Gentle hills, whisky and fishing

Aberdeenshire and the adjacent regions of Angus and Moray together make up the gentle hill country of Northeast Scotland.

Here, just east of the Cairngorms, the land flattens out and transitions into agricultural areas, rolling golf links, cliffs, sandy beaches and the pretty fishing villages of the Moray and Banffshire Coasts.

It's a wealthier part of Scotland thanks in part to the presence of oil, the whisky distilleries of Speyside, and good off-shore fishing. But in terms of tourism it's all too often overlooked.

Aberdeenshire itself huddles around Scotland's oil city Aberdeen; Angus lies around the fairly bedraggled city of Dundee, though both cities are worth a look if you're in the area.

Both cities also have worthwhile castles in their vicinity and are around an hour's drive of Cairngorms National Park, while Moray Coast iself leads to Inverness' doorstep.