Scotland: Edinburgh, the East Coast, the Highlands, Skye and Mull

1. Day 1: Arrive in Edinburgh

   Edinburgh Airport to your hotel in the centre, then an evening walk to Calton Hill

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Dinner
   • Stay in Edinburgh
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Edinburgh Airport (EDI), about 13 km west of the city, where a driver meets you in arrivals for the ride to our central hotel, within walking distance of the Royal Mile. Land by about 2 pm if you can; arriving a day early is easy to arrange and gives you a day to get over the flight. In the late afternoon your See Sight Tours guide leads a gentle first walk through Princes Street Gardens under the castle rock, along the Georgian New Town and up Calton Hill, where the view runs from the castle to Arthur's Seat and the Firth of Forth. The Old and New Towns have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995. We finish with a welcome dinner and a short briefing on the next eleven days: how the drives are paced, which bases are two nights, and what to pack for the islands.

   Included

   • Private transfer from Edinburgh Airport (EDI)
   • First walk with your guide: Princes Street Gardens, the New Town and Calton Hill
   • Welcome dinner and briefing

   Easier option: Take a taxi up Calton Hill with your guide and walk only the level top.

   Free time: Free until the late-afternoon walk

   Activity: About an hour and a half on foot, with a short steep climb up Calton Hill.

2. Day 2: Edinburgh Castle and the Old Town

   Edinburgh on foot: the castle, the Royal Mile, St Giles', the closes and the Grassmarket

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Edinburgh
   Day 2 details

   We walk up to Edinburgh Castle for the first entry of the morning, before the queues and tour coaches build. The castle stands on an extinct volcanic plug; inside are the Honours of Scotland, the crown jewels, St Margaret's Chapel, the oldest building in the city, and the siege gun Mons Meg. After about two hours there, a local guide walks us down the Royal Mile to St Giles' Cathedral and into the narrow closes off it, where tenements once rose ten storeys, then down to the Grassmarket and Greyfriars Kirkyard. The afternoon and evening are yours. The National Museum of Scotland is free and close by; the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Real Mary King's Close are optional extras we book ahead at the price shown. Your guide will point you to pubs with live folk music for the evening.

   Included

   • Edinburgh Castle, first entry of the morning
   • Guided Old Town walk with a local guide: the Royal Mile, St Giles' Cathedral, the closes, the Grassmarket and Greyfriars Kirkyard

   Optional experiences

   • Palace of Holyroodhouse (extra, booked ahead, price shown at booking)
   • The Real Mary King's Close underground tour (extra, price shown at booking)
   • A ceilidh evening with dinner and Scottish dancing (extra, price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Leave the walk at St Giles' and rest at the hotel or a cafe.

   More active option: Climb Arthur's Seat in the afternoon, 251 m, about 2 hours up and down from Holyrood, with your guide's directions.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Edinburgh

   Activity: About 3 hours on foot on cobbles and steep streets, with steps inside the castle.

   

3. Day 3: The Forth bridges, the East Neuk and St Andrews

   Edinburgh to South Queensferry, across the Forth to Fife, the East Neuk villages and St Andrews

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in St Andrews
   Day 3 details

   We leave Edinburgh at about 9 and stop first at South Queensferry, under the red cantilevers of the Forth Bridge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015, with its two road bridges beside it. Then we cross into Fife and follow the coast to the East Neuk, a string of fishing villages with red pantiled roofs and stone harbours. We walk the harbour at Pittenweem, still a working fishing port, and sit down to a seafood lunch in Anstruther, home of the Scottish Fisheries Museum. St Andrews is twenty minutes on. In the afternoon your guide walks us through the ruins of the cathedral, founded in 1158 and once the largest church in Scotland, to the clifftop castle with its siege mine and bottle dungeon, along the medieval street plan of the town and to the Old Course, the oldest golf course still in play. We arrive at the hotel by about 4:30, and the evening is free by the West Sands.

   Included

   • The Forth Bridge at South Queensferry
   • Pittenweem harbour and Anstruther in the East Neuk
   • Sit-down seafood lunch in Anstruther
   • St Andrews Cathedral and St Andrews Castle with your guide
   • A walk through the old town to the Old Course and the West Sands

   Optional experiences

   • A round of golf in St Andrews on a public course (extra, booked ahead where tee times allow, price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Stay in the cathedral grounds and the old town and skip the castle's steps and mine.

   More active option: Walk the Fife Coastal Path from Pittenweem to Anstruther, about 2 km, and meet the group for lunch.

   Free time: Evening free in St Andrews

   Activity: About 2.5 hours on foot, on harbour cobbles, grass and gravel in the ruins, and a low passage in the castle mine.

   

4. Day 4: Dundee, Pitlochry and the Snow Roads to Deeside

   St Andrews to Dundee, then Pitlochry, Glenshee, the Cairnwell pass, Braemar and Ballater

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Ballater
   Day 4 details

   We cross the Tay Road Bridge to Dundee and are at the V&A Dundee for its 10 am opening. The building, by Kengo Kuma, sits on the waterfront like a ship's prow beside RRS Discovery, Scott's Antarctic ship built in the city; the Scottish Design Galleries inside take about an hour. Then it is just over an hour by Perth to Pitlochry, a Victorian resort town on the Tummel, where we sit down to lunch and walk the oak wood path to the Black Spout waterfall. In the afternoon we take the Snow Roads over Glenshee and the Cairnwell pass, at about 670 m one of the highest main roads in Britain, into the Cairngorms National Park, stopping in Braemar, then follow the Dee to Ballater by about 5:30. That is about four hours of driving, at our daily guideline, split into three legs by the gallery, lunch and the walk. We unpack for two nights.

   Included

   • V&A Dundee, at opening, and RRS Discovery from the quay
   • Sit-down lunch in Pitlochry
   • Woodland walk to the Black Spout waterfall
   • The Snow Roads over Glenshee and the Cairnwell pass
   • A stop in Braemar

   Optional experiences

   • RRS Discovery, aboard (extra, price shown at booking; time allowing)

   Easier option: Stay in Pitlochry's main street after lunch instead of the woodland walk.

   More active option: Walk on from the Black Spout to the Edradour distillery and back, about 1.5 km more.

   Free time: Evening free in Ballater

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot: gallery floors and a woodland path of about 2.5 km with some climb and roots.

   

5. Day 5: Balmoral and Glen Muick

   Ballater to Balmoral (or Braemar Castle), then Glen Muick and back to Ballater

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Ballater
   Day 5 details

   A slower day in Royal Deeside. We drive fifteen minutes west to Balmoral, the royal family's Highland home since Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought it in 1852, for opening. The grounds, gardens, exhibitions and the ballroom take about two hours; the rest of the castle stays private. Balmoral usually opens only from about April to July, so on August and September departures we visit Braemar Castle instead, a turreted tower house run by the local community, with its rooms furnished. In the late morning we drive into Glen Muick, a quiet glen in the Cairngorms where red deer graze near the road, and walk from the Spittal of Glenmuick to the shore of Loch Muick under Lochnagar. You can stop at the loch or walk on with the guide. We are back in Ballater by about 1:30. The afternoon is free for lunch on the green, the old railway station, or a walk up Craigendarroch, the wooded hill above the village.

   Included

   • Balmoral: grounds, gardens, exhibitions and ballroom (about April to July)
   • Braemar Castle instead, on August and September departures
   • Guided walk in Glen Muick to Loch Muick

   Easier option: Walk only from the Spittal car park to the loch shore and back, about 2 km on a level track.

   More active option: Walk the full Loch Muick circuit with the guide, about 12 km and 3.5 hours, returning in the mid-afternoon.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Ballater

   Activity: About 2 to 3 hours on foot on gravel estate paths and a level glen track; the full loch circuit is longer and optional.

6. Day 6: A whisky day in Speyside

   Ballater over the Lecht to Tomintoul and Glenlivet, then Aberlour and Craigellachie

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Aberlour
   Day 6 details

   We leave Deeside over the Lecht, a high moorland road past the old Corgarff Castle, to Tomintoul and down into Glenlivet, a glen once famous for illicit stills. The Glenlivet distillery, licensed in 1824, gives our tour at about 10:30: mash tuns, stills and warehouses, ending with a tasting of its Speyside malts. Drivers' drams can be taken away. We drive on along the Spey to Aberlour for a sit-down lunch, then to Craigellachie and the Speyside Cooperage, where coopers repair and raise oak casks by hand for the region's distilleries, watched from a gallery above the floor. The drive is under two hours in short legs. The late afternoon is free: walk a stretch of the Speyside Way along the river, or sample in a village bar from a list your guide suggests. Tonight is our one night in Speyside, in Aberlour or Craigellachie.

   Included

   • The Lecht road and Tomintoul
   • The Glenlivet distillery tour and tasting
   • Sit-down lunch in Aberlour
   • The Speyside Cooperage, Craigellachie

   Optional experiences

   • A second distillery tour in the late afternoon, if a slot is free on your date (extra, price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Skip the cooperage gallery and rest in Aberlour after lunch.

   More active option: Walk the Speyside Way from Craigellachie back to Aberlour, about 4 km on an old railway line by the river.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Speyside

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot, with stairs and uneven floors in the distillery and cooperage.

7. Day 7: Cawdor, Culloden and the Black Isle

   Aberlour to Cawdor Castle, Culloden, Chanonry Point on the Black Isle and Inverness

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Inverness
   Day 7 details

   We drive west through Moray to Cawdor Castle, opening at about 10, a 14th-century tower house still lived in by the Cawdor family, with tapestries, a drawbridge and walled gardens; the castle is tied to Macbeth only by Shakespeare's title. Then it is twenty minutes to Culloden, where the last Jacobite army was defeated on 16 April 1746. The visitor centre tells both sides, and flags on the moor mark where the clans and the government lines stood; lunch in its cafe is your own choice and cost, not one of the included lunches. In the afternoon we cross the Kessock Bridge to the Black Isle and walk out to Chanonry Point, between Fortrose and Rosemarkie, where bottlenose dolphins often feed in the narrows of the Moray Firth on a rising tide; your guide times the stop to the tide and we wait about an hour. Inverness is twenty minutes away, and we arrive by about 5:30, with the evening free by the River Ness.

   Included

   • Cawdor Castle and gardens
   • Culloden Battlefield and visitor centre
   • Chanonry Point on the Black Isle, timed to the tide for dolphins

   Easier option: Watch from the car park end at Chanonry Point, a few steps from the van.

   More active option: Walk the full battlefield path at Culloden out to the government lines and back, about 3 km.

   Free time: Evening free in Inverness

   Activity: About 2.5 hours on foot, on castle stairs, level battlefield paths and a shingle point.

8. Day 8: Loch Ness, Eilean Donan and over to Skye

   Inverness along Loch Ness to Invermoriston, then Glen Moriston, Glen Shiel, Eilean Donan, the Skye Bridge and Portree

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Portree
   Day 8 details

   We follow the north shore of Loch Ness, about 37 km long and over 200 m deep, with a stop at a lochside viewpoint, then turn west at Invermoriston through Glen Moriston and down Glen Shiel between steep, bare mountains. Eilean Donan, our castle for the day, stands on a tidal island where three sea lochs meet; it was destroyed in 1719 and rebuilt in the early 20th century, with a banqueting hall, bedrooms and kitchen laid out inside. We have about an hour and a quarter there and a sit-down lunch in Dornie beside it. We cross the Skye Bridge, stop at Sligachan under the jagged Cuillin and reach Portree at about 5:30, with the evening free by the coloured houses of the harbour. The drive is about three and three quarter hours in four legs. We stay two nights, so bags stay packed away.

   Included

   • A Loch Ness viewpoint stop
   • Glen Moriston and Glen Shiel
   • Eilean Donan Castle, inside
   • Sit-down lunch in Dornie
   • Sligachan and the view of the Cuillin

   Easier option: Watch Eilean Donan from the shore viewpoint and skip the narrow stairs inside.

   Free time: Evening free in Portree

   Activity: About 1.5 hours on foot, with narrow stairs inside Eilean Donan.

   

9. Day 9: The Storr and the Quiraing on Skye

   Portree to the Old Man of Storr, Kilt Rock, the Quiraing, Uig and back to Portree

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Portree
   Day 9 details

   Skye's day tours arrive mid-morning, so we leave Portree at 8 and are at the Old Man of Storr, a basalt pinnacle on the Trotternish ridge, by about 8:20. The path climbs about 3.8 km there and back, and the early light falls on the rock face. Up the coast we stop at Kilt Rock, where Mealt Falls drops off the cliff into the sea, then take the narrow road over the ridge from Staffin to the Quiraing, a huge landslip of pinnacles and hidden plateaus, for a walk along its path. We have a sit-down lunch at Uig or Staffin and pass the grassy cones of the Fairy Glen above Uig. Then we cross the ridge back to Portree by about 3, about two and a quarter hours of driving on single-track roads in all. The rest of the day is free: a harbour walk, a boat trip to look for sea eagles in season, or an easy afternoon in the hotel.

   Included

   • The Old Man of Storr, early, before the day tours
   • Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls
   • The Quiraing and the Staffin to Uig ridge road
   • The Fairy Glen
   • Sit-down lunch at Uig or Staffin

   Optional experiences

   • A sea eagle boat trip from Portree harbour in season (extra, price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Walk only the first stretch of the Storr path and turn back whenever you like, and watch the Quiraing from the car park.

   More active option: Walk the Quiraing loop over the ridge, about 6.8 km and 2.5 hours, while the group takes the shorter path; the van meets you.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Portree

   Activity: About 3 hours on foot on rough, often wet hill paths, with a steady climb at the Storr. Bring waterproofs.

   

10. Day 10: The Mallaig ferry, Glenfinnan and Glencoe to Oban

    Portree to Armadale, the ferry to Mallaig, then Glenfinnan, Fort William, Glencoe and Oban

    • Drive about 4.5 h
    • Breakfast and lunch
    • Stay in Oban
    Day 10 details

    We cross Skye to Armadale on the Sleat peninsula for the car ferry to Mallaig, a crossing of about 30 minutes, then take the Road to the Isles east past silver sands to Glenfinnan, at the head of Loch Shiel, where Charles Edward Stuart raised his standard in 1745. We walk up to the viewpoint over the 21-arch railway viaduct and have a sit-down lunch nearby. Past Fort William, under Ben Nevis, at 1,345 m the highest mountain in Britain, we reach Glencoe in the mid-afternoon for a guided walk of about an hour from the visitor centre, where your guide tells the story of the massacre of 13 February 1692, then stop below the Three Sisters. Oban is an hour south over the Connel Bridge, and we arrive by about 6:30. This is the longest day and the only one over our four-hour guideline, about four and a quarter hours of driving plus the ferry, because there is no shorter road from Skye to Oban; the ferry, Glenfinnan, lunch and the Glencoe walk break it into four legs. If wind stops the ferry, we leave by the Skye Bridge, about 1.5 hours longer, and shorten Glenfinnan.

    Included

    • The Armadale to Mallaig car ferry
    • Glenfinnan: the viaduct viewpoint and the Glenfinnan Monument
    • Sit-down lunch at Glenfinnan or Mallaig
    • Guided walk in Glencoe and the Three Sisters viewpoint

    Easier option: Watch the viaduct from the visitor centre terrace, and stay at the Glencoe visitor centre cafe during the walk.

    Free time: Evening free in Oban

    Activity: About 2 hours on foot, with a short steep path at Glenfinnan and woodland paths in Glencoe.

    

11. Day 11: A day on the Isle of Mull

    Oban by ferry to Craignure, then Duart Castle and Tobermory, and back to Oban

    • Drive about 2 h
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Oban
    Day 11 details

    We take an early CalMac ferry from Oban across the Firth of Lorn to Craignure on Mull, about 45 minutes, and drive a few minutes to Duart Castle, the seat of the Clan Maclean on a headland over the Sound of Mull, for its opening. The castle was ruined in the 18th century and restored from 1911, and its keep, dungeons and state rooms take about an hour and a half. Then we drive north along the sound, where sea eagles and seals are often seen, to Tobermory and its painted harbour front for a sit-down lunch and free time among the shops, the small distillery and the harbour walk. We return to Craignure for a mid-afternoon ferry and reach Oban at about 4:30, with time before our farewell seafood dinner. If wind cancels the Mull ferry, we visit Dunollie Castle and the Oban shore instead.

    Included

    • The Oban to Craignure ferry, both ways
    • Duart Castle
    • Tobermory harbour and free time
    • Sit-down lunch in Tobermory
    • Farewell seafood dinner in Oban

    Easier option: Stay in Tobermory's harbour cafes rather than the climb to the upper town.

    More active option: Walk the Aros Park path from Tobermory, about 3 km through woods to a waterfall and back.

    Free time: Free time in Tobermory and early evening in Oban

    Activity: About 2 hours on foot, with steep stairs in Duart and a hill in Tobermory.

    

12. Day 12: Inveraray, Loch Lomond and Glasgow

    Oban to Inveraray, then the Rest and Be Thankful, Loch Lomond at Luss and Glasgow

    • Drive about 3 h
    • Breakfast and lunch
    Day 12 details

    We leave Oban at about 9 along Loch Awe to Inveraray, a Georgian planned town on Loch Fyne, for a coffee and a walk along the front. The road then climbs Glen Kinglas and the Rest and Be Thankful pass to Loch Lomond, the largest lake in Britain by surface area, and runs down its west shore to Luss, a conservation village of stone cottages. We have our last lunch together there at about 12:30, with time on the pier. Glasgow is about forty minutes on. In the city centre your guide leads a short walk through George Square, under the Victorian City Chambers, and into the Merchant City, and the trip ends there at about 4. Those flying out ride on to Glasgow Airport (GLA) by about 4:30. Book a flight after about 7:30 pm, or stay on: we can book a Glasgow hotel. The drive is about two and three quarter hours in three legs.

    Included

    • Inveraray on Loch Fyne
    • The Rest and Be Thankful pass
    • Luss on Loch Lomond and lunch
    • Short guided walk in Glasgow: George Square, the City Chambers and the Merchant City
    • Drop at Glasgow city centre or Glasgow Airport (GLA)

    Easier option: Stay in the van or a cafe in George Square during the Glasgow walk.

    Free time: Evening free in Glasgow if you are staying on

    Activity: About 1.5 hours on foot on level village lanes and city pavements. Book a flight leaving Glasgow after about 7:30 pm.

    

Wildlife and weather: May and June bring the longest days, with light until about 10 pm in the north, and the fewest midges; September is quieter, with heather fading and the first autumn colour in Deeside. Ferries to Mallaig and Mull can be cancelled in high wind, and the guide then swaps the day: the Skye Bridge route instead of the Mallaig ferry, or Glencoe and Oban instead of Mull. Bottlenose dolphins are often seen at Chanonry Point on a rising tide, red deer in Glen Muick, Glencoe and on Rannoch, red squirrels in Deeside and Speyside, and seals and sea eagles are possible around Mull.

• Edinburgh2 nights
• St Andrews1 night
• Ballater2 nights
• Aberlour1 night
• Inverness1 night
• Portree2 nights
• Oban2 nights