Scotland Hour 2013: A Month By Month Guide

Scottish travel and tourism Twitter chat #scotlandhour takes place on the last Wednesday of each month, 9-10pm GMT.

Here is a list of the #scotlandhour themes for 2013.

Wed 30th January

Burns, Creative Scotland: Arts & Culture #creative

Celebrating the birth of Scotland’s best-loved Bard as well as Scotland’s artistic and cultural heritage in general: our poets, painters, writers, musicians, ‘makars’; our ‘creative’ Scotland.

Wed 27th February

Traveller’s Favourites Places: Visit, Stay, See & Do #travel

Share our favourite places to visit, stay, and to see and do things in – why we should go and where.

Wed 27th March

Scotland’s Playground: Active, Outdoors, Sports, Activities #active

Where are the best places for getting into the great outdoors, getting active, doing sports and activities, extreme or otherwise in Scotland?

Wed 24th April

Festivals: Walking, Food & Drink, Nature, Wildlife, Arts/Culture #festivals

We want to hear about festivals, large and small, celebrated and less well-known, food and drink, culture, music, wildlife and nature, the arts, You name it – where is it and what’s good about it?

Wed 29th May

Walks, Trails and Climbs #walk

We’re walking, traversing, climbing, hiking and wandering our way around Scotland this month – and we want to share experiences of where we’ve been and which paths we should be taking!

Wed 26th June

Water: Sailing, Cruises, Canals and Waterways, Watersports #water

Water, water, everywhere and there’s plenty of it in Scotland. How can we enjoy it and where? What activities can we do, across Scotland and its islands, streams, rivers, canals, lochs..

Wed 31 July

Celebrating Our National and Regional Parks #parks

In celebration of National Parks Week, let’s share our enjoyment of dear green places and spaces. Remember, we can find nature within a city as well as a national park. Think about our local park, a park with great activities, a new park we’ve discovered…

Wed 28 August

Scotland’s Natural Larder #food

Let’s eat and drink our way around Scotland and savour the experiences. Best coffee and cake in town? Seafood on the beach?  Pie and a pint? Foraging for herbs? Food tours? Learning to make bread?

Wed 25 September

Flora and Fauna – Scotland’s Wildlife #wildlife

What wildlife can we see and where in Scotland? What can we learn and who’s going to show us? How can we do it while respecting our natural environment in a sustainable way? Help others to appreciate Scotland’s natural environment by sharing your experiences.

Wed 30 October

The Great Indoors: Visitor Attractions & Museums (including Halloween) #halloween

Celebrate Scotland’s great ‘indoors’:  our beloved visitor attractions and museums, the stories they tell us, how they inspire us. Since it’s also Halloween, why not share some spooky stories, ghostly tales or stories, some perhaps inspired by our visits to attractions.

Wed 27th November

St. Andrew’s Day Special #Staday

Celebrate Scotland’s Patron Saint St. Andrew: events and activities across Scotland, where we can go and what we can do, and let’s encourage Scots and fans of Scotland all over the world to join us.

Sun 29th December* (*Christmas Day falls on Wednesday)

Hogmanay Special #hogmanay

Help travellers, visitors and locals bring in the bells with a bang. Hogmanay is huge in Scotland and we know how to party. Tell the world about how Scotland celebrates Hogmanay –  across the mainland and the islands. Share traditions, events and experiences.

We hope that there is plenty of food for thought in the new monthly themes which have been based on #scotlandhour contributor feedback and around the Visit Scotland Year of Natural Scotland 2013 key themes. Our #scotlandhour chats now follow a 5 question format which you prepare for in advance.

Find out more about the #scotlandhour format here on how you can get involved with #scotlandhour here.

If you have any suggestions, comments or questions regarding #scotlandhour 2013, tweet any of the team: @lesleyjudge @aileenlamb @bairdtravels @2edinburgh @HIEHamilton @fionadrane or email info@smart-tourism.co.uk

Download the Visit Scotland Year of Natural Scotland 2013 Toolkit or check out the Event Scotland 2013 Programme.