And to complete the UK picture, the National Trust for Scotland (www.nts.org.uk) also has a wide range of good-value rented accommodation in some of Europe's most beautiful and dramatic scenic locations. Among the properties available are several historic lighthouses around the Scottish coast, many engineered by Robert Stevenson, father of the author Robert Louis Stevenson. (The Stevenson family was responsible for supplying many of the world’s greatest lights; for building harbours, roads, bridges and railways, deepening rivers and constructing canals, see here.)