Scotland Uncovered — One Week in Scotland: The Ultimate Road Trip Itinerary with Greig McBride

In this episode, we chat to Greig McBride, creator of 'Scotland Uncovered', who makes the case that rain and mist aren't obstacles to enjoying Scotland — they're part of what makes it extraordinary.

Greig shares a practical one-week itinerary taking in Loch Lomond, Glencoe, the west coast, and the Cairngorms, alongside an honest conversation about the pressures of overtourism on places like Skye and the NC500 — and why quieter islands like Mull, Lewis and Harris, Orkney, and Shetland deserve far more love.

He also explores small but meaningful ways to care for Scotland's nature, whether at home or travelling further afield, and encourages everyone to follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, treating the land — and the communities who depend on it — with the respect they deserve.

Whether you're planning your first trip or your fiftieth, this episode is a reminder that Scotland rewards those who take the time to explore it thoughtfully.

Information

Scotland Uncovered - Instagram

Transcript

Kirstin: 00:05

Welcome to Make Space for Nature from NatureScot. And I'm Kirstin Guthrie, and in this episode, Tim Hancox and I chat to Greig McBride, the creator behind 'Scotland Uncovered', who has built a huge online following by doing something brilliantly simple, heading outside and showing Scotland as it really is. Rain, mist, midges, and all. Today Greig shares his favourite spots and top tips for experiencing the very best of Scotland. From dramatic highland landscapes to the quiet nature on your doorstep. Greig believes every season, every weather, and every patch of green has something remarkable to offer. So hi Greig, welcome to the podcast and thanks so much for joining us, but also for supporting our Make Space for Nature campaign with your really inspiring content. It's been great to see. I particularly love the Dreich video that you did. I love that word.

Kirstin: 00:52

So first tell us about what you know what is Scotland Uncovered and you know, was there a specific moment or or place that started it all for you?

Greig: 01:02

Well, first thank you very much for having me on. This is exciting. Um but Scotland Uncovered, yeah. I started it around six years ago. And the first place I'd went was the Isle of Skye. And I think I'd been there previously once before, but I always wanted to go back and explore a bit more of the island. Um so yeah, I just started posting videos um across social platforms and then noticed that people really enjoyed seeing the landscapes of Scotland. So from there it started to evolve. Um then I started to put myself into the the videos itself, and then I started doing a bit of storytelling, and yeah, it's just grew into what it is today, which is um something that I'm very proud of, and yeah, I couldn't have imagined that it would have taken me to the places it has um six years ago.

Kirstin: 01:52

That's brilliant, and you've got a set you've got a huge following across your platforms, which is which is great to see.

Kirstin: 01:58

 And so, you know, you do a bit of tours as well, so you know, are you tour guide, content creator, storyteller? You know, what what's the best way to describe yourself and and and most importantly, what do you enjoy doing the most?

Greig: 02:10

To be honest, I think it's a bit of everything at the moment. Um I did just start off as telling a bit of history, telling some stories of Scotland um through the videos. Um I noticed if you gave nice visuals and people love Scotland anyway, so it's one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Um so the more I told the stories of Scotland, the the bigger the response and the the larger the following grew. Um I personally love the content side, um more so because I'm just uh having adventures myself, um filming places that I like to go and then putting a story behind it and then seeing all of that come together. Um but the tours like I've only really started what about a year and a half ago. Um last summer was like my full first season. Um so it was really successful and I love showing like people from other countries the places that I like to go in Scotland, um, especially getting to see like their first reactions to seeing these places and because we've got especially in the Highlands, we've got such dramatic landscapes. Um so yeah, it's nice to see their reactions as well as learn about other cultures. I really enjoy doing that. Um, because I spend so much time with groups as well, I could be away for five, six, seven days with them. So yeah, it's really interesting to see how they see Scotland um as well as digging into their cultures as well.

Kirstin: 03:38

And do you do you tend to go all around Scotland? Is there uh you know, do you go off to the islands as well? Is it uh you know, is it everywhere in Scotland that you would you would take people?

Greig: 03:48

Aye. Um essentially every tour is tailored specifically to that group. So wherever they want picked up, I'll pick them up and wherever they want to go. A lot of the time people don't really have uh a like the perfect idea of where they want to go. So I'll kinda implement the places that I think are the best. Um but everybody has their kind of popular places in Scotland that they always want to go. Like Skye is always on the list. Um but I feel like Skye is just it's getting a bit oversaturated a wee bit. So it's it's good to kinda offer different islands, like the less known ones, um, because the islands are they're just gorgeous. Like some of the beaches are I mean you could pass them off as like Caribbean beaches, so it's it's kind of suggesting places that are a wee bit off the beaten track, um, as well as like you get these places to yourself, so it's good to go and explore.

Tim: 04:47

Hi Greig, I think you've touched on this a little bit already, but could you let us know but uh as your profile has grown over the past five or so years, how your work and your job has changed during that time?

Greig: 04:59

Yeah, so when I started it, I had a job in a pharmaceutical company, and let's just say it wasn't for me. I was just stuck inside doing an office job, and yeah, I just always wanted to be out. Um, so I think it was late 2023 I finally quit my job and I went full-time with content, first of all. Um that was pretty good, but I thought I need something a bit more solid, I need something that's gonna pay the bills essentially. So that's when I had the idea of starting a tour business. Um so I got myself a seven-seater car and then started advertising through the socials about taking place uh taking people to the places that I actually advertise on my page. Um and it's been great. It's I'm very, very grateful for it and yeah, very proud.

Tim: 05:49

Yeah, and uh Scotland's obviously got a reputation for for all types of weather, not always the best reputation, sometimes unfairly, but is there a particular season or type of weather or or something that people write off too easily? And you know, it's actually worth getting outside, and people should make more of an effort because they're missing out.

Greig: 06:08

Oh yeah, uh winter, 100% is winter. Um and the thing is that I love to tour, especially up north in the winter, because one, it's out of season, so it's not as busy, and you get to see the mountains with the snow on it, and yeah, obviously we don't have as much light, so it can be difficult to explore. Um, but that just means you need to get up earlier, um, get outside, embrace the the cold, embrace the rain. Um, because the thing is about Scotland, like yeah,  some of my guests that come and they'll say like is it gonna be sunny? And I'm like, doesn't matter. Like Scotland is beautiful, no matter the the weather. And the the unique thing about Scotland is we have so much rain, so it like the the kind of moody atmospheres and the clouds, that's what makes Scotland look really beautiful, as well as like the especially in the summer because we have quite a lot of rain then as well, but it makes everything so green, and you don't really get that in a lot of countries across the world. So I have people that come over and they're just they're amazed by how like all the mountains are green as well. So yeah, it's definitely important to take all the seasons in and not just come over for like spring and summer.

Kirstin: 07:18

Absolutely, and I think part of that is also these places are often quieter as well when uh in in the winter, and um it's great to see it when it's quiet too. Um and you know, if if you could show someone or a group your your favourite things to see and do in Scotland in a week, where would you head and why?

Greig: 07:36

In a week, . Um so I do have like a set itinerary that my guests will come to me if they don't really have an idea of what they want to do. So usually it's a pickup in Edinburgh, sometimes Glasgow. But I'll take them from Edinburgh and then I'll just head west right away. Head west up to like Loch Lomond, The Trossachs, see the national park, um, then head up the A82, up to like Glencoe, Oban, um, Glenfinnan, Mallaig, all these places, and then keep heading up the the the west coast because the further you go up like the more wild it gets, but the more beautiful it gets as well. You have like incredible sandy beaches with like turquoise water, but you also have the mountain terrain behind it as well, so you have all these kind of diverse landscapes, um, in such a short space of time as well, because like you can drive up what six hours and then you're just in a completely different world. Um, from there I will head through the North Highlands and then down the east coast and probably more central through like the Cairngorms. So you're getting to see like the best of what I would say Scotland has to offer.

Kirstin: 08:46

Brilliant. And you know, obviously when you're out and about there's there's going to be we we do we call it bad weather, any adverse weather, Dreich weather, you know, and has it ever taken you somewhere or or have you seen something that maybe you wouldn't have found otherwise?

Greig: 09:01

Absolutely. Well I always say um if it's sunny it's great. Like you'll get nice weather all day, you get blue skies, but the mountains don't look that great. Like the the bad weather brings a lot of contrast to the mountains. Like it's yeah. I prefer the cloudy weather, especially if I'm doing like a day of filming as well. Like they just look so much more, like I said, moody and it it's just a nice atmosphere. So I think that's what people want to see. They want to see the kind of misty glens and yeah, the snow snow capped peaks of the mountains.

Tim: 09:34

You've obviously spent the last few years uncovering all kinds of amazing places in in Scotland, you know, some well-known ones, some some hidden gems. But do you ever get frustrated that that people are missing out, especially Scottish people who might live here and there's all these things on their doorstep? 

Greig: 09:53

Yes absolutely. Um so one of the comments that I'll get, especially when I'm sharing like beautiful places, and it is typically the Highlands kind of thing, but I try and implement a lot more um places around, especially the central belt, the lowlands, um the borders, these kind of places, because these are beautiful places as well. But a lot of people they just don't want to get out of the cities, like they'll stay in the central belt and then they'll leave comments like this isn't the real Scotland, like this is the kind of fairytale of Scotland that everybody fantasises about when really it is the real Scotland, like these are still real places, so people just need to get away. Like say you live in Glasgow, but two hours for Glasgow, you're in some of the most beautiful scenes around the highlands. So yeah, I definitely agree that people need to explore more. That's one of the things that I done because I lived in Australia for a year back in 2016, and I hadn't really explored Scotland as much. So I had this kind of travel bug. As soon as I came back, I started travelling Scotland, and then I was just amazed by how beautiful our country was. So I can I can see the I can see why there's so many people that now want to come to Scotland and experience it.

Kirstin: 11:06

It's funny you say that. Sorry, I was gonna say that, it's funny you say that, because I had exactly the same experience when I went travelling, spent a lot of time in Australia and New Zealand, and came back and thought, you know what, I have not seen half my country, which is ridiculous. Um so yeah, I totally get that.

Greig: 11:22

Yeah, like another thing. Well, we have um we've got some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

Kirstin: 11:28

Yeah.

Greig: 11:28

Obviously, they're a bit cold, like the water's Baltic.

Kirstin: 11:31

Yeah, have to put your big puffa jacket and all that on them, but still they look nice.

Tim: 11:35

Exactly. Yeah, I was I was gonna say the same kind of thing. I went long ago when I lived in Cape Town and people tourists would come over and do all these things, be like, I haven't done that, and I've lived here for years. I mean, that's that's obviously the problem. So what what what message would you give, Greig, to people who complain who who live in maybe in the cities wherever they complain that there's nothing worth seeing near where they live? What what would your message be?

Greig: 11:60

I mean, all I can say is try go different places, like maybe even once a month if you can't go that often. But just experience what the the country actually has to offer. Instead of complaining and just sitting about kind of thing, staying in, watching the telly. Yeah, get out, like pick maybe the Highlands one month, go to the borders next month, try some of the islands. Like, we've got so many islands, and the the islands have got such a kind of calm vibe about them. Like they've got a nice community. Um life is just a lot slower, especially the highlands and islands. So yeah, get out there and experience it.

Kirstin: 12:38

Yeah, absolutely. And um, I mean, even people who maybe can't for whatever reason get further afield, it's it's it's often discovering places on your doorstep as well. It's it's like green spaces parks, these kind of things. There's so many, just open your front door and and you know, local paths, uh, you know, it is literally on people's doorsteps.

Kirstin: 12:58

And you know, obviously people who can get further afield they do get out and they do discover places, but how can how can tourism and social media inspire people to get out and about but but without harming the environment?

Greig: 13:11

Yeah, I think that's the thing. Like the more social media um spreads across the world, um, because you you're getting places that are getting just overrun with tourism. I think the North Coast is pretty bad for that. Um hopefully we can get some better infrastructure in there because like the tourists are going to keep coming. So I think it's trying to dilute it a little bit by finding these places that aren't as visited as often. Like take Skye, for instance. Obviously, they've got the bridge, so that's why it's so accessible. But instead of always going to Skye, like try somewhere else, try Mull, try try Iona, try Lewis Harris. Like Lewis and Harris are absolutely incredible in the history they've got in some of these places, Orkney, Shetland. But there's so many places to visit instead of just going to these kind of Instagram popular spots. So yeah, I think it's it's important to to give back as well to all these other communities that are missing out.

Kirstin: 14:08

Yeah, yeah, so true, so true. And we always encourage people to follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code and have responsible access and um when they're out and about as well.

Kirstin: 14:16

And you know what what what's one what do you think, you know, one small thing anyone can do to to reconnect with or or you know help nature that you think genuinely makes a difference?

Greig: 14:26

I think the one thing that I hate to see, especially when you're in these beautiful places, is litter. And like if you've got a bag with you or anything, just pick something up. Just do a wee bit for nature. Um as well as like during the winter, like if you're out and there's loads of birds that are struggling to find food and stuff like that, so I like to bring like birdseed with me and just leave a wee bit for them because they're always like following you about the place, so they're they're obviously hungry and wanting something. Um so yeah, it's just being a bit more thoughtful in nature. Um but yeah, pick up litter and try and feed the animals.

Tim: 15:04

That's great. 

Tim: 15:05

Obviously you've you've been going to places for for a few years now regularly, Greig. Um have you noticed any kind of change in the kind of behaviour people have in their natural spaces or or in the audience who who follow you, the any kind of uh changes, good, good or bad, that you've noticed?

Greig: 15:23

Um  I've done the the North Coast or like the NC 500. I've done that a couple of times and yeah, people can be quite disrespectful. Um especially like disposable uh disposing of like the chemical toilets and things like that. I can see a lot of people doing it at the side of the road. A lot of people aren't parking in designated parking areas, um so it's it's just taking the making yourself responsible for your own actions when you're travelling to these places because one person can ruin it for the rest of us. So I think that I think Scots are really good at looking after their land. Um I think we're quite proud of the land that we live in and we know how beautiful it is. So yeah, it's just having that initiative to go right, maybe I should be doing this the proper way. So, like you were saying, follow the outdoor access code, check the rules before you actually go out. Um so you're spending like a a stay staycation or whatever. Um so yeah, it's just check the rules before you go and and look after it.

Tim: 16:27

No, I couldn't couldn't have said it better myself, yeah. Make sure it's it's still there to be beautiful for for the next people leave no trace. Yeah. Exactly. And so could you let us know what what do you hope Scotland Uncovered um and getting more people outdoors can achieve in the long run? Do you have do you have any uh long-term ambitions?

Greig: 16:49

Um yeah, I think the way it's going, I'd like to just tell more stories about the people of Scotland as well. And not just these incredible landscapes, because it's the people that make all these stories as magical as they are. Um so yeah, I'd like to get more in touch with the other creators and their stories and how they're advertising and being ambassadors essentially of Scotland. Um because they're they're showcasing our beautiful country to the world. So it would be quite nice to tell their stories as well. Um but overall, I just want to yeah, keep being an ambassador of Scotland and keep showing showing off our country.

Tim: 17:32

That's fantastic. Thank you so much for coming on, Greig. Really appreciate you you showcasing and and letting people know how how great Scotland is and how different it is. It's not all just uh the highlands you see in the films, but they're also all the magical islands and so many great places to visit. Or for being an inspiration to all of us to get out more and to just go outdoors. 

Greig: 17:58

Thanks very much. Um it was great coming on, so yeah, thank you.

Tim: 18:02

Thanks for listening. For more ways to connect with and help protect Scotland's natural world, go to nature.scot.