Scott's View, Scottish Borders

Walter Scott's favourite panorama is a natural drone site: a roadside viewpoint high above a huge horseshoe bend in the River Tweed, with the three Eildon summits stacked behind. Everything that makes it a famous view makes it a better flight — from 80–100m up, the river meander resolves into a full oxbow composition with woodland, parkland and the hills layered to the horizon. Launch from the grass by the layby (free parking, bench, usually only a car or two) and you are shooting within a minute. Light: this is an evening spot, with the sun setting behind the Eildons and the Tweed picking up gold; autumn adds mist lying along the river at dawn, which is the connoisseur's shot if you can face the early start. Legally it is quiet country — open access land at the viewpoint, no aerodrome FRZ anywhere near (the old Charterhall airfield to the east is unlicensed and carries no restriction zone), and no byelaws in play. The land below is farmed estate, so keep TOAL at the viewpoint rather than descending into the valley fields, and mind livestock. Gotchas are minor: the escarpment edge produces a surprising updraught in a westerly, and phone signal is patchy for checking NOTAMs, so do it before you leave. Pair it with the nearby Wallace Statue woods or Smailholm Tower (fly the tower from adjacent land — it is an HES property) for a full Borders day.