BBC - Grand Tours of Scotland Series 1 (2010) Part 6 Wish You Were Here

Paul Murton follows in the footsteps of the first tourists to Scotland. With a Victorian guidebook in his hands, Paul travels across the country tracing the changes that have taken place since the birth of Scottish tourism 200 years ago.

For centuries, Scotland was regarded as a place to avoid, and early travellers complained about the terrible weather, bad food, poor roads and the uncouth habits of the natives. To find out what changed to make Scotland an internationally celebrated tourist destination, Paul recreates six Scottish tours suggested by a well-thumbed, 19th-century copy of Black's Picturesque Guide to Scotland.

Part 6 Wish You Were Here

Paul traces the rise of the seaside as a workers' playground. In Victorian times, most tourists came from a tiny social elite - the rich - and for the great mass of the population a holiday was just a dream. But when working people eventually won the right to some free time, by far the majority of them did not rush off to the romantic highlands to enjoy the view, most postcards home were sent from the seaside. Paul begins his journey in the historic town of St Andrews, hops across the Firth of Forth to North Berwick and ends up in the capital city - Edinburgh.

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