LOCATIONS across Scotland have been named amongst the most welcoming places in the UK, according to a new analysis of traveller reviews.

Four Scottish towns are among the top 10 most welcoming places in the UK, which was compiled by looking at reviews for more than 53,000 travel providers in the UK.

They were put together as part of booking.com's Traveller Review Awards and the Top 10 Most Welcoming Towns in the UK list was based on user reviews of their experiences with hospitality.

Of the four UK nations, Scotland had the most locations with four and both Northern Ireland and England had three apiece, while there were no Welsh locations on the list.

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The Scottish locations include the capitals of both the Orkney and Shetland Islands, Kirkwall and Lerwick.

The rich and deep history of the Orkney islands, dating back 10,000 years, can be explored from its largest settlement of Kirkwall that includes Viking history, also with the ability to experience some of the most spectacular landscapes.

Viking history can be explored in the capital of Shetland, Lerwick, where wildlife can also be spotted from seals to seabirds. There are also more fish landed in the area than the whole of England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined.

The National: Shetland's Viking hertiage is celebrated with the annual Up Helly Aa festivalShetland's Viking hertiage is celebrated with the annual Up Helly Aa festival

Also on the list is Wick, Caithness, located in the north of Scotland and a town that is part of the highly popular North Coast 500 route.

Rounding off the list for Scotland is the Borders town of Kelso. The market town is steeped in history and in a welcoming countryside setting.

Northern Ireland has three locations on the list. Ballycastle and Bushmills in County Antrim along with Enniskillen in County Fermanagh.

The English locations on the list include Newcastle in the north east of the country and Frome and Glastonbury in Somerset near Cornwall in the south west.

The list was compiled as part of research from more than 232 million verified reviews and recognised more than 1.25m travel providers worldwide, including 53,623 in the UK.

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The Most Welcoming Towns and Cities in the UK destinations were sorted by the total share Traveller Review Award 2022 recipients when compared to the total amount of eligible properties in that city or region.

Destinations had to have at least 50 award recipients in each city to be included in this list and were sorted by the highest share of winners per destination.