotel, with vaulted ceilings, copper tubs and a wild swimming pond. [ Annelise Sorensen ]