Scottish Highlands including Skye Guided Tour -2 or 3 days or longer.
This is a completely flexible trip from Edinburgh to the Scottish Highlands including Skye guided tour and back. The tour can be personalised to ensure you get to see exactly what you want on our travels.
Starting in the Central belt we have lots of options available; we could head west to Glasgow and towards the Highlands via Loch Lomond. Alternatively, Stirling could be our initial port of call with its wonderful castle and history. We could also head to the Highlands via Perth visiting Scone Palace, the crowning place of Scotland’s Kings.
Once we meander our way from the Lowlands to the Highlands, all roads will meet at Crianlarich and then onwards to Glencoe. We can take some time to stop and enjoy Glencoe’s stunning landscape and if you wish take a slight detour into Glen Etive. This is one of Scotland’s most beautiful glens and a true wilderness area. This stunning drive will take us past Buchaille Etive Mhor, The Great Shepherd of Etive and here we will hopefully spot some red deer.
Glencoe village will be our next stop with an opportunity to visit the thatched Folk Museum and learn about the infamous Massacre of Glencoe and local life. We can stop for afternoon tea at one of the lovely tea shops in the village.
We have the option to stay overnight in Glencoe or Fort William and recommendations can be made for dinner.
Day 2 starts at Neptune’s Staircase, a staircase lock comprising of 8 locks that is the longest in Britain and was built by Thomas Telford in the nineteenth century. We will hopefully get amazing views over Ben Nevis – cloud permitting. Our next stop is Glenfinnan where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard in 1745 heralding the start of the Jacobite Rising.
Glenfinnan is also home to the Glenfinnan Viaduct and if we are lucky we might see the steam train puff its way across this amazing structure on its way to Mallaig. The viaduct will be very familiar to Harry Potter fans as it appears in the film series.
As an alternative, we can drop you at Fort William railway station where you can join one of the world’s best railway journeys aboard the Jacobite Steam Train. The train meanders through amazing loch side scenery and crosses the dramatic Glenfinnan Viaduct on it journey to Mallaig. We will meet you at Mallaig railway station then we are off “over the sea to Skye” on a 40 minute ferry trip.
Arriving in Skye we will see Armadale Castle. The grounds are home to the Clan Donald Centre and the Museum of the Isles . As we head north to Portree, the island’s capital, you can sit back, relax and enjoy the wonderful island landscape unfolding before you. There will be plenty of photographic opportunities on the way to Portree.
We can recommend places to stay and dine in Portree and will keep you updated with any ceilidhs or music events that are on during our stay.
Skye is the most wonderful island and you could easily spend a month exploring its treasures so it’s important that you get the most from your visit. Prior to your trip we will find out what’s important for you to see and experience during your time on Skye and we will build Your Scottish Tour to suit.
Skye has an enviable reputation for great food and drink. You can enjoy lunch, afternoon tea, dinner or an overnight stay at the Michelin starred Kinloch Lodge, the ancestral home of Lord and Lady MacDonald. Alternatively, you can dine at the Three Chimneys restaurant, voted one of the top 50 restaurants in the world. There are many other options and we will happily recommend our favourites including sitting at the harbour watching the sun go down while eating fresh fish and chips out of a newspaper – bliss.
A visit to Talisker Distillery on the shores of Loch Harport or Skye beer tasting in Uig might be the order of the day before you visit Fairy Bridge, Trumpan Church, Giant MacAskill’s Museum or Dunvegan Castle.
Skye has a thriving craft industry with many of these artists and craftmakers opening up their studios and galleries on their crofts. We can visit some of these on the craft trail where you can admire their jewellery, paintings, ceramics, knitwear and other craft items unique to Skye.
Alternatively, you may just want to take a scenic drive around the island with no fixed agenda and stop wherever the fancy takes you.
Leaving Skye we head back home towards the Central belt and if time permits we have lots of options for stops on the way.
We could choose to visit any of the following: Eilean Donan Castle, Loch Ness, Inverness, Aviemore, House of Bruar or Blair Castle.
Arriving back in Edinburgh we will drop you off at your desired drop off point.
You may also wish to leave the tour at Inverness and continue your Highland adventure from there.