8 DAYS IN A SCOTTISH CASTLE

Self-Drive

From: $1,170*

Day	Itinerary	Example Hotel	Location
Day 1	Arrival	5* Fonab Castle	Perthshire
Day 2	Speyside Whisky Trail	4* Tulloch Castle	Inverness Area
Day 3	Wester Ross	4* Tulloch Castle	Inverness Area
Day 4	Loch Ness – Glencoe	4* Barcaldine Castle	West Coast
Day 5	Loch Lomond – Glasgow	4* Sheerbroke Castle	Glasgow Area
Day 6	The Kelpies	4* Dalhousie Castle	Edinburgh Area
Day 7	Edinburgh Sightseeing	4* Dalhousie Castle	Edinburgh Area
Day 8	Departure

Suggested Itinerary

DAY 1: Welcome to Scotland! Depart Edinburgh Airport heading north crossing the Forth Road Bridge with its dramatic views of the Victorian feet of engineering the Forth Railway Bridge and the new ‘Queensferry Crossing’. This site is the only location in the world where there are three bridges, each build in a different century. Overnight in Perthshire.

DAY 2: After breakfast, travel north towards Pitlochry, a small Highland town. Stop at the Salmon Ladder where you may be lucky enough to see salmon leaping! From Pitlochry, travel towards Inverness. You will take the very scenic & dramatic road over the Drummochter Pass one of the highest roads in Scotland. Descend into Speyside an area of Scotland famous for its whisky producing tradition. Follow the Whisky Trail & visit one of the many famous distilleries in the area. You can visit Glenfiddich, McCallums, Grants, Cardhu and many more. Each gives an audio-visual show and then a guided tour of the distillery to learn of the processes and for many the highlight is a tasting at the end of the tour. The choice of what to see and do in the Speyside area is huge – there are castles – Brodie, Cawdor (made famous by the Shakespeare’s Macbeth), and Ballindalloch. Visit Culloden Moor, site of the last land battle on British soil. Continue onto Inverness Area for overnight.

DAY 3: Enjoy a day visiting the West Coast of Scotland and a journey across to Ullapool, a quaint fishing village. Then travel down past the dramatic Corrieshalloch Gorge to the Inverewe Gardens, run by the National Trust and created from once-barren peninsula on the shore of Loch Ewe by Victorian gardener Osgood Mackenzie. Exotic plants from many countries flourish here from the mild climate created by the North Atlantic Drift. You will enjoy the spectacular lochside setting among pinewoods and superb views. These magnificent gardens have a famous rhododendron collection and who would expect to find palm trees in Scotland! Return through the magnificent scenery of the Torridon area and past Loch Maree. Return to the Inverness area for overnight.

DAY 4: Today you will travel south again going via Loch Ness. Loch Ness forms part of the Caledonian Canal a feat of some great engineering by Thomas Telford linking East Scotland with West by using a series of lochs linked by a canal system. Make a stop at Urquhart Castle, a very scenic spot and the place where the most sightings of “Nessie” have been. Continue towards Fort William, which nestles beneath the highest mountain in Great Britain – Ben Nevis. You will drive through Glencoe, the dramatic and historic glen (valley), scene of the 1692 massacre of part of the MacDonald clan by soldiers of King William. Its steep sided mountains offer superb walking and climbing. Red deer, wildcat, golden eagle and rare arctic plants can be seen among the breath-taking peaks and spectacular waterfalls. Arrive in Oban, the “Gateway to the Western Isles”, has been a major port to the islands for centuries.

DAY 5: Today depart Oban passing through the Brander Pass travel through the beautiful and mysterious Rannoch Moor and into the heart of the Trossachs, known as the “gateway to the Highlands”. You will drive along the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, the largest stretch of inland water in Britain, and framed by lovely mountain scenery. The landscape of this area has played a significant part in the history and literature of Scotland. It was the inspiration and setting for Sir Walter Scott’s major work, “The Lady of the Lake”, inspiring the first tourists to venture to Highland Scotland.

DAY 6: Depart and travel east towards Edinburgh. Look out for one of Scotland’s newest additions, the world’s largest equine sculptures – The Kelpies. The sculptures were designed by sculptor Andy Scott and were completed in October 2013.

DAY 7: Enjoy a full day in the Scottish capital. You will visit Edinburgh Castle which dominates the city from its 400 foot rock where you will see the Scottish crown jewels and the Stone of Destiny, now back in Scotland where it belongs. You can also visit the private apartments of Mary Stuart and St Margaret’s Chapel, the oldest building in the city, which dates back to the 11th century. Continuing down the Royal Mile, you will visit Saint Giles’ Cathedral. Founded in the 1100s, it is a triumph of 14th and 15th century architecture with a crown spire that has dominated the Edinburgh skyline for 500 years. It became the church of John Knox during the Reformation and contains memorials to many great Scots, including Robert Louis Stevenson and Robert Burns.

DAY 8: Unfortunately, it is time to leave Scotland. Return to the airport and join your flight home.

Price Includes:

7 nights accommodation including breakfast
14 day Historic Scotland Explorer Pass
24 Edinburgh Hop on Hop off City Sightseeing Bus
Service & Vat

Suggested Experience:

Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh
Cruise on Loch Ness

Close Dates: 23-24 May | 18-21 June

*Package descriptions and pricing are subject to change without notice.