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Our private tours
We design private tours to the individual cultural interests and walking abilities of our clients. Take your pick from our choice of activities such as bird watching, canoeing, kayaking, cycling, whisky tasting and climbing (though preferrably not in this order!). The itinerary below is simply to give you a picture of what we can offer you.
Your Accommodation
We offer a competent accommodation booking service and take pleasure in recommending hand picked and often tried and tested small hotels, guesthouses and bed & breakfast rooms. Wherever possible, we choose to eat in restaurants, pubs and inns where fresh local produce and the daily catch of fish is used to prepare delicious and typical food.
What is included
We can accommodate up to 12 persons and your tour includes minivan travel, an experienced and knowledgeable tour guide, a tailor made tour itinerary designed to suit your interests and walking ability and any other activities of your choice such a bird watching, canoeing, kayaking, cycling, whisky tasting and climbing (not necessarily in that order!). You enjoy complementary refreshments and snacks and sometimes picnics in lovely locations. Our tours are flexible, we stop when we see an eagle cruising, deer grazing on the hill side or the view is becoming simply too beautiful to pass.
Sample itinerary:
7 Days Wilderness & Walking, Culture & History
Day 1) Edinburgh
- An overview from Calton Hill and a walk up the famous High Street of Edinburgh, the Royal Mile: the new Parliament Building, Holyrood Palace, St Giles Cathedral, Gladstanes House
- A drive through Edinburgh’s magnificent 18th century palacial New Town with its classicist architechture
- After lunch: stretching your legs: a first hillclimb up city rock Arthur’s Seat with panoramic views
- An evening excursion for a picturesque view of the famous Forth Bridges in 18th century South Queen’s Ferry
- Night in Edinburgh
Day 2) Eastern Highlands
- Visit Stirling, Scotland’s finest, historically most important castle. A great introduction to Scottish history.
- Travel north via Dunkeld, a picturesque medieval cathedral town by the magnificent river Tay.
- After lunch we continue to the pine forests of the Caingorm National Park for a hike to the entrance of the great Lairug Gruh gorge.
- Night near or in Inverness, the Highland capital
Day 3) Loch Ness and Kintail Mountains
- Visit the imposing ruins of Urquhart Castle
- Travel west through the remote mountains of Glen Shiel
- In the afternoon we take our first real hill walk up Sgurr Mhic Bharraic with fabulous views (10km, 779m)
- Night at Kintail Lodge Highland Hotel (scenic waterfront location, excellent Highland pub and a restaurant offering delicious Scottish food)
Day 4) Isle of Skye and scenic ‘Road to the Isles’
- Pass by famous Eilean Donan Castle.
- Visit the delightful and very picturesque coastal village Plockton which is a dream location for any photographer and offers a memorable boat trip to see well populated seal colonies: a MUST!
Travel over the bridge to the heart of the Isle of Skye, Sligachan
- Take a short and very scenic walk into Glen Brittle surrounded by the peaks of the famous Cuillin mountains (2 hours, 6 km, 300 m)
- Passing through south, the Garden of Skye and travel by traditional ferry across to the mainland to Mallaig and along the famous and beautiful coastal road ‘Road to the Isles’ with its white sand beaches
- Visit Glenfinnan and its picturesque railway viaduct made famous in the Harry Potter films.
- Night near Fort William
Day 5) Glen Nevis and the West Coast
- An atmospheric walk in one of Scotland’s most beautiful valleys at the foot of Great Britain’s biggest mountain, Ben Nevis. (3 hours, 350 m)
- We travel the scenic Appin West Coast to spend the night in the lively harbour town Oban with its fantastic views to the islands. Here you can visit the local whisky distillery, taste some fresh bites of delicious fish at the harbour or take a stroll along the seaside promenade with its breathtaking views
- Night in Oban
Day 6) Tropical Gardens of Ardouaine, prehistoric Kilmartin, ...........Inveraray and Loch Lomond
- Ardouaine is a tropical garden immersed in Scottish West Coast landscape: a visual adventure
- Time for a good stroll: The wide valley of Kilmartin Glen introduces you to Scotland’s richest prehistoric site, a wonderful landscape dotted with 5ooo year old stone circles, impressive burial mounds, megalithic plinths and stone carvings. A superb nearby museum enlightens you on your discoveries and the organic café provides a little feast for snack time.
- Travelling along one of Scotland’s longest sea lochs we reach the seat of the powerful Campbell clan chiefs, Inveraray Castle, an opulent 18th century fairy castle, where the Dukes of Argyll display their wealth: a masterpiece of Scottish Georgian Architecture Inveraray Castle is splendidly furnished and contains an interesting selection of trophies, memorabilia, documents and weaponry - and an excellent insight into Scottish history.
- Passing over the rocky Arrochar Alps we reach the Queen of all Lochs, Loch Lomond where we spend the night in the quiet lochside village of Balmaha complete with a cosy pub, an excellent bed & breakfast guesthouse and a romantic location.
Day 7) Glasgow
This interesting and beautiful city offers industrial history, avant-garde art, Arts & Craft design, rich Georian and Victorian architecture, and the fascinating story of how a city in post industrial decline rescued itself by reinventing its purpose. We will visit
- The picturesque and stunning 18th century cemetery ‘Necropolis’
- The beautiful 12th century cathedral, the only one in Scotland to have survived the Reformation
- The unusual and insightful ‘St. Mungo’s’ Museum of religious life and culture
- The famous Art School designed by C. R. Mackintosh, Arts & Craft designer and architect
- The bohemian, lively West End
- Night in Glasgow
Prices
As these depend so much on your final itinerary and services chosen please contact us directly for more information.
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