MADAMA Butterfly, Hye-Youn Lee, strikes up the band and encourages all culture lovers to fly to Scotland for a musical summer, as she performs with the Scottish Opera at the Grand Opera House, Belfast.

The leading opera singer believes, with Scotland’s rich creative landscape is firmly in the spotlight this year, there has never been a better time for Northern Ireland visitors to visit Scotland and soak up the thriving cultural scene.

Homecoming Scotland 2014 is now in full swing, there are a whole host of other arts events taking place to celebrate Scotland’s rich creative landscape, which include music, comedy, film and outdoor activities, giving culture vultures plenty of reasons to cross the Irish Sea in 2014.

Highlights include: Nicola Benedetti MBE leading the Classical Music Marathon Day in Glasgow (26th July 2014), the Celtic Hebridean Festival in Stornoway (16-19 July 2014), a Festival of traditional and contemporary music on the Isle of Lewis, the Wickerman Festival (Friday 25 & Saturday 26 July 2014).

These cultural highlights are only a short flight away. Northern Ireland air routes cover various cities including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Prestwick, Inverness and Aberdeen from local airports, George Best Belfast City Airport, Belfast International Airport and City of Derry Airport. Additional easy access routes from Northern Ireland to Scotland include short ferry trips from Belfast to Cairnryan and Larne to Troon and Cairnryan. For more information, go to www.homecomingscotland.com.