Plan Your Next Adventure with Spirit of the Highlands and Islands

In December last year, the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands team launched our new website, full of content inspired by local communities and their stories. It aims to help people explore the Highlands and Islands more widely and to acquire first-hand knowledge of the hidden gems and unique experiences which our region has to offer.

This content features brilliant contributions from community ambassadors all over the Highlands and Islands, building upon our Spirit: Stories archive, including new films, images, and audio guides.

On the website there are bespoke itineraries created to help people explore the Highlands and Islands through stories and suggest alternative locations to discover on your travels. The Spirit of the Highlands and Islands team are now delighted to launch a new feature on the site which enables you to personalise these itineraries.

You can now register for an account on our website which enables you to create your own journey around the Highlands and Islands inspired by local stories! What follows is a how to guide on using our new planning tool.

Why register?

Registering allows you to create your own collection of itineraries throughout the Highlands and Islands. Starting from one of our curated itineraries, you can add locations, re-order them, and share it with others. Alternatively, you can build your own from scratch beginning with any of our locations!

You will also be able to add your own notes to the itinerary and upload images so you can store your memories of your time in the Highlands and Islands, or pin ideas of what you want to see and do on your next visit.

How to build an itinerary

From an itinerary page:

• Click "Add this itinerary to my collection".

• You will then be directed to this itinerary, and it will also be available on the "My itineraries" page that you can get to from the menu bar.

From a location page:

• Click "Add this location to an itinerary".

• You can then choose one of your existing itineraries to add this location to or enter the name of a new itinerary.

• When you are done click "Add to itinerary".

How to edit an itinerary

There are many things you can do with your itinerary:

• Click on the "Edit" link to the right of its title to change the title or add some introductory text.

• Click "Upload some images for your itinerary" to upload your own photos or inspirations for your visit. (Every location you add to an itinerary will also get its own image).

• If you hover over any of the thumbnails, you will see a wastebasket icon. Clicking this will delete the image. There is also a home icon. Clicking this makes the image the main one for the itinerary.

Alongside the upload button there is a "Share" button which allows you to share your itinerary with someone else. Suggest your custom journey to friends and family as inspiration for your next adventure!

Notes

Click on the "Add a note about this itinerary" to add a note.

Existing notes are shown in full underneath the "My notes" section.

If you hover over an existing note a pencil icon appears to its right. Click on this to edit or delete the note.

Your itinerary route

Once your itinerary has more than two locations, the map will be updated to show a route through these locations. You will also be able to access additional links that show the route on Google Maps.

In the "Destinations on my itinerary" section, each destination has some icons to the right-hand side:

• Click the up or down arrows to re-order the locations. This will update the route shown on your map.

• Click the wastebasket icon to delete the location.

You can also click on these locations to go to their respective page.

Click here to start your journey!

We hope to see you soon! 😊