The Scottish Borders is the location most international productions don't know about yet. And that's exactly why it works so well.
An hour south of Edinburgh, the Borders give you dramatic coastal cliffs, fishing villages, rolling valleys, ancient ruins, and wide open moorland without the crowds, permit complexity, or accommodation battles you get in the Highlands. St Abbs, on the Berwickshire coast, has emerged as one of Scotland's strongest alternatives to the west coast for editorial, fashion, and commercial work.
I've been scouting and managing shoots across the Borders and am increasingly recommending it to productions that want dramatic Scottish scenery without the Highland logistics overhead.