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In this section you will find a range of information to help you to make the most of your visit to Scotland. This includes:

• Scotland with Style ! - an introductory article by Vince Docherty (see below)

• Jane Yolen's Scotland - Our Guest of Honour provides some personal recommendations

• Fan-Run and Other Guided Tours

• An introduction to Charles Rennie Macintosh, the Glasgow architect who designed some of Glasgow's greatest buildings, and inspired the look of this website

• Links and Resources - your starting point for further information.

You can find information on travel options - both to/from and around the convention - as well as our top 10 tips for travellers, in our related travel section.

Glasgow - Scotland with Style !

By Vincent Docherty

With less than a year to go before Interaction we think it is important to start highlighting some opportunities for fun stuff to do when you aren’t actually at Worldcon. In particular we expect many people to take vacation time before or after the con, especially as our early dates mean that kids aren’t at school. It is also important to realise that many of the popular attractions in Scotland such as the Edinburgh Festival, Fringe and Military Tattoo open their ticket sales very early, in some cases up to a year beforehand. Since tickets are available online, demand is heavy, so the sooner you start planning, the better!

Glasgow is one of the UK’s largest cities, has 2000 years of history including important contributions to science and technology, and is also the largest shopping city in the UK after London. A good place to start is with our friends at the Tourist Board. Their website at http://seeglasgow.com/ provides full details of what to see and do in and around the city: museums and other attractions – with a special emphasis on Charles Rennie Mackintosh; dining and nightlife; shopping; and transport.

In addition there are a number of events which might be of special interest to you being held within a week of Interaction. The annual World Pipe Band Championships will be held In Glasgow, the weekend after the Worldcon. In Edinburgh, the Official and Fringe Festivals, Military Tattoo and International Book Festival will run from early till late August. Details and tickets can now be obtained via www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk. Note that Glasgow is less than an hour from Edinburgh by train, so you might want to consider ‘commuting’ to the festivals, if you don’t want to try finding a room in Edinburgh itself. (But if you do, then contact our accommodation partner Infotel, who can help with your booking.)

More widely, the Scottish and British Tourist Board sites at www.visitscotland.com and www.visitbritain.com provide details of attractions in the rest of the country. We would also highlight two genre conferences being held the weekends before and after Interaction in the UK. The first UK Harry Potter conference, Accio: www.accio.org.uk and Tolkien 2005: www.tolkiensociety.org/2005 which will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. This is just a taste of what is available. Look out for more information in future Progress Reports and our website.

TOLKIEN 2005: The Ring Goes Ever On Interaction twinned with The Tolkien Society's five day conference/convention which was held to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Lord of the Rings. This conference was held at Aston University, Birmingham, England from 11 to 15 August 2005. The Tolkien Society chose this date to enable people to attend both Interaction and Tolkien 2005, and we established close links between the two events in terms of advertising and promotion. More information is available from the Tolkien 2005 Website.

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Page last updated 24^th March 2006