As regular readers of my blog will know, I’m immensely proud of being Scottish and absolutely love my little country. It has a great mix of beautiful natural places and vibrant, exciting cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh. 2013 is the year of natural Scotland which aims to celebrate the immense natural beauty that Scotland has in abundance.

With that in mind, I wanted to share some of my favourite photos of natural Scotland with you…

Mealt Waterfall and Kilt Rock on the Isle of Skye

This is the breathtaking Mealt Waterfall on the Isle of Skye as seen from the viewpoint there. The viewpoint has metal barriers around it for safety but they also have little holes in them that allow the wind (and it’s very windy at this spot!) to pass through the holes and create an enchanting, melodic sound as you gaze at the view. Incredible!

Moody winter colours at Castle Semple Loch

This is the nearest loch to where I live in the west of Scotland. It’s one of my favourite places to walk my dog as it’s quiet, peaceful and incredibly pretty, even in winter as shown in the picture above.

The scenery is so dramatic on the Isle of Skye

This was another of the gorgeous views I fell for while on my Haggis Adventures trip of Scotland as part of my Blogmanay itinerary. The Isle of Skye had breathtaking sights at every turn and I’m definitely planning to go back to explore it in more detail.

The river right by my house in Renfrewshire in the west of Scotland

This is the River Gryffe, which runs close to my house in a litte village in Renfrewshire. Whenever I walk my dog down there on a nice day it reminds me why I like living in the countryside as opposed to a city.

Scotland is estimated to have more than 30,000 lochs and lochans which is an astounding number for such a relatively small country. While the most famous one will always be Loch Ness, they all have their own beauty.

St Andrews is so pretty!

This is the stunning waterfront in St Andrews, a place I fell head over heels in love with. This picture was taken in January, but I can’t wait to return in summer to see how beautiful it is then. (And yes, that is the beach where they filmed Chariots of Fire!)

Sunset over the Speyside countryside

No words required.

 This is the field literally right behind my house. I can actually see it as I’m typing these words. There’s nothing special about it but the colours are rather pretty on a bright day.

There’s surely no better way to begin a day in The Highlands of Scotland than with a colourful sunset like this. With not another person in sight or any other signs of human life we felt like this sunrise was just for us. Thanks Scotland!