The tours of most countries start in the capital. This tour is different. Instead, we'll start our journey at the most historic and strategic location in the country - Stirling. Stirling Castle was the most important fortress in Scottish history, and the reason for that is geographical. Stirling Bridge was the only practical route between the north and south of Scotland in medieaval times. To the east, a trader or invading army had to travel by sea; to the west, lay a flat swamp (drained now for farmland) and the rough country of the west Highlands. It was said that whoever held Stirling Castle, split Scotland in two.

Stirling is handy for a wide swathe of Scotland. It is well placed close to both the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, but is also very near the Highlands, which are seen close at hand from the ramparts of Stirling Castle. Stirling Castle is very similar in general appearance to Edinburgh Castle, a sprawling fortress on top of a steep crag, with the gentler back slopes of the crag forming the spine of a medieaval city. In the 30 miles between these two fortresses, the winding River Forth becomes wider and broadens into a wide inlet of the sea. Crossing this inlet are the famous Forth Bridges. The sinuous, simple, 20thc. curve of the modern road suspension bridge contrasts in a curious manner with the rigid, yet airy steel skeleton of the 19thc. rail bridge; over 100 years old and a mile and a quarter long, considered in its time to be one of the greatest engineering marvels of the Victorian age. It is one of the sayings of our time that the painting of the Forth Bridge never ends - they start at one end and, by the time they reach the other, it is time to start over again! Painted bright red, it is an arresting sight, and one can't help musing that the old rail bridge looks far more solid and likely to last than the new road bridge. It is a fitting gateway to Edinburgh, a city of half a million inhabitants, Scotland's capital and one of the most beautiful and striking in Europe, due in no small part to being built on a triumvirate of hills - the first crowned by a castle and medieaval city, which once had the tallest houses in the known world; the second, Calton Hill, topped by various monuments and once proposed site of the Scottish Parliament; and the third, Arthur's Seat, being a bare hill of rough moorland, a lopped-off Highland peak found in the middle of a city.

Edinburgh is famous for its architecture and its international festival. It is famous for being beautiful and historic and is something of a showtown. It is the most cosmopolitan city in Scotland. But it is also historically the city of Jekyll & Hyde and black clad locals and is more complex than it first seems. The best example of Scotland's national schizophrenia - that combination of self-doubt and bombast - is now best seen in Glasgow, thanks to its more recent demise in prosperity, but Edinburgh has been through it before with the union of parliaments in England in 1707. This union was perhaps unique in that the parliaments of Britain, (against popular opinion, although the monarchy and aristocracy were keen) voted to dissolve themselves and form a brand new British parliament (although in practice the effect was that of the Westminster parliament absorbing the Edinburgh one). Once the original parliament was gone, Edinburgh sought a role. Scots who wanted to get ahead headed south, and tried to Anglify themselves as much as possible - much to the amusement of the English. Now in union with England, the Scots - who had previously only realy traded with Northern Europe - became partners in England's overseas colonies and companies. England, in turn, gained friendship with, and compliance of, her historic enemy. With internal security and peace in Britain, Britain's full energies could now be engaged externally. The British Empire had begun. The Scots were well placed, because at the same time as trying hard to justify their existence in the new Britain, the education system conceived 150 years previously by religious reformers was finally coming to fruition - uniquely in Europe, every child was taught to read, not just children of the aristocracy. The combination of an atmosphere of contemplation, a new world to settle, and a literate population brought about an explosion in the arts, philosphy, and literature, centred in Edinburgh and known as the Scottish Enlightenment. After a slow start to the century, Edinburgh had regained a role, and Hume wrote his philosophies, Burns his poems, Scott his novels, Adam Smith his Wealth of Nations (the blueprint for capitalism), and many others contributed to this atmosphere of creation. Scots abroad influenced matters in Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Canada, India, and the USA. Back home, the epicentre of this activity took place in an Edinburgh which had barely changed since medieaval times; the city was up to 14 stories high and still consisted solely of the mile long Royal Mile and associated side closes. Everyone lived cheek by jowl and the sanitation was terrible. The city council decided to do something about it, and built a new city in the early 1800's to the north called the New Town. Its streets were wide, spacious and regular, and is considered now to be the finest example of Georgian architecture in Britain. It certainly makes a fascinating contrast with the higgeldy piggeldy Old Town built on the slopes of the castle rock. However, with people moving into the New Town, all the concentrated energy in the Old Town dissapated and eventually blew itself out. The Enlightenment was over, but not before Scotland had made its mark on the development of western civilisation. Perhaps the new parliament will release a new wave of pent up energy and creativity - perhaps, with the British Empire gone and 1707's strong cases for union irrelevant today, Scotland would be better off running herself completely, free from Westminster interference. At the 300th anniversary of the 1707 union, this seemingly arcane constitutional point is more pertinent than ever.

Edinburgh is certainly beautiful, and worth a visit. Check out the city walks page. Many of the most notable sights are in a square mile at the centre and although hilly, walking is a wonderful way to get about, exploring the steep narrow closes of the medieaval city, strolling through Princes St gardens with the remarkable backdrop of the castle and old town, and up onto Calton Hill for the best panoramic views of the city and down to the sea.

Surrounding Edinburgh are many aristocratic mansions and castles, from classical Hopetoun House (possibly the fanciest in Scotland) to the grim, powerful double-tower of Borthwick; from the fairytale medieaval towers of Direlton to the vast, ruined wall of Tantallon. Roslin Chapel, an ornament-encrusted curiosity in a country which prefers Presbyterian plainness in its places of worship, sits just outside Edinburgh, and has become overrun by tourists curious to visit thanks to the film of the book 'The Da Vinci Code'.

From the high points in Edinburgh, on can look over much of the countryside in which these buildings are situated; and in the distance the remarkable cone of Berwick Law is seen rising like a shark's tooth from the flat, fertile farmland of East Lothian, a gentle and faintly prosperous corner of the country, with many quaint villages and castles. Before Scotland or England existed, this was part of the ancient kingdom of Northumbria - which today lies mostly in England - and the similarities in the cross-border rural architecture are obvious. From here it is a short journey along a pleasant coastal road passing small fishing villages to the border with England and the mouth of the river Tweed. Inland, the land rises; arable land gives way to moorland and sheep walks; stone built villages sit by clear rivers in steep valley bottoms; and it is strange to think in these peaceful rural backwaters that this was once one of the bloodiest borders in the world.