We run three tours in Scotland and all of them start north of the Highland line. The west coast is for walking between glens and sea cliffs in the long light of May and June. The Outer Hebrides are for the boat, when the sea lochs are calm and the otters have young. The Cairngorms are for January, when the bothies are empty and the snow is firm.

The weather is part of it. It changes four times a day, and the guides plan each morning around it. Midges arrive in late June on the west coast, which is why our walking dates pause in July and start again in September. Bring waterproofs whatever the month.