Culture, Sport and Leisure

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Scottish culture

With an impressive quality of life on offer in Scotland, you’re probably going to need to pick up a few new hobbies. For example, did you know that Edinburgh is a UNESCO World City of Literature and Glasgow is a UNESCO World City of Music. Not only that, we also host the world's largest cultural festival - The Edinburgh Festival Fringe - every August.

Leisure time

Whatever your working pattern is in Scotland, you'll still be entitled to plenty of leisure time - luckily, Scotland has a whole host of amazing things to keep those evenings and weekends fully occupied. 

During the summer months, Scotland also benefits from an average of 17 hours of daylight, meaning that even after a long day at work, there is still plenty of time to take a short trip to the beach or countryside and squeeze in a beautiful early evening stroll.

No matter what you like to do with your free time, there are a massive amount of options open to you in Scotland. From immersing yourself in the stunning sights that saw us voted 'The Most Beautiful Country in the World', to soaking up the very best in sport, live music, performance and culture. 

Over the years, Scotland has played host to a number of major international events in recent years and has developed a reputation for providing world-class hospitality. As well as hosting what quickly became known as "the best ever" Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, we've hosted major sporting events such as football’s Champions League Final, rugby’s World Cup and European Cup, golf’s British Open and athletics' European Championships.
In 2021, this trend continued as we welcomed Europe's football elite for a series of games as part of the UEFA European Championships.

In 2023, Glasgow and Scotland hosted the first ever UCI Cycling World Championships, and Glasgow will host the Commonwealth Games in 2026. 

On top of this, Scotland regularly plays host to some of the biggest bands in the world and is a common stop on most major world tours, and don’t forget the Edinburgh Festivals, the world’s biggest arts festival.

Find out more about what to do in your free time (visitscotland.com)
Find out about what's going on in Scotland (list.co.uk)

Sport in Scotland

If sport is more your style, then you'll be pleased to hear that whether you like watching or taking part, Scotland has something for everyone. We benefit from an infrastructure that covers everything from grassroots beginner levels right through to the professional level in a huge number of different sports.  

As well as this, we also regularly host major international sporting tournaments such as Rugby's Six Nations tournament, the golfing Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, and the Mountain Biking World Championship. 

To get a taste of Scottish culture, come along to one of the many Highland Games events (visitscotland.com) held around the country and there are a whole host of other sporting events which take place all over Scotland throughout the year, you can find out more about events in Scotland (visitscotland.com).


If you're looking for something a little less structured, we've got you covered too. Explore our stunning countryside and hike up some of our 282 Munros mountains which are over 3000ft (914m) including Ben Nevis - the UK's highest peak.

Or, if you're more comfortable at sea level, why not try out some of our amazing surfing locations, try your hand at some scuba diving (it's cold, but worth it) or jump on a bike and test out some of our spellbinding cycle routes. With so many things to do, there should be something for everyone.

Find out about getting involved in sport in Scotland (sportscotland.org.uk)

Find out more information about sport in Scotland.

Learn about the power of football in Scotland.