Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park in autumn, Scotland

© Jon Arnold/Danita Delimon

A poetic landscape. Land of lochs and forests

Where better to enjoy the changing of the seasons than Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park? Here, woodlands made up of millions of Scots pine, oak, larch, rowan and Atlantic oakwood trees offer a refuge for protected species like red deer and golden eagles as well as black grouse, otters and red squirrels. Situated on the southern edge of the Highlands, Scotland’s first national park also offers 720 square miles of misty mountains, rugged hills, sparkling lochs, rivers and villages. Loch Lomond itself is Britain’s largest freshwater lake at 27.5 square miles.

And it’s a great place to mark UK national poetry day, which celebrates its 25th anniversary today. The Scottish writer and poet Sir Walter Scott set his epic 1810 poem The Lady of the Lake around Loch Katrine, a 13km-long freshwater lake at the heart of the park. Other literary visitors included Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth and the French novelist Jules Verne. These days, visitors still come in their droves to enjoy a range of activities including walking, mountaineering, stargazing, canoeing and boat trips. Climb aboard the steamship SS Sir Walter Scott for a little taste of the past, it’s been ferrying visitors on Loch Katrine for more than 100 years.