If you are feeling festive, look no further than a Christmas market. The smell of mulled wine, the sound of carol singers, the taste of that first mince pie: markets are a multi-sensory feast for all the family, and the perfect way to kick off your festivities.

As the nights turn darker and longer in Scotland the ghosts and ghouls come out to play. The shadows stretch out and the tales turn taller in the season of Samhain and Halloween. Scotland, after all, is the country of Jekyll and Hyde, of real-life Bodysnatchers; a shadowy land where past and present constantly intertwine – no wonder Diana Gabaldon chose Scotland as the setting for her time-travelling historical fantasy romance, Outlander. Autumn is a spooky time of year all right; otherworldly too as the dark skies bewitch you into looking beyond our world in search of others in the heavens. In this land of wandering souls and lingering shadows, you’ll still also find peace and solitude away from the summer crowds.

Scotland is a land of epic landscapes, soul-stirring views and camera teasing wildscapes. And in autumn it really excels as the leaves turn and the heather blooms. The deer descend from the mountains too, the mountain hares consider a change of coat to a white winter hue, the salmon are leaping and the red squirrels get serious about stocking up for winter.

Savvy Scots know the upside of shortening nights is the soft, dappled light, burning colours and sheer cosiness of a Scottish Autumn. What could be more life-affirming on a glorious autumn day than enjoying a bracing walk followed by a gorgeous single malt in the glowering gloaming?