When is the best time to visit Scotland

The midges get bad in my garden never mind holiday spots. As others have said, narrow down your wish list and have a wonderful time.
Some of my favourites: Fife coast, Dornoch firth, isles of Jura and Colonsay.
My friend is just back from Kinlochbirvie with a suntan.

Most B&Bs already adhere to existing legislation around sharing homes. Guest houses are already licensed as are pubs with rooms.
The legislation is aimed at preventing the further proliferation of short term let flats and houses that reduce the number of homes available for locals and greatly increase reduce life quality for occupants in other flats. It's a scourge in Edinburgh.

Watching Springwatch - I'm tempted to go right now to see those puffins on Mull. Amazing wildlife if that's what you are interested in.

All year round - there's always something to see and do, depending on what you're interested in. And we natives don't bite...(just the midges!)

Many thanks for all the helpful replies. It seems May or September are the best times. I enjoy lovely scenery but am also interested in historic buildings - which is why I am thinking about taking a coach tour which will give me an idea of which places I would want to return to. Again thank you all

Thread part 2 - historic buildings!

I'd recommend Stirling Castle, I prefer it to Edinburgh, not least because its less crowded. But Edinburgh is full of historic buildings and definitely worth visiting. And no midgies

St Andrews is s a very interesting place to visit too. Just wandering about the streets is lovely. It's not all golf!

DH is a part time tour guide in St Andrews. Definitely not all golf! Well, it is at the moment...

Edinburgh for history, definitely. Tourists are all year but even more during August.
On the other hand there's the book festival... I'm browsing the catalogue now.
www.edbookfest.co.uk/

I am usually in Scotland in .June, missing it so much. I love the light nights and am well practiced at midge avoidance.

Its interesting this focus on midgies... I've lived here most of my 60 years and the threat of midgies has never entered my mind.

Its a bit like Australia and spiders!

I was also amazed by this idea that Scotland is teeming with midges, though I do understand some people react badly to them. I've never found midges to be more of a problem in Scotland than in England or Wales.
One thing certain, you won't see any mossies like you do in the south of England now.
The queen seems to manage, what times of year does she usually go?

volver

Its interesting this focus on midgies... I've lived here most of my 60 years and the threat of midgies has never entered my mind.

Its a bit like Australia and spiders!

I think if you are born and brought up someone you become immune to midge or gnat bites.

Spiders know how to target visitors

Another for Dumfries and Galloway, Kirkcudbright was lovely, we went there in June. No midge bites but I generally don’t get bitten.

Kirkcudbright is one of my favourite places! Lovely down there.
I do remember encountering a cloud of midges once years ago during an evening walk but it was up on the north west coast. It's certainly not a common thing throughout the country.

I know Volver but how else do we keep the teeming tourists at bay?

My SiL has never been to London. He has heard too many things about it and doesn't feel any need to go.

The Dumfries nan Galloway and Ayrshire coast is lovely, rugged and unspoiled. I have spent holidays there for fifty years and never remember being bitten. The west coast is mild but can be wet. A good time to visit is in August, after the schools go back earlier than in England. There are some lovely gardens and castles.

I wouldn’t go so far as to pretend midges don’t exist, but the Highland Biting Midge is easily avoided. They are not found on the glorious beaches of Aberdeenshire but they love the forests of Argyll. If you want to go walking in a midgie area use a good skin oil and cover up the vulnerable bits. I very rarely get bitten but they seem to find Mr. B very tasty! Fortunately he doesn’t react to the bites.

A sure fire way to avoid midges is to walk or sit a couple of yards distant from my eldest Daughter. She is like a magnet to them, while the rest of the family are relatively unscathed.

What about the ticks - they should put more tourist off coming!

Midges are much more annoying than ticks.
Try sitting outside on a warm muggy evening in July. I lent my midge hood to my SiL for fishing off the pier in Jura. He didn't get bitten but didn't catch any fish either.

I recently visited the National Museum of Flight in North Berwick because it has a Concorde. It is a good day out if you are interested in flying machines.

Granny23

A sure fire way to avoid midges is to walk or sit a couple of yards distant from my eldest Daughter. She is like a magnet to them, while the rest of the family are relatively unscathed.

She must be very sweet and tasty like me ?

Bog myrtle is said to deter midges but may be you have to smoke it