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In today’s email:
- Giant Panda’s Wave Goodbye To Edinburgh After 12 Years
- How To Find A Scottish Pub Anywhere In The World
- Collect your gift! – A Free Digital Copy Of The Ultimate Scotland Travel Guide
- Around the Web: Here’s where you can find cat cafes in Scotland, What is St Andrew’s Day? Why Scotland still celebrates the occasion in 2023…, Glasgow Santa Dash: Thousands sign up as deadline looms and more
- From Social Media – Who’d like to spend the night in a Scottish castle?!
- Scottish Food You Will Love – Christmas Dinner | | Growing Up Scottish
- Coo Wee – If Hollywood Horror was Scottish
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What Edinburgh Zoo Teaches About Scottish Wildlife Conservation
The pandas may have left, but Edinburgh Zoo’s conservation work runs far deeper than any single species. Scotland is home to serious wildlife conservation programmes, and visiting them adds a dimension to your trip that castles and lochs alone can’t provide.
- Edinburgh Zoo’s penguin parade is still the best free show in the city. Every day at 2:15pm, the colony of Gentoo penguins waddle along a marked path through the zoo. It’s been running for decades and never gets old. Arrive 15 minutes early for a front-row spot.
- See Scottish wildcats at the Highland Wildlife Park before they’re gone. The Scottish wildcat is Britain’s rarest mammal, with fewer than 100 left in the wild. The Highland Wildlife Park in Kingussie runs a breeding programme and is one of the few places you can reliably see them. Combined with polar bears and red pandas, it’s a full-day visit.
- Puffins don’t need a zoo — they’re on the Scottish coast every summer. The Isle of May, Bass Rock, and Handa Island all have massive puffin colonies from May to July. Boat trips from Anstruther (Isle of May) and North Berwick (Bass Rock) get you within metres of them. These are wild encounters, not enclosures.
- Red squirrels are everywhere if you know where to look. While England has lost most of its red squirrels to greys, Scotland still has thriving populations. Cairngorms, Rothiemurchus Forest, and Brodick Castle on Arran are reliable spots. Bring peanuts and sit quietly — they’ll come to you.
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Giant Panda’s Wave Goodbye To Edinburgh After 12 Years
Yang Guang and Tian Tian are leaving in early December after a 12-year stay. They have been a popular attraction since people lined the road outside the zoo to greet them when they arrived in 2011. They are the latest pandas to leave the West after exchange agreements have expired and not been renewed by China.
How To Find A Scottish Pub Anywhere In The World
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Around The Web
Here’s where you can find cat cafes in Scotland
Met Office extends yellow snow and ice warnings across Scotland
Bill launched to protect Scotland’s national languages
What is St Andrew’s Day? Why Scotland still celebrates the occasion in 2023…
National Trust for Scotland improving the sustainability of its gardens
Tributes paid after death of Alistair Darling
Northern Lights forecast in Scotland tonight as aurora to light up St Andrew’s Day
Vital link between Edinburgh areas Longstone and Stenhouse due to be re-opened by Christmas as bridge works begin
Edinburgh council work underway on bridge ahead of schedule.
First look inside Edinburgh’s new Parisian-style cocktail bar as stylish venue opens
Side-splitting Edinburgh clip shows man dressed as Christmas tree dancing at roadside
This is Edinburgh’s chances of a White Christmas as bookies make predictions
With temperatures plummeting, the odds of snow on the December 25 seem to be increasing –
Musicians of Glasgow: The 40 best all-time Glaswegian bands and artists
Couple get engaged at Glasgow Central Station after sweet message lights up departures board
Glasgow Barrowlands pays tribute to ‘one of our best’ Pogues star Shane MacGowan
Popular Glasgow pub raises thousands for charity with ‘dine in the dark’ event
A popular Glasgow pub recently raised thousands of pounds for a Scottish charity.
Glasgow Santa Dash: Thousands sign up as deadline looms
From Social Media
Who’d like to spend the night in a Scottish castle?!
Carlowrie Castle, VisitWestLothian
Instagram.com/paul_watt_photography
Scottish Food You Will Love –
Christmas Dinner | | Growing Up Scottish
Coo Wee
If Hollywood Horror was Scottish – Short Stuff
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A Traveller’s Perspective
Edinburgh Zoo’s giant pandas leaving after 12 years was a bigger deal than you might think. Tian Tian and Yang Guang were genuine celebrities in Scotland — their enclosure was consistently the most popular exhibit, and their departure in late 2023 left a real gap. The zoo remains excellent without them, but there was something special about seeing these extraordinary creatures in the middle of the Scottish capital.
Edinburgh Zoo is well worth a visit, pandas or not. It sits on the side of Corstorphine Hill in the west of the city, about 20 minutes by bus from the centre. Allow at least three hours. The penguin parade — when the Gentoo penguins waddle along a path through the zoo — is a highlight and takes place daily during the cooler months. The chimpanzee and sun bear enclosures are excellent. For a quieter visit, go on a weekday morning during term time.
Watching the penguin parade at Edinburgh Zoo on a cold February morning, wrapped in a scarf and clutching a takeaway coffee, is one of those quintessentially Edinburgh experiences. The penguins waddle out of their enclosure and along the path at their own pace, completely unbothered by the crowd of humans pressed against the barriers. Their confidence is absurd and wonderful. Children point and squeal. Adults try to take photos and end up just watching instead. The air is sharp with cold and the smell of eucalyptus from the nearby trees.
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Booking in advance guarantees your place and ensures you can fully immerse yourself in the rich culture and breathtaking scenery without stress or disappointment. You’ll also free up time to explore Scotland's hidden gems and savour those authentic moments that make your trip truly special.
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