IT’S that time of year again. January is upon us, and with it comes the annual migration of bright-eyed travel writers, striding to the fore to extol on the places you simply MUST visit in 2026.
You’ll have seen the headlines. Forbes offered “The 10 Best Cities In The World To Visit In 2026”. CNN hedged its bets with “Where you should – and shouldn't – travel in 2026”. The BBC went with “The 20 best places to travel in 2026”, which in turn inspired TimeOut to run the ever-so-slightly circular: “The 20 Best Places to Travel in 2026, According to the BBC.”
Amid this myriad monotonous offerings, one in particular caught the Jouker’s eye.
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“The spectacular British ‘wilderness’ that is one the world’s best places to visit in 2026, according to Rough Guides,” proclaimed TimeOut’s travel section.
“What British wilderness could that be?” we hear you ask.
Why, none other than the entire Scottish Highlands.
Somewhere along the line, it seems, the traditional definition of a wilderness – a landscape untouched by humans – has been quietly set aside, replaced by a romanticised fog of tartan, peat, and vibes.
TimeOut’s piece manages the impressive feat of describing the Highlands as a place where you can “drive for miles and barely see another car”, while also warning that readers “should be wary” on the roads thanks to overtourism.
To be fair, TimeOut was merely reporting what Rough Guides had to say. Over there, the Scottish Highlands were ranked 22nd out of 26 places to visit in 2026, with readers dubiously informed that the region is “Europe’s last wilderness” (it isn’t).
Rannoch Moor, also in the Highlands, is often cited as Britain’s last true wilderness – though even that is debatable – but it certainly doesn’t extend to the rest of a vast region.
And in any case, Rannoch Moor didn’t merit so much as a mention in either Rough Guides or TimeOut.
What did get a mention was joining “a cèilidh in Ullapool” or cycling “between Islay’s distilleries” – two activities which would be somewhat difficult to pull off in an actual wilderness.
Rough Guides’ top tip was equally eyebrow-raising, advising anyone planning to drive the North Coast 500 to “bring a paper map”.
The Jouker would like to reassure any concerned reader that the NC500 is not, in fact, the 18th century.
And the Highlands are, of course, not a “British wilderness”.
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