Top Hogmanay Alternatives

Will your 2007 peak with crushed toes, epic bar queues and intimate contact with sweaty, dubious strangers? Or do you want to ring in the changes? Here's our guide to a few Hogmanay alternatives:

1) Hire a hostel
Don't be fooled by recent posters of poor Dawn Weiner hanging upside down on a meat hook- hostels can be charming, welcoming places. As we go to print, the Scottish Youth Hostel Association still had some vacancies over Xmas and New Year. What's more, its Rentahostel scheme means you can gather your nearest and dearest and hire out the whole place, minimising that stranger danger. Options include Loch Lochy (the lochiest Loch) in the heart of the Great Glen Way; your very own haunted castle on Loch Lomond; and Tobermory, home to that wonderful combination of overexcited toddlers and hungry sea eagles.

www.rentahostel.com 0870 155 3255

2) Get jiggy to the fiddle

Unofficially 'Scotland's musical meeting place', this cosy inn nestles (shockingly) on the wide banks of the River Tay as it curls through the postcard perfect Perthshire Cathedral town of Dunkeld. Previously owned by folk legend Dougie MacLean and with everything from mandolins to ukuleles on the walls ripe for plucking, the regulars sure know how to welcome you into their fold. Hogmanay here means spilling out to the water's edge for an under the stars event of live music, good local ales (the light, frothy Ossian is a must) and, after a night of new-found friends, a morning-after trek through the forests to the local medieval hermitage.

The Taybank, Dunkeld, 01350 727 340


3) Get Flambeaux-ed

Another lovely riverside village, the residents of Comrie wave out the old with their ancient Flambeaux procession. Whilst the origins of the ritual are a little fuzzy, shortly after the bells have tolled residents light their flambeaux (torches made of long birch poles with lit tarred rags wrapped around the top) and parade through the town followed by pipe band and fancy dress parade. After prizes are awarded, the flames are then flung into the River Earn from the Dalginross Bridge, casting out evil spirits. Fire, mild paganism and winning best in show with your fabulous wasp costume or falling asleep in a Yates Wine Lodge? It's up to you...

Comrie, Perthshire, www.comrie.org.uk

4) Do it the Great Glen way

The mountaineers' watering hole of choice, The Clachaig Inn is everything you dream of stumbling across after a day's trekking. In the heart of Glen Coe and a stone's throw from Ben Nevis, a Hogmanay spent in its legendary boots bar (complete with crampons, topless arm wrestling, random pipers, open fires and St Bernards) will stay with you. The vast open darkness of the glen will help you face 2008 with a vividly clear head; the Clachaig's fearsome collection of nearly 80 malt whiskies and over 10 draught ales suggest otherwise. The inn itself has rooms and cabins to stay over; if you're really proving your mettle, pitch up at the Red Squirrel campsite a short romp down the road. Don't come back too merry, though- the owner has one of the most fearsome 'Shushes' ever.

The Clachaig Inn, Glencoe 01855 811252 www.clachaig.com
The Red Squirrel Campsite, Glencoe 01855 811256