Perthshire, Angus and Dundee

The very heart of Scotland, Perthshire is a small area of big Highland mountains and Lowland lochs, of picture postcard villages and bustling towns like Perth. You'll find the world-famous Gleneagles Hotel (home to the 2005 G8 Summit), the island castle on Loch Leven where Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned, Scone Palace, where Scottish Kings and Queens were crowned and the fairy-tale Blair Castle - Perthshire is Scotland in microcosm.

Angus has been called the birthplace of Scotland, as the Declaration of Arbroath, declaring to the Pope that Scotland was an independent nation, was written in 1320 in the town of Arbroath.

Scotland's fourth city, Dundee, sits on the banks of the River Tay just south of Angus. 'Jute, Jam and Journalism' was once the rallying cry for the city. Those industries may be less visible nowadays, but Dundee is a modern 'City of Discovery', with two universities, world-class cancer research facilities, and is a centre of computer game development.

Dundee is also the home of the Beano and Dandy comics, The Broons, Oor Wullie, and the D C Thomson empire.