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Balmoral
is one of the Royal residences.
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Take a trip to the Orkney Isles and stay in Balfour, the world's
northernmost castle.
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Hike Ben Nevis - Scotland's tallest mountain.
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You will find
some sample Scottish itineraries on this page. Please remember we
customize everything, so if you see something here that's similar
but doesn't quite give you everything you want - email
us and we'll make an itinerary just for you!
Scottish
Castle Tour
Follow
the traces of bygone times, visit the most spectacular sights and
drive through untouched Highland sceneries. Experience the Scottish
traditions and customs and stay the nights in marvellous castles,
historical hotels and luxurious manor houses.
Day 1: You arrive in Edinburgh, get your car and drive to Airth Castle
Hotel (app. 30 miles).
2nd.
Day: Airth Castle - Tarbert
In the morning you start with breakfast at Airth Castle Hotel. Then
it's off to Stirling. Shortly before you reach this town there is
the historic Battlefield of Bannockburn with a big tourist centre
showing you the great victory of the Scottish hero Robert the Bruce
who defeated the English troops here in 1314 securing the Scottish
independence for many centuries.
Spend some time in Stirling, the "Gateway to the Scottish Highland".
Visit the mighty fortifications, stroll through the picturesque centre
of Stirling and the medieval Old Bridge and continue to the famous
Wallace Monument on the opposite hill. After Stirling head towards
the northern shore of beautiful Loch Awe where you will find picturesque
ruins of Kilchurn Castle. Next you'll go to Inveraray, a wonderful
village on the shore of Loch Fyne with old white washed houses and
a big castle which is the residence of the Duke of Argyll.
It is timeto head to Tarbert and your hotel for tonight - the Stonefield
Castle Hotel. This marvellous castle was built in 1837 throning on
a gentle hill over the fishing village of Tarbert on the peninsula
of Kintyre.
3rd Day: Discover the islands
Today you´ll have to decide whether you want to make a trip
round the peninsula of Kintyre or to visit either the Isle of Arran
or the Isle of Islay. It doesn´t matter where you will spend
this day. In the evening you can enjoy your delicious dinner and spend
a quiet and luxurious night in Stonefield Castle Hotel.
4th Day: Tarbert - Loch Ness
Today you have to leave Stonefield Castle Hotel. Visit the little
Isle of Seil, which you can reach by crossing the old stone bridge
of Clachan on your way to Oban.
After Oban you'll head to Dunstaffnage Castle, which is a mighty fortification
off the west coast. It dates from the 13th ct although most parts
of it goes back to the 15th ct. Once a Campbell fortress this defiant
castle still guards the meeting place of Loch Etive and the Firth
of Lorne. Some miles north there is picturesque Barcaldine Castle
which you can visit on your way to Fort William. Spend some timehere
before heading to Invergarry - just outside the city you'll find the
Glengarry Castle Hotel, where you´ll spend the next night.
5th
Day: Loch Ness - Kildrummy
Today you should get up early because you will have to drive app.
160 miles. Your next stop on the is Fort Augustus. Here, where the
mythical Loch Ness ends, you will find the world-famous locks of the
Caledonian Canal and a Benedictine abbey. Take some time to visit
these before following Loch Ness to Inverness. On the way stop is
Urquhart Castle. This defiant castle ruin on Loch Ness is one of the
most famous and also one of the biggest castles of Scotland. Your
next destination is Inverness on the northern end of Loch Ness. It
is a modern and very busy town which has recently become the capital
of the Scottish Highland. Stop at the famous Battlefield of Culloden
- a sad place amidst an inhospiable moor where, on April 16th, 1746,
the Scottish forces were eradicated by the English troops under the
Duke of Cumberland. It was the last battle on British soil and resulted
in the loss of Scotland´s independence. The next stop is at
Castle Stuart, which is only a few miles east of Culloden. It is one
of the most beautiful Scottish tower houses and stands directly beside
the road. You will stay here for the night.
Day
6: Elgin and Huntly - First thing in the morning head to Fort George,
a very big fortification from Jacobean times on the coast then back
track a bit and visit the marvellous Cawdor Castle then head to istoric
Battlefield of Auldearn, and on to Brodie Castle. Once you've reached
Elgin you'll find the ruins of the medieval cathedral, called "latern
of the North". It was burnt down by the notorious "Wolf
of Badenoch". Finally you will head to Keith and finally Huntly.
Both towns are - beside Dufftown - centres of the world-famous "Whisky
Trail". Nowhere else can you visit such a big number of whisky
destilleries than in this region. The very old castle ruins of Huntly
and the medieval castle hill, a so-called "motte", prove
that Huntly has been around for a very long time.
Continue on towards Rhynie where you can visit one of Scotland´s
finest castles called Leith Hall. South of Lumsden you reach Kildrummy,
a little village with an incredible big castle ruin. Certainly the
day is already passing away now and therefore it is time to register
at Kildrummy Castle Hotel where you will spend the next luxurious
night.
7th
Day: Kildrummy - Bonnyrigg
Today will be along driving day. Head towards Aberdeen until you reach
the marvellous Crathes Castle then head Ballater, a pretty little
town in Royal Deeside, before you enter the town you'll see - the
Royal Balmoral Castle. If the royal family isn´t there you can
visit the great gardens but not the castle itself. Usually the castle
grounds are closed in August and early September. The next stop is
Braemar. (If you're taking this tour in September make sure you get
tickets for the world famous Highland Games). Make a quick stop in
the quiet village of Dalwhinnie with its well-known whisky destillery,
before arriving at Blair Atholl, the splendid castle of the Dukes
of Atholl. Leaving the little towns of Pitlochry and Dunkeld with
its beautiful little cathedral behind you now go south to Perth, which
is one of the biggest cities of Scotland. Some miles outside the city
to the north-east is Scone Palace with the coronation hill of the
ancient Scottish kings on nearby Moot Hill. Then you can also visit
the two fine tower houses Elcho Castle and Huntingtower Castle which
stand near Perth too. After that it's off to Edinburgh. A few miles
outside the city stands Dalhousie Castle, the last castle hotel of
your Scotland tour.
8th Day: Edinburgh
Today you will explore Scotland´s capital and its famous sights.
Visit the castle, the old main street called "The Royal Mile"
with its old "landings", the cathedral of Str Giles, the
Palace of Holyroodhouse and Calton Hill. Then make a shopping tour
through Princess Street and have a look at Charlotte Square in the
"New Town".
In the evening you drive back to Dalhousie Castle Hotel.
9th
Day: Departure
You return your hired car and leave Scotland.
Travel dates: Daily between March 31st and October 31st (Note
you may do this tour outside of these dates, however some castles
are closed in the winter season)
Included:
Mystery
and Legends of Scotland
Day 1 - Visit
Rosslyn Chapel, just south of Edinburgh, then explore Scotland's capital.
There are many legends associated with Edinburgh, especially the Old
Town. For example, Major Weir was a warlock who lived near the Grassmarket.
He used to send his walking stick out on errands! Take an organised
'ghost tour' of the Old Town, or visit Mary King's Close, where hauntings,
apparently, still happen. Edinburgh Castle is also the setting for
many ghostly tales.
Day 2 - Follow signs for Perth, then the A94 for Glamis Castle, sometimes
described as the most haunted castle in Scotland. Continue north for
the White and Brown Caterthuns, lonely, ruinous hill-forts north of
the main A90. The White Caterthun has a magic stone, by the north
rampart. Touch it by moonlight and you will come into money! Edzell
Castle is also nearby, haunted by a White Lady. Continue over the
Cairn o Mount road (B974) for Royal Deeside.
Day 3 - Make your way west up the valley of the River Dee. Ben Macdui
lies in the Cairngorms to the west and is associated with the Grey
Manof Ben Macdui. A giant figure, witnessed by many around the summit,
walks in the mist and snow. Take A939 via Tomintoul
for Grantown-on-Spey.
Day 4 - Staying
on A939, continue north via Dava Moor. The moorland here is associated
with the Scottish king Macbeth and his encounter with three witches
in Shakespeare's play. Follow signs for Inverness to reach Culloden,
setting for the last battle fought in Britain, when the government
army defeated the Jacobite forces under Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Day 5 - From Inverness go north through the Black Isle. The A832 leads
to Fortrose, where there is a memorial to the Brahan Seer, one of
the most famous seers in Scotland. (He foretold, for example, the
coming of the railways to the Highlands.) Unhappily, he came to a
gruesomeend here: burned in a tar barrel for making an indiscreet
prediction! Continue to Cromarty, associated with a mermaid legend.
Return to Inverness .
Day 6 - Go south for Loch Ness, where the exhibitions at Drumnadrochit
let you explore the Loch Ness phenomenon. Take the A87 west at Invermoriston,
continuing to Skye via the Skye Bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh. Follow
signs for Portree. The main road near Sligachan has in the past been
haunted by a phantom motor car - 1934 Austin! - which approaches from
behind, overtakes, then disappears!
Day 7 - From Portree, circle west for Dunvegan Castle, ancient seat
of the Clan MacLeod, associated with the legend of the Fairy Flag
of Dunvegan.
Day 8 - Leave the island by the Armadale to Mallaig ferry. From Mallaig,
a short way south on the A830 brings you to Loch Morar, also associated
with a Loch Ness-type phenomenon of unexplained sightings. Continue
to Fort William. Discover the heritage of Fort William and Lochaber
at the town's West Highland Museum, said to have its own ghost - a
former curator who can be heard typing!
Day 9 - Go south and west for Glencoe then continue via Crianlarich
and Lochearnhead for Callander and the Rob Roy and Trossachs Visitor
Centre. Rob Roy was a real-life Highlander but attracted many local
tales and legends to him.
Day 10 - Explore 'Rob Roy Country' by heading west on the A821 via
Loch Katrine and Aberfoyle. The Rev Robert Kirk, the local minister
there, was an authority on fairies and often conversed with them.
He was found dead on the nearby Doon Hill one night in 1692. Afterwards,
he appeared in ethereal form, looking for help in escaping from the
fairy world. It is said he has now been turned into the tall pine
which grows on the hilltop. (A waymarked walk guides you to the top.)
Turn east for Stirling Castle, with easy motorway connections nearby
for Edinburgh or Glasgow.
This tour starts
at just $1999 per person with Bed and Breakfasts, manual transmission
car and airfare from Icelandair gateways.
Scottish
Scenery Tour
8
days / 7 nights
1st Day: Edinburgh - Drymen (app. 60 miles)
Get your pcik up your car leave Scotland´s capital on the
A8 and finally on the M9. Follow the M9 passing Falkirk until you
reach Stirling. Spend some timer in Stirling, called the "Gateway
to the Scottish Highland". Leave Stirling using again the M9
and follow as far as Drymen, a village near the world-famous and
romantic Loch Lomond. Drymen is an excellent starting point to explore
one of the most beautiful lochs of Scotland. Here you will spend
your first night in this fascinating country.
2nd Day: Drymen - Tarbert (app. 120 miles)
Today you should spend the moning discovering why Loch Lomond is
ne of the most beautiful lochs of Scotland. In the afternoon depart
on the A811 towards Alexandria and Dumbarton with its historic castle
hill and drive on the A814 towards Tarbert via Helensburgh. Alternatively
you can, in Dumbarton, take the A82 which is leading up as far as
Inverness.
From Tarbert take the A82 through a very remote region until you
reach Crianlarich and then Tyndrum where you have to branch off
to the A85. Now you are following the River Lochy to the picturesque
castle ruin called Kilchurn Castle which stands in a beautiful scenery
on the northern shore of Loch Awe. Now go back one or two miles
to the road junction where the A819 branches off and follow that
road to your next stop in Inveraray, a wonderful village on the
shore of Loch Fyne with old white washed houses and a big castle
which is the residence of the Duke of Argyll. Go for a relaxing
walk through the wide main street of Inveraray, visit Inveraray
Jail and enjoy the great view on beautiful Loch Fyne. After you
discovered Inveraray leave the village on the A83 towards Lochgilphead.
Continue on the A83 towards Tarbert and spend the next 2 nights
in the area.
3rd
Day: The islands Mull and Iona (app. 115 miles)
Take the A83 going back to Lochgilphead. There branch off to the
A816 towards Oban. Near Kilninver you should leave this road to
visit the little Isle of Seil, which you can reach by crossing the
old stone bridge of Clachan. Enjoy a little walk through the main
village called Easdale with its low white washed houses. Continue
to the colorful town of Oban. Visit the harbour watching the ferries
that leave for the Isle of Mull and the well-known "Oban Folly"
on the hill above the town. From here take a ferry of the Caledonian
MacBrayne line to the Isle of Mull. You can reach the beautiful
Isle of Iona by crossing the Isle of Mull on the picturesque singe-track
road A849. The passenger ferry leaves at Fionnphort where this road
ends. The crossing is very fast - just 20 minutes but you cannot
take your car with you so you have to explore Iona on foot. Iona
was the birth place of the occidental Christianity. It was St Columba
who founded a small monastery here in the 6th ct.
4th
Day: Oban - Fort William - Skye (app. 160 miles)
On the A828 you continue along the coast to Fort William, a little
town near Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles.
Go for a walk in the pedestrian zone and buy your Scottish souvenirs.
Fort William is also the place where the famous Caledonian Canal
has its southern end. Leave Fort William heading north along Loch
Lochy, the southmost loch of the Caledonian Canal as far as Invergarry.
Now branch off and take the A87, called "the Road to the Isles,"
which is one of the best known and probably the most beautiful road
in the British Isles. Amidst unforgettably great Highland sceneries
you cross Glen Shiel until the foggy silhouettes of the "Five
Sisters of Kintail" appears in front of you - 5 mighty peaks
southeast of Loch Duich. Near Shiel Bridge you finally reach phantastic
Loch Duich, and there, throning majesticly on its small island,
it is waiting you your visit - Eilean Donan Castle, the most beautiful
fortification in the British Isles. This unforgettable view with
the "Five Sisters" in the background will doubtlessly
be one of the absolute highlights of your Scotland tour.
Passing picturesque Highland villages you finally arrive at Kyle
of Lochalsh, which is the final point of the British Railway. You
can easily reach Skye using the gigantic road bridge. You´ll
spend two nights on the island.
5th Day: Isle of Skye (app. 90 miles)
Today you will go for a trip around the Isle of Skye. Visit Dunvegan
Castle on the west coast, which is the residence of the chieftain
of Clan MacLeod of Skye; the "Old man of Storr", a huge
rock stack and the "Kilt Rock"; the cottage museum of
Kilmiur on the north coast, where you too can find the grave of
Flora MacDonald who saved Bonnie Prince Charlie from being captured
by the English; Portree, the capital of Skye; the Talisker whisky
destillery and in the south, Armadale Castle, the residence of the
MacDonalds of Sleat. You spend the night in the same accommodation.
6th
Day: Skye - Inverness (app. 190 miles)
At Kyle of Lochalsh you reach the Scottish mainland again. Drive
along Loch Carron - again amidst great Highland sceneries, to arrive
at Achnasheen. Head west on A832 through the very remote and quiet
region of Wester Ross to Kinlochewe. Continue along the wonderful
and lonely Loch Maree until you reach the west coast near Gairloch.
Some miles northeast of Gairloch, directly on the A832, you find
the most beautiful gardens in the north of Scotland - Inverewe Gardens.
In nearby Gruinard Bay is Gruinard Island, a tiny isle which is
a forbidden area since its surface was infected by milt bacteria
by the British army. Now your journey continues eastward along Little
Loch Broom to Braemore Junction in the quiet wilderness of the Scottish
Highland. Here the A832 meets the A835, which would bring you to
the tourist centre of the northwestern coast called Ullapool. However,
you now should continue on the A835 eastward through another very
remote region around beautiful Loch Glascarnoch. Shortly before
you reach Garve you will come to a road junction with the A832.
Take it to have a look at the very old and majestic Castle Leod
before carrying on to the beautiful little town of Dingwall. Near
Conon Bridge you cross the Cromarty Sound and are now on the peninsula
of "Black Isle". After crossing the peninsula you arrive
at Inverness, the capital of the Scottish Highlands, where you will
spend the next night.
7th
Day: Inverness - Edinburgh (app. 190 miles)
This morning you have to decide what to do next. You can either
take the A82 southward along Loch Ness and visit the famous Urquhart
Castle and the "Nessie" centre at Drumnadrochit. Or you
choose the more beautiful single-track road along the eastern shore
of Loch Ness. Both roads meet again in Fort Augustus. Here you should
visit the world-famous locks and the lovely Benedictine abbey. Then
follow the Caledonian Canal using the A82 as far as Spean Bridge
and branch off to the A86 there. Continue along Loch Laggan until
you reach Laggan. Here is the geographical centre of Scotland. On
the road junction take the A889 southward. Now one of the most remoted
regions of central Scotland lies ahead. Driving over the lonely
and often foggy Pass of Drumochter and the quiet village of Dalwhinnie
with its well-known whisky destillery, you will reach Blair Atholl,
the splendid castle of the Dukes of Atholl. Near Bridge of Garry
you can branch off to the B8019 to enjoy the famous panorama of
Loch Tummel at Queens View. Leaving the little towns of Pitlochry
and Dunkeld with its beautiful little cathedral behind you now go
south to Perth, which is one of the biggest cities of Scotland.
Some miles outside the city to the north-east is Scone Palace with
the coronation hill of the ancient Scottish kings on nearby Moot
Hill. It's now time to head back to civilization in Edinburgh. You'll
pass by the pretty little town of Kinross and the old Scottish capital
Dunfermline before you reach the famous Forth Road Bridge that will
bring you across the wide Firth of Forth. Soon after crossing the
Firth of Forth you reach the suburbs of Scotland´s capital.
8th
Day - Edinburgh
If you still have time enough on your last day in Scotland you can
go shopping along Princess Street or visit some of Edinburgh´s
famous sights like the castle, the old main street called "The
Royal Mile" with its old "landings", the cathedral
of St Giles, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and Calton Hill. Then make
a shopping tour through Princess Street and have a look at Charlotte
Square in the "New Town". Then you return the hired car
and leave Scotland.
Included:
Prices start at $1749 plus airport taxes.
Please
request
prices for customized special Scottish Packages.
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