Travellers from across the UK are turning to Scotland for a holiday this year as demand for staycations continues to soar.
Since the beginning of April, holiday rentals search engine HomeToGo has seen a 255% increase in searches for holidays in Scotland compared to 2019.
In fact, places such as Fife, Edinburgh and the Highlands saw more searches this weekend than Portugal and Gibraltar - both of which are on England's 'green travel list'.
UK holidaymakers are also turning to the Scottish islands to escape this summer, with Arran, Lewis, Harris, Mull, Skye and Bute all seeing the largest uplift of searches.
Scots city breaks also appear to be making a comeback, with Edinburgh seeing a search increase of 190% in the same time period.
Travellers booking breaks by the sea are seeking out trips to Scotland too, with search figures for coastal destinations such as St Andrews and Ullapool seeing increases across the board.
Others are looking for their waterside holiday fix further inland, with searches for Loch Lomond also up by 600%.
According to the data, Inverness and St Andrews Most are popular with couples, Skye and Mull are favourites for solo travellers and Loch Lomond and Ayrshire are most liked by groups.
And there's great value in these trending hotspots, with the median price per night for a holiday home on average £36.59 lower than in popular destinations of Cornwall, Dorset, Cumbria and Devon.
Travel restrictions and rules around staycations in Scotland eased from April 26, allowing people to go on holiday for the first time in months.
While England has announced a traffic light system from Mid-May, no plans for the resumption of foreign holidays has been announced up north.
Caroline Burns, Travel Expert at HomeToGo, adds: “HomeToGo’s recent Return of the Travel study identified beach breaks as the top post-lockdown priority for the majority of UK holidaymakers, with stays in nature ranking second.
"With wild coasts and unspoiled natural landscapes, from the shores of St Andrews to the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park’s Munros, it’s easy to see how Scotland’s tourism offering corresponds to these traveller preferences.
"What’s more, we know that a lot of holidaymakers are now looking for trips where they can bring their dogs, for which Scotland is a great choice due to its accessibility, beautiful wide open spaces, and plentiful pets-allowed accommodation.
"In fact, the town of Aviemore in the Cairngorms National Park is one of the UK’s most dog-friendly destinations, with 32% of the Aviemore lettings available through HomeToGo listed as permitting pets.”
