Neil Wilson - Scotland

As an old Scots saying has it, guid gear comes in sma bouk (good things come in small packages). And despite its small size, Scotland certainly has many treasures crammed into its compact territory. Theres something for all tastes, from sophisticated cities, fine food and malt whisky to wild mountain scenery and sparkling, island-studded seas. Wildlife watchers will find otters, eagles, whales and dolphins, while hill walkers have almost 300 Munros to bag. Theres turbulent history and fascinating genealogy, castles and country pubs, canoeing and caber-tossing, golfing and fishing and all-round good craic (lively conversation).

Although an integral part of Great Britain since 1707, Scotland has maintained a separate and distinct identity throughout the last 300 years. The return of a devolved Scottish parliament to Edinburgh in 1999 marked a growing confidence and sense of pride in the nations achievements.

The new Scottish parliament building was officially opened in 2004. The project was dogged with controversy, costing 10 times the original budget and running three years over schedule, and reaction to the building has been mixed, to say the least. Experts have acclaimed it as a masterpiece, and it has won half a dozen major international architectural awards, but the general public has been less appreciative.

Now the fuss has died down, more attention is being focused on whats happening inside the building. The Scottish parliamentary elections of 2007 saw the Labour party lose control of Scottish politics for the first time since their rise to dominance in the 1960s. The Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), whose central platform is independence for Scotland, won by just one seat and Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, became first minister. But with only 47 out of 129 seats, it is very much a minority administration.

The first decade of devolution has seen Scottish politics diverge significantly from the Westminster way. Distinctive policies that have been applied in Scotland but not in the rest of the UK include free long-term care for the elderly, the abolition of tuition fees for university students, and higher pay for teachers. The SNP has committed itself to holding a referendum on whether Scotland should have full independence, but opinion polls show that most Scots are happy with the status quo.

Ask them what they do worry about, and the Scots come up with much the same answers as the rest of the UK the health service, education, crime, immigration, soaring property prices and the war in Iraq. Press them on distinctly Scottish problems, however, and beyond moaning about the utter uselessness of Holyrood politicians their list will probably mention things such as sectarianism and traffic congestion.

Sectarianism the bitter hatred that exists between sections of the countrys Protestant and Catholic communities has been called Scotlands secret shame. At its worst in Glasgow, where religiously aggravated offences (a category introduced in 2003) are 60 times more common than in the rest of the country, sectarianisms most public face appears in football matches between Rangers and Celtic. The issue has come to the fore in debates about state funding of faith schools (schools run by a religious body). Many Scots feel that having separate schools for Roman Catholics simply entrenches the sectarian divide, and that the state should not be providing financial support for them.

If youre unfortunate enough to find yourself driving into one of Scotlands larger cities during the weekday rush hour, youll soon find that traffic congestion is one of the countrys curses. Edinburgh has led the way in trying to discourage car use with popular measures like cycle routes, dedicated bus lanes and park-and-rides schemes, and unpopular ones like increased parking charges and fines, and a small army of parking enforcers. Construction work has begun on a scheme to reintroduce trams to the city by 2011.

One of the worst traffic bottlenecks in the country is the Forth Road Bridge, with southbound tailbacks several miles long on weekday mornings. Controversial plans have been proposed for a second road bridge across the Firth of Forth, which would allow Edinburghs new tram network to be extended as far as Dunfermline. These have been lent a new urgency by the discovery of serious corrosion problems with the existing bridge; already carrying close to double its planned capacity of 30,000 vehicles a day, it may have to be closed to heavy goods traffic by 2013, and possibly closed completely by 2020.

These are mainly metropolitan concerns, however, and north of the Highland line other talking points dominate debate. One of the first laws to be passed in the new Scottish parliament gave the Gaelic language official status. Opinion in Scotland is deeply divided between those who believe Gaelic should receive state support in the form of bilingual signage, a dedicated Gaelic TV channel and school classes taught in Gaelic, and those who feel that Gaelic is irrelevant to modern Scotland and should be allowed to die a natural death if it cannot survive without external funding.

The Gaelic Language Act (2005) recognises Gaelic as an official language in Scotland and requires the creation of a national plan for the future development of the language. This is quite a turnaround from an attitude that began with an act passed by the old Scottish parliament in 1616 ruling that Gaelic be abolishit and removit from Scotland. State persecution of Gaelic language and culture intensified following the Jacobite rebellion of 1745, and this attitude persisted well into the 20th century; indeed, there are people still alive today who can recall being beaten for speaking Gaelic in school.

Crofting and land ownership are important issues in the Gaelic-speaking areas of northwest Scotland. A headline-grabbing clause in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act (2003) allowed crofting communities to buy out the land that they live on with the aid of taxpayers money, in the hope of halting or even reversing the gradual depopulation of the Highlands and islands. Several estates have followed the likes of Eigg, Gigha, Knoydart and North Harris into community ownership. The Isle of Gigha, which underwent a community buyout in 2002, has seen its population increase by 50% and several new businesses start up. In 2006 South Uist saw the biggest community buyout yet, with plans for a world-class golf course, a wind farm and a new pier and marina complex at Lochboisdale.

Scotland may be small but as you can see even from this brief overview, theres a lot going on. Take a little time to look behind the latest news headlines when you arrive and youll find your experience of the country to be that much richer and more memorable.

Scotland is the sort of place you can arrive in without a plan, and have a great time just wandering around and following your whims. But planning your trip is half the fun, and essential if your time is limited or if there is something in particular that you want to see or do.

Any time is a good time to visit Scotland, but your choice of when to go will depend on what you want to do.

The main tourist period is April to September, and the height of the season is during the school holidays in July and August when accommodation, be it camping grounds, B&Bs or luxury hotels, is at a premium. Edinburgh in particular becomes impossibly crowded during the festival period in August, so book well ahead if you plan to visit then (a year ahead is not too early!).