The surprising Scottish visitor attraction that tops Tripadvisor's UK ratings
Three tourist draws north of the Border feature in top ten
Flight simulators at a pilot training centre in Renfrewshire have been assessed as the UK’s best rated visitor attraction with a 98 per cent approval score on Tripadvisor.
A distillery in East Lothian was placed second, with a historic Aberdeenshire castle also in the top ten.
Ascent Aviation, which offers the public the chance to virtually fly aircraft used by airlines such as EasyJet and Ryanair from three replica cockpits, was rated as “excellent” in 680 of the 694 reviews on the Tripadvisor.
The website described the simulators in Linwood as an “immersive and thrilling experience” thanks to their 220 degree wrap-around displays.
Reviewers awarding the attraction a maximum five stars included John D from Ayr, who wrote last month: “Can highly recommend this experience and can’t wait to visit again.”
Marco S wrote: “I had my Boeing 737 experience at Ascent Aviation yesterday and it was beyond amazing! From start to finish, the entire session was exciting, educational, and incredibly fun.”
Ascent Aviation head of operations Stephen Balmer said: “I am very proud of our goal of making aviation accessible to pilots honing their skills or finding their way through training, as well as enthusiasts who simply want to have a go at flying their holiday jet.
“I am delighted to hear that our attention to providing our customers with the highest level of realism, entertainment and immersion continues to shine through in our TripAdvisor comments and reviews.
“We have some of the most realistic fixed base and full motion simulators in the UK, offering our customers of all backgrounds the closest experience that they are going to get in flying an airliner, short of training to fly the real thing.”
Glenkinchie Distillery in Pencaitland, near Tranent, ranked second with a 91.1 per cent rating, with 2,448 of 2,687 reviewers giving it five stars. Most of the others gave it a “good” four-star rating.
The centre is one of the Four Corners of Scotland Johnnie Walker distilleries, representing the Lowland home of the blend.
The accolade comes a week after the distillery was named as the Leading Scottish Distillery Tour at the World Travel Awards’ Europe Gala - one of the most prestigious ceremonies in the industry.
Dunnottar Castle, on the North Sea coast near Stonehaven, was rated tenth best, at 81.9 per cent. A total of 2,811 of its 3,434 reviews were rated five star.
The historical site has links to the Picts and Vikings with the surviving buildings dating mostly to the 15th and 16th century.
The castle later fell to ruin, with the structure bought by Lord and Lady Cowdray, ancestors of the present owner, in 1919.
A review posted last month by East Coast Delight, said: “It’s a wee walk to get to the site, but once there it’s truly amazing with lots of parts to explore and beautiful views over the North Sea. It’s kinda pricey to get in, but as it turns out it’s worth it.”
The Tripadvisor ratings were assessed by online cruise holiday travel agent Iglu Cruise, which examined 108 visitor attractions with the most reviews on the website to calculate those with the highest percentage of five-star reviews.
Other top rated attractions in Scotland included Blair Athol Distillery (81 per cent), Shetland Museum and Archives (80.4 per cent) and Skara Brae in Orkney (80.2 per cent).
Oban Distillery was rated 79.3 per cent, Dumfries House in East Ayrshire 78.2 per cent, Lyle Hill in Greenock 75.5 per cent and Five Sisters Zoo in West Calder 73.1 per cent.
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