Both the Lowland, salty air of the old fishing villages of the East Neuk of Fife, and the wide-open spaces of the upper Angus Glens, are included in this area offering contrasts in plenty on both sides of the Highland line.

Typical Perthshire scenery takes in long and picturesque lochs in steep-sided glens, with big grey-green mountains above - explore around Rannoch or Tummel for adventures and water-based activities or long days on the hill. A little string of Highland-edge towns like Dunkeld and Blairgowrie have one foot in the hills and another in the gentler lands below. The major centre of Perth offers an excellent range of places to visit, from gardens to distilleries. It also makes a good centre for exploring 'Big Tree Country', with both the tallest tree in Britain (near Dunkeld) and the highest hedge (near Blairgowrie) within easy reach.

From the empty silent spaces on the edge of the Grampian mountains, down to a coastline of red sandstone cliffs and long beaches, Angus is an area full of surprises, from Scotland's own Niagara Falls - the Reekie Linn waterfall near Alyth - to Macbeth connections at Glamis Castle. Kirriemuir is the gateway to the Angus Glens, and noted for its associations with JM Barrie, creator of Peter Pan. Between hill and coast lies gentler country with Forfar and Brechin as the main centres. East again, Carnoustie is a reminder that the quality of golf on offer hereabouts has few parallels. As well as fine coastal golf links, Angus offers a coastline worth exploring for its beaches and coves, especially around Auchmithie, north of Arbroath, and Lunan Bay.

Dundee offers a vibrant city experience, the wealth of its attractions symbolised by RRS Discovery, Captain Scott's Antarctic exploration vessel, berthed at Discovery Point,. It looks back to its former role as a jute and textile processing centre, at the Verdant Works (lots of hands-on activities for children), and forward by way of the innovative Dundee Contemporary Arts and also the Dundee Science Centre.

Across the Tay Bridge from Dundee, Fife is quintessentially Lowland and gentle. St Andrews uniquely combines a heritage as an ancient religious centre, university town and - perhaps most famously - as the home of golf. (Though everyone has heard of the Old Course, remember there is a huge choice of other courses in Fife.) St Andrews also has an excellent range of shops.

Fife also has more than its share of picturesque villages, making relaxed countryside touring very rewarding. Cuiross, bypassed by time; Falkland, clustered around the grand renaissance facade of Falkland Palace, Ceres in the green Fife hinterland, Crail, with its 16th -century Tolbooth a reminder of an old Scots burgh. Over in the East Neuk (Scots for corner), the red-pantiled white-walled fishing villages are certainly colourful, with the Fife Fisheries Museum at Anstruther an excellent evocation of village life bound up with the sea.