Grand Tours of Scotland

Paul Murton follows in the footsteps of the first tourists to Scotland. He travels from the Trossachs out to Iona and then the fabled Isle of Staffa - all places that enchanted and inspired visitors with the magic of Scotland's unique history and landscape.

Paul Murton discovers how 19th-century Scotland's mountains and glens were a playground for rich gentlemen eager to test themselves against the forces of nature. In the spirit of Victorian manliness, Paul makes the journey using a conveyance of the period, an original 1870s tricycle, travelling f...

Paul Murton boards the Jacobite steam train and star of the `Harry Potter' movies to make one of the world's most famous railway journeys. For centuries, outsiders had seldom visited the beautiful landscape of the West coast, but the power of steam changed everything. Within a century, a network ...

Paul Murton goes in search of the stunning landscape of the highlands that has attracted visitors for the last two hundred years with the promise of improving `mind, body and spirit'. Paul traces the history of the great outdoors, travelling from the shores of Loch Tay in Perthshire, across the g...

Paul Murton travels to the Northern Isles to discover how their remoteness from the mainland became a draw for tourists in search of perfect isolation. Shetland is closer to the Arctic circle than to London and closer to the coast of Norway than to the English border. Keen to escape the noise and...

Paul traces the rise of the seaside as a workers' playground. In Victorian times, most tourists came from a tiny social elite - the rich - and for the great mass of the population a holiday was just a dream. Most postcards were sent from the seaside. Paul begins his journey in the historic town o...

Paul Murton follows a series of tours suggested by the popular Victorian guidebook, `Black's Picturesque Guide to Scotland'. Paul travels from the Trossachs out to Iona and then onto the fabled Isle of Staffa. In his second tour, he heads to royal Deeside to discover how in the 19th century, Scot...

Paul starts at the foot of Ben Nevis in Fort William, travels along the beautiful railway line to Mallaig and then onto the magical Isle of Skye. Paul's second journey sees him trace the history of the great outdoors, travelling across the great wilderness of Rannoch Moor, and climbing the iconic...

Paul Murton travels to the far north to explore Shetland and its fabulous wildlife, before sailing south to the musical Orkney islands. In his second journey Paul traces the rise of the seaside in Victorian times as a workers' playground. Beginning in the historic town of St Andrews, Paul hops ac...