Scotland 2015

Your Land Tour of Scotland Includes:

Private Blue Badged Driver Guide & Coach Driver from Day 2 until Arrival at Edinburgh Airport on Day 9
Accommodations for 7 Nights - 2 nights in Oban, 2 nights in Carrbridge, 2 nights in Stirling, 1 night in Edinburgh
Breakfast Daily
Admissions as follows: Loch Lomond Cruise, Inveraray Castle, Isle of Mull, Ferry Fares to Isle of Mull & Iona, Entrance to Iona Abbey, Nevis Range Gondola Trip, Culloden Battlefield, Clava Cairns, Spey Valley with Distillery tour, Entry to Scone Palace with coffee & shortbread, Entry to Doune Castle, Lithlingow Palace, Entry to Stirling Castle, Mid-priced tickets to Edinburgh Tattoo
Scottish Night at Bogbain
Restaurant Dinner Edinburgh prior to Tattoo
Fully escorted sightseeing as per itinerary
Porterage of one suitcase per person (plus one carry-on bag)
All Driver’s Expenses
Hotel tips and taxes (Except to Driver/Guide)

Outlander fans - We will be visiting some key Outlander landmarks!

Itinerary

Day One – 8/19/15 - Wednesday USA-Edinburgh

Tonight we begin our journey as we board our jet bound for Scotland. If you have selected the optional group air flight you will enjoy getting to know our group as we make our way to Edinburgh, Scotland!

Day Two – 8/20/15 - Thursday Edinburgh-Oban
We arrive in the morning at Edinburgh Airport where, after clearing customs, we are met by our Driver and Tour Guide. After departing the Edinburgh airport we will make our way to Glasgow where we will enjoy a panoramic city tour. As we cross the Erskine Bridge we almost immediately start to witness Scotland’s wonderful scenery as we run along the “Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond”. Next on our schedule is a relaxing Boat Cruise on Loch Lomond with a “cuppa”. After our cruise we will continue on to Inveraray where we will have a visit to Inveraray Castle! You might recognize this castle which was used as the Scottish seat of the Crawley family in the popular TV show “Downton Abbey”. After our castle visit we follow Loch Awe to the popular town of Oban where we will spend our first night in Scotland!

Day Three – 8/21/15 - Friday Isle of Mull
After breakfast we begin our journey to Scotland's Isle of Mull. After a wonderful 40 minute ferry crossing to the Isle of Mull we drive across the island to the tiny port of Fionnphort. At Fionnphort we will take another short crossing (foot passengers only) to the Isle of Iona where we visit the famous Abbey, founded by St Columba in AD563, and the resting place of 48 Scottish Kings. After our visit we will cross back to Fionnphort to rejoin the coach and enjoy our scenic journey back to Oban!

Day Four – 8/22/15 - Saturday Oban-Inverness

This morning as we depart Oban we enjoy some of Scotland’s most lovely scenery on our way to Fort William for a visit. After leaving Fort William we will take a spectacular ride on a ski gondola to view Britain’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis. The day continues with a drive along the banks of Loch Ness, home of the legendary Monster. We stop in Drumnadrochit where the Visitor Centre is well worth seeing before reaching our hotel in the Spey Valley.

Tonight we will enjoy a special treat, the Scottish Showtime, at Bogbain Farm! This is a show that combines traditional Scottish food & drink, music, singing, ceilidh dancing, theatre and comedy. It includes a 2 course supper, welcome drink and 2 whisky samples.

Day Five - 8/23/15 - Sunday Inverness

After breakfast we depart our hotel and visit Culloden Battlefield and Visitor Center. Besides being an important landmark for the fans of the popular Outlander novels and TV series, this is important because it is where the highland Scots tried to beat the British and bring back Bonnie Prince Charlie. The defeat completely changed Scottish history forever. After the Scots lost the battle, the English completely destroyed the Highland Culture. The people starved and died in great numbers. Many also left and came to America. Also nearby, we will visit Clava Cairns, the site of an exceptionally well preserved group of prehistoric burial cairns that were built about 4000 years ago. The Bronze Age cemetery complex is comprised of passage graves, ring cairns, kerb cairn, standing stones in a beautiful setting and the remains of a chapel of unknown date.

We will have time, before returning to our hotel, to enjoy a tour of a famous Scotch Whisky Distillery. Whisky distilleries were founded in this environment because it is rich in the highest quality ingredients: pure, clear spring water and abundant supplies of fragrant golden barley.

Day Six - 8/24/15 - Monday Inverness-Perth-Stirling

Our Scottish circle resumes as we leave the Highlands and travel via the Pass of Killiekrankie, scene of a famous battle and continue south to the city of Perth. Our journey today will include a stop at the Scone Palace, “crowning place to the Kings of Scots” where coffee and shortbread will be served. We then continue through mid-Scotland’s lovely scenery to the ancient city of Stirling, where we will stay for the next 2 nights.

We have included a visit today to nearby Doune Castle, which is important to both Outlander and Monty Python and the Holy Grail fans. It's impressive architecture has made it popular with production companies. It was Swamp Castle, Castle Anthrax and Camelot in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, more recently a location in the pilot for Game of Thrones and the fictional Castle Leoch for the TV adaption of the Outlander novels. Doune Castle was the home of Robert Stewart, the 1st Duke of Albany. He was ruler of Scotland, in all but name, from 1388 until his death in 1420.

Day Seven - 8/25/15 - Tuesday Stirling

Today we visit Stirling Castle, dominating the local landscape. This castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs, giving it a strong defensive position. Its strategic location, guarding what was, until the 1890s, the farthest downstream crossing of the River Forth, has made it an important fortification from the earliest times. Most of the principal buildings of the castle date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A few structures of the fourteenth century remain, while the outer defenses fronting the town date from the early eighteenth century. Several Scottish Kings and Queens have been crowned at Stirling, including Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1542. There have been at least eight sieges of Stirling Castle, including several during the Wars of Scottish Independence, with the last being in 1746, when Bonnie Prince Charlie unsuccessfully tried to take the castle.

In the afternoon we will enjoy an excursion into the Trossachs, a small woodland glen in the Stirling council area of Scotland. This area is famed as the home area of the famous outlaw Rob Roy McGregor. We visit the pretty towns of Aberfoyle and Callander.

Tonight we will enjoy some free time as we overnight again in Stirling.

Day Eight - 8/26/15 - Wednesday Stirling-Edinburgh
The last stage of our Scottish tour takes us to it's magnificent capital, Edinburgh. En route we'll take a stop at Lithlingow where the ruined Palace was home to many Scottish Kings and Queens. Much of the afternoon and evening will be free for you to enjoy Edinburgh. Our hotel is situated midway between Edinburgh airport and Edinburgh's city center, and next door to the Edinburgh Zoo, home of the giant pandas.

Tonight we enjoy some final Scottish hospitality and a Farewell Dinner before a spectacular finale to our stay, a visit to the famous Edinburgh Military Tattoo which takes place in the Castle perched on top of the hill overlooking the city!

Day Nine - 8/27/15 - Thursday Edinburgh-USA

Sadly, today our Scottish vacation has come to its final day. We will transfer to the Edinburgh Airport in good time to check in for our flight. We will arrive home the same day with many fond memories and new friends!