All three places are great to visit. Initial thoughts:

Edinburgh

• Edinburgh is generally a pretty place, particularly the centre which is actually a UNESCO world heritage site for the 18th-century urban planning and Georgian architecture.

• Edinburgh’s biggest and busiest time of year is the Fringe, a properly enormous performing arts festival each August. There’s a lot of cheap and free stuff to see. The city will be absolutely rammed with people during this time, though, so accomodation gets pricey.

• The city centre is really pretty, but as might be expected there’s a lot of tourist-trap-esque stuff there. Do not bother with any shop covered in tartan and playing a bagpipe cover of Coldplay over the speakers

• This is a good place for art too. I am a fan of Jupiter Artland, personally, which is on the edge of the city but accessible by bus. It may not be your thing, though; there are plenty of excellent traditional galleries and such to be seen.

• It’s pretty easy to catch a ceilidh in Edinburgh. There are plenty like the Burly Ceilidh Club that call out the steps, so anyone can take part.

Glasgow

• I like Glasgow a lot. It’s where I did my degree. It’s a lively place with a great music scene in particular; take a look at who is on in King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, a very small venue that has played a role in the rise of a lot of big acts.

• The Necropolis is worth a visit. It’s a big old cemetery on a hill a little outside the city centre with monuments to quite a lot of big figures in Scottish history.

• The subway is a very good way to get around part of Glasgow. It’s a comically small subway, literally just one line that goes in a circle, but it does cover the centre and most of the surrounding stuff.

• I personally like the Transport Museum and the accompanying Tall Ship a lot. It’s also close to the fantastic Kelvingrove art gallery & museum, which is a) free and b) in a gorgeous building as well.

• Glasgow is fucking weird about football (as in soccer). The two big teams based there (Celtic and Rangers) are closely associated with religious and nationalist partisanship. Neither of their stadiums are in areas you’re likely to be in, but if you see football crowds you probably want to give them a decent berth. The vast majority of people are just out to have fun, of course, but there are always some dickheads and these specific games seem to get them riled up.

• If you actually want a deep-fried Mars bar, Glasgow is the best place to find one.

Skye

• Skye is downright unreasonably beautiful. However, due to it being that beautiful and also being the only one of the Western Isles accessible by road, it gets mobbed by tourists. This doesn’t mean it’ll be ruined, but be aware that you will need to book things in advance if you’re there during tourist season (May through to September inclusive)

• On the flipside, it also means that a whole bunch of stuff shuts down for the off-season. This isn’t a problem if you just want to go hiking, obviously. Hills don’t have opening hours!

• The Talisker distillery, Skye Brewery, and Caora coffee roastery are all good. Talisker is a major brand and has a pretty slick visitor centre; I haven’t personally been on the tour but I’ve heard it’s good. The other two are somewhat smaller operations, I just like what they make

• If you go to the Old Man of Storr, do the full walk to top instead of just going to the photo point. You’ll have it pretty much to yourself if you’re up for it.

• The Fairy Pools will be busy unless the weather is miserable (guess who got soaked through there one time) but they really are rather beautiful. Be careful on the roads there, they are in pretty bad shape. If you want something very similar but much less busy, go slightly further down the road to Glen Brittle and Allt a’ Choire Ghreadaidh (this translates roughly to the rather dramatic Stream of the Burning Corrie)

General

• Scottish weather is rarely dangerous in its own right, but it changes fast and frequently. Bring plenty of clothes that can handle rain. The Met Office is the British national weather service and I usually find it reliable.

• If you’re on the west coast (Glasgow and Skye), the above is extra-relevant

• If you’re on a hill, it actually can become dangerous. Our hills aren’t very big, but if the weather turns you can quickly get yourself into trouble.

• Consider Lewis & Harris (one island, despite the name) for somewhere Skye-like but calmer. It has a lot of similar sights and culture, and Stornoway is the biggest town in the islands. The best way to get there is the ferry from Uig on Skye anyway, so you’ll likely still see a bit of Skye all the same.

• Haggis is genuinely good, you should get some

• For hiking routes, use WalkHighlands. It’s fantastic. https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/