On the Shopping Trail

In UK terms, Scotland's cities ride high in any league table of retailing activity. Glasgow, for example, is the second largest retail area in Britain outside London and a visit there confirms it as a destination for the serious shopper.

Edinburgh also has a superb range to attract visitors right through the year. Yet the most important message for visitors is that some of the most interesting, off-beat, exclusive or just plain good value shops are often away from the city-centre sites.

Be open-minded, expect the unexpected if you are setting out to explore Scotland's shopping opportunities! However, even knowing the retail delights in rural Scotland, for many visitors, the capital beckons. Edinburgh's Princes Street, with the Castle dominating the open vista to the south, is arguably the most famous street in Scotland.

Perhaps its best-known shop is Jenners, the Bloomingdales or Harrods of the north, which is sometimes described as the oldest department store in the world. Around the open space of Jenners' airy, light-filled central well, the departments display a host of designer names, especially of womenswear and shoes - though Jenners' range extends far beyond. Elsewhere on Princes Street, major British chain stores such as Debenhams and House of Fraser have a substantial presence.

Moments away in St Andrew Square, Harvey Nichols Edinburgh opened in August 2002 and is set to change the shopping habits of resident and visitors alike. In the symmetrical grid of streets forming the New Town of Edinburgh, perhaps no street has changed more in recent years than George Street, parallel to Princes Street.

Once the home of many businesses in the financial sector, the high-ceilinged former banking halls and offices are now the setting for cafes, bars and shops. jewellery and gift shops such as Hamilton and Inches are here, so is Space NK and Jo Malone for skins that need cosseting with upmarket beauty products.

Pink and Cruise fly the flag, too, along with Whistles and The Cashmere Store. Between Princes Street and George Street lies the narrower Rose Street, with a great selection along its pedestrian area from swish music systems at Hi-Fi Corner to the best in antique and fine jewellery at Alistir Tait. In the symmetrical way the streets run hereabouts, you'll find the equally narrow Thistle Street to the north, with an excellent selection as well: more jewellery at Joseph Bonner; exclusive clothes at Jane Davidson.

All this is within easy walking distance of Princes Street (and that includes, for example, the choice of commercial galleries along Dundas Street). Go a little further and the shops of village Edinburgh can be discovered. Stockbridge is downhill to the northwest or, even closer, Stafford Street and William Street at the west end of Princes Street offer any number of exclusive outlets, as well as the old-established Studio One, Edinburgh's kitchen and gift shop par excellence.

The Old Town of Edinburgh represents another side of the city. Anta, with its instantly recognisable Scottish themed ceramics, is on the Royal Mile. McCalls of the Royal Mile will hire you a kilt, or kit you out in full Highland regalia. Elsewhere on the Mile, there are cigars, cashmere, antique prints and pictures - all a million miles from the chainstore shopping experience.

Go down Victoria Street, towards the Grassmarket, and you'll even find a shop dealing exclusively in brushes, of all kinds, as well as Iain Mellis, a rather splendid cheese shop. And there is still the length of the Royal Mile to explore in the other direction. Further out, there's Bruntsfield, Morningside, Corstorphine, plus a range of modern shopping malls - Cameron Toll, Kinnaird Park, the Gyle - the capital shopping experience certainly makes its contribution to the city as an all-year round destination.

Edinburgh's big - and Glasgow's bigger. A grid off streets from Sauchiehall Street south towards Argyle Street lies at the core. At least, that's how it used to be. Throughout the 1990s, Glasgow's shopping choice simply got better and better, both through the developments of major covered modern malls such as the St Enoch Centre, just off Argyle Street, but also through the upbeat confidence in the city's future as expressed through a whole range of shops which still thrive in the Merchant City, the old commercial quarter east of Buchanan Street.

In contrast to some of the other High-Street-name-filled centres, Princes Square, likewise within this "hot" shopping area, manages to combine a smaller scale of shopping mall with exclusivity, by way of a superb selection of fashion, skin care, leather and cafes for refreshment. Within a few minutes' walk - and visible all the way up Buchanan Street - the Buchanan Galleries is a large scale mall which marks some kind of northern limit for the main downtown shopping streets.

Everything is here from the Gadget Shop to John Lewis. (It's the largest covered shopping area in the city, though it's run pretty close by the massive Braehead Shopping Centre at King's Inch Road, west of the city off the M8). Think shopping and Glasgow, think Glasgow style and, inevitably, the Italian Centre comes to mind. The very latest in Italian designer attire is found in this gathering of top names such as Armani, all in a handsome 19th century former commercial building in the heart of the Merchant City.

Another example of the Merchant City's rebirth and re-use of old buildings can be seen at the former cheesemarket (of all things) to the east. Now it's the Merchant Square, under cover, atmospheric, relaxing, with a music shop - Classics in the City -, a luxury chocolate shop - Kschocolat, plus cafes and restaurants.

With such a mind-blowing choice in downtown Glasgow, it's also easy to overlook other areas worth a visit within the city, of which Byres Road, near the University is one of the very best. Offbeat, perhaps a little whimsical, this is a shopping street well worth exploring.

And take time to discover parallel streets like Creswell Lane, where former mews houses and stables now house small specialist shops. De Courcys Arcade is notable, where, for instance, a dedicated running shop (Achilles Heel!) rubs shoulders with an astrologer, a comic collectors' shop, a coffee and music house (Beanscene) and a few other surprises. (And after all that, you are only a few minutes' walk from a cultural fix at the Hunterian Art Gallery.)

But no matter the preoccupation with retail matters in Scotland's two largest cities, no-one should overlook the quality and range available in other cities and towns of Scotland. Take note: sophisticated shopping is not the exclusive domain of the central belt of Scotland.

Aberdeen, Scotland's third city, has a good retail choice spreading widely beyond its main shopping area on Union Street. As a change from the usual, big-name, High Street chains, more specialised shops are located in smaller streets such as Belmont Street. The former school complex, the Academy, is here, with its exclusive outlets - good for clothes and designer jewellery - for example, the latest in young fashion can be seen at Miami and Attic.

For little foodie gifts try MacBeans, the coffee roasters and tea specialists on the corner of Little Belmont Street. Jamieson and Carry, back on Union Street, is a local jeweller with a large showroom and workshop Ñ good for gifts as well. Dundee is another happening place, with not just a whole range of visitor attractions but also a buoyant retail sector.

The city has one of the largest pedestrianised shopping areas in Europe - and one which has won environmental awards. Its shopping areas stretched from the Wellgate at one end to the recently refurbished Overgate at the other (featuring, among other well-known names, the largest H & M in Scotland, as well as the area's first Gap).

There is also the new City Quay, a little out of the town centre, offering even more shops including a designer factory outlet. The Perth Road area to the west of the Overgate centre is also worth a visit for its antique shops, craft shops, delicatessen and other outlets. Talking of Perth Road, Dundee's neighbour, Perth is another very buoyant centre, servicing its well-to-do rural hinterland on the Highland edge.

The River Tay was once well known for its fresh water pearls and Cairncross the Jeweller is the place to see them. The city also does antique shops and countrywear particularly well and many of its retailers are still family businesses, though it certainly has its share of High Street names (including Marks and Spencer).

Scotland's most northerly city, Inverness, is yet another of these locations where the bustle of the downtown shops suggest a thriving economy. Though the Eastgate Centre here symbolises the nation-wide trend towards modern, pedestrian-only, covered shopping malls, the old Victorian Market nearby is a reminder that, in terms of shopping experience, small is beautiful.

Among Scotland's larger towns, Stirling is the latest to acquire city status, and has a retail choice to match, led by the modern mall of the Thistle Centre. Nearby Falkirk, too, is increasing its reputation for quality shopping. It stands fifth in the national league table of shopping destinations and was recently voted Best Shopping Town in Scotland. (See for yourself at their website www.falkirkinspired.com).

The town attracts shoppers from all over Central Scotland and beyond. The town centre has a great selection of large national stores such as Boots, Marks and Spencers, BHS, River Island, TK Maxx, Virgin and Next in the fully pedestrianised High Street, and it also boasts a total of 26 shopping streets, as well as attractive shopping malls, the Howgate and Callendar Square.

In fact the town mixes big names with specialised shops very well - notably along the atmospheric little cobble streets which are the setting for a wide range of independent businesses including designer boutiques, model shops and galleries. Whichever way you look at it, Falkirk presents impressive shopping statistics - 30 or so listed fashion outlets, plus at least seven arts and craft shops all around the town centre.

Even in small towns and communities (some would say especially away from cities), there are surprises. On the Moray Firth coast, for example, visitors come from all over to see the exclusive lines on offer (clothes, countrywear, giftware and so on) at Baxters of Speyside's Highland Village, the visitor centre of the internationally renowned food producer in Fochabers.

In the very heart of Perthshire, a short drive from the main A9, Perth to Inverness road, brings the visitor to the attractive little town of Aberfeldy. Good shops are here, too, small businesses on a sensible scale, while nearby is the House of Menzies, with arguably one of the finest and most exclusive New World wine ranges north of the border, as well as a selection of works by contemporary Scottish artists and craftworkers. (It's a conversion of a former doocot [dovecote] and cattle court on the B846, the Tummel Bridge road, just west of Aberfeldy.)

To take just a random example from the west: en route for Loch Lomond, the Rowan Gallery in Drymen is well worth a look for prints and gifts. Lomond Shores, the new flagship centre on the southern edge of Loch Lomond will soon be in full swing, with a complete arcade of upmarket shops (including an out-of-the-city Jenners) to distract visitors from views of the bonny banks.

Back east, St Andrews is just one town with an extraordinary shopping choice for its size. (The retailers in this northeast Fife town probably thrive from the attentions of the non-playing partners who need a shopping diversion while their spouses take to the famous courses!) Golf equipment from Auchterlonies or David Low Sports, designer knitwear from Di Gilpin, Wemyss Ware (including the famous Scottish grinning cats!) out of town at the Griselda Hill Pottery by Ceres, plus Scotland's Larder, the innovative foodshop a little further out at Upper Largo.

And, if exploring the coasts hereabouts, remember even the local ship chandlers along the harbourfront at places like Pittenweem can sometimes offer great prices on things like handy gadgets and rugged outdoor wear. In short, you just never know what you'll discover. There's a certain town in Grampian with a pharmacy (of all things) which also sells the most extraordinary range of Scottish music and videos.

Another shop in a rural Perthshire town has prices on its knitwear which undercuts anything you could find in the city centres. Just go out and find them. In short, shopping in Scotland is quite an adventure. Keep your eyes open, wherever you travel.