Country Roads of Scotland
Experience Overview
Set foot on the stomping grounds of the Military Tattoo in Edinburgh, see the grand Georgian architecture of Glasgow and sail across the sea to the Isle of Skye—the most beautiful island of the Inner Hebrides. Enjoy a quieter pace of life on the tranquil Orkney islands as you explore the 1000-year-old Norse Town of Kirkwall and the mysterious Ring of Brodgar. In Wick, whet your whistle with a wee dram of whisky at the Old Pulteney Distillery or visit the fascinating Heritage Museum on this Insight Choice. After exploring the charming cobbled streets of St. Andrews, enjoy cream tea at Atholl Palace.
Highlights
Dining Summary
- 6 Dinner (D)
- 8 Breakfast (B)
- 1 Afternoon Tea (AT)
Choice Highlights
- Choose between two carefully selected activities
- Wick: Visit the highly rated Wick Heritage Museum to gain a full picture of this once thriving fishing community and how your visit helps keep the story of this town alive. The Wick Society is committed to preserving and promoting Wick's proud heritage for the inspiration of future generations. They collect, collate and display the many artefacts that tell the history of Wick and their community ethos is one of welcome and sharing. Your visit directly supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities.
- Wick: Appreciate the distinctive flavours of a selection of whiskies as you share a wee dram with a master distiller.
Authentic Dining
- Edinburgh: Enjoy a relaxing dinner at a local restaurant and get to know your fellow travellers.
- Pitlochry: Atholl Palace, built as a Victorian Baronial retreat, is over 130 years old. The Palace plays host to your afternoon tea. You are welcomed into the banqueting room to enjoy a traditional afternoon tea accompanied by sandwiches, scones, Scottish shortbread and traditional Scottish tablet.
- Glencoe: Your adventure culminates with a wonderful evening enjoying the best Highland hospitality and market-fresh ingredients.
Insight Choice
- Wick: Visit the highly rated Wick Heritage Museum to gain a full picture of this once thriving fishing community and how your visit helps keep the story of this town alive. The Wick Society is committed to preserving and promoting Wick's proud heritage for the inspiration of future generations. They collect, collate and display the many artefacts that tell the history of Wick and their community ethos is one of welcome and sharing. Your visit directly supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities.
- Wick: Appreciate the distinctive flavours of a selection of whiskies as you share a wee dram with a master distiller.
Make Travel Matter
- Glencoe: Join a ranger in the spectacular Valley of Glencoe, learn about the protection of this rare ecosystem and the important work reintroducing lost indigenous species to its flora and fauna. The Natural Reserve carries out important scientific research and conversation initiatives to protect the fragile biodiversity including rare alpine flowers, mosses, mountain hares, red deer and birdlife such as golden eagles. . Your visit directly supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 15: Life on Land.
Top Rated Highlights
- Edinburgh: A hush descends and eyes turn to the castle. The skirl of the pipes rises and drums crack the night air as a tide of tunics and tartan flood from the drawbridge. For a limited time in August, witness the incredible spectacle of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
- Edinburgh: Visit Edinburgh Castle to view the Scottish Crown Jewels, Mons Meg and other artefacts with your Local Expert.
- Edinburgh: Explore the city with your Local Expert as you travel along Princes Street to see the Scott Memorial, the neoclassical Adam facades of New Town and the official Scottish residence of the King, Palace of Holyroodhouse.
- St. Andrews: Visit the university town where the famous beach scene from 'Chariots of Fire' was filmed and see the golf course where the sport was created.
- Inverness: See the River Ness, Inverness Castle and beautiful scenery as you explore the history of this Highland city.
- Inverness: At the exciting Culloden Visitor Centre, discover why the Battle of Culloden lasted only an hour yet changed the Highland way of life forever.
- Loch Ness: Drive along the shores in search of the legendary monster.
- Orkney Islands: Cruise to the windswept Orkney Islands on a full day guided journey. Come face-to-face with relics spanning human history, from pagan stone circles to reminders of wartime tragedy. Visit the 5000-year-old village of Skara Brae.
- Isle of Skye: See the dramatic Cuillin Hills and stay in pretty Broadford.
- Eilean Donan: Stop for a photo of this gorgeous castle built on an island in the Loch.
- Fort William: Enjoy an excellent view of Ben Nevis from the World War II Commando Memorial.
- Glencoe: Your Travel Director will lead you on an orientation of this Highland village on Loch Leven.
- Loch Lomond: Enjoy time to explore the beautiful 'Queen of Scottish Lochs'.
- Glasgow: See the grand public buildings, including George Square and St. Mungo's Cathedral.
Trip Details
Product Code: 28097
Tour Type: Group Tour
Accommodation: Deluxe
Transport: Private
Guide Language: English
Travel Styles:
Family, 55+, Luxury
Tour Operator:
Insight Vacations (CA)
Supplier Code: 40.105B
Starts: Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Finishes: Glasgow, United Kingdom
Duration: 9 days
Departures: Not Guaranteed
Physical Rating:
Easy
Includes
Price
Price per person: (Double Occupancy) CAD $5,557 ($617 /day)
Itinerary
Join your Travel Director for dinner at a local restaurant. On select departures, during your time in Edinburgh you will also attend The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo — a colourful mix of pipes and drums, dance and display, set against the floodlit backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.
Accommodation: Malmaison, Edinburgh
Meals: Dinner
Join a Local Expert to see the highlights of the city. In the Old Town, see the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official Scottish residence of the King. Drive along Princes Street to the ornate Scott Memorial, then see the 18th century New Town with its neoclassical Georgian facades. Venture up the Royal Mile to visit Edinburgh Castle, home of Mons Meg and Scotland’s Crown Jewels. The rest of the day is at leisure; why not visit the art treasures in the National Gallery?
Accommodation: Malmaison, Edinburgh
Meals: Breakfast
Cross the Firth of Forth into Fife and journey to St. Andrews, passing the Old Course, home of golf since its creation in the 15th century. Enjoy free time to explore. Perhaps stroll to West Sands Beach where the famous 'Chariots of Fire' scene was filmed? Alternatively, wander to St. Andrews University where the love story of Kate Middleton meeting her Prince Charming began. Stop at Atholl Palace and Gardens for a delicious cream tea. Originally opened in Victorian times, the hotel retains many traditional features. Continue via Blair Atholl and pass the Grampian Mountains on the way to the sparkling Spey Valley.
Accommodation: Kingsmills, Inverness
Meals: Breakfast, Afternoon Tea, Dinner
Keep your eyes peeled for the Loch Ness monster this morning during a scenic drive along the legendary lake. See Culloden Battlefield in the morning, where Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite army was crushed in 1746. Visit the Culloden Visitor Centre. Next, with Insight Choice discover the fishing port of Wick. Choose to visit the Old Pulteney Distillery to taste a wee dram of its award-winning whiskies. Alternatively, join a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience with a visit to the highly rated Wick Heritage Museum and hear about the past of this once thriving fishing community.
Accommodation: The Pentland, Thurso
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Start the day by boarding the ferry to the beautiful Orkney Islands where the countryside is breathtakingly majestic and the tranquillity supports a quieter pace of life. Here the hardy locals say they live ‘below the wind and above the water.’ Your Travel Director accompanies you as you visit the 5000-year-old village of Skara Brae, the old Norse Town of Kirkwall, the mysterious Ring of Brodgar, Kirkwall and the small chapel built by Italian prisoners during World War II.
Accommodation: The Pentland, Thurso
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Travel through stunning, pristine landscapes along the northern coast with its white sandy beaches, and further inland to misty valleys and glens, lochs and rushing waters. Then it’s ‘Over the Sea to Skye,’ the largest and most beautiful island of the Inner Hebrides. On the way to Broadford, hear romantic tales of how young Flora MacDonald helped rescue Bonnie Prince Charlie and see the dramatic Cuillin Hills.
Accommodation: The Dunollie, Broadford
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
This morning explore this wild and beautiful island on your own, before crossing to the Kyle of Lochalsh. Stop for a photo at remote Eilean Donan Castle, which under a clear sky offers a perfect reflection in its loch. Move on to the WWII Commando Memorial where there is a fine view of Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain. Enjoy spectacular scenery en route to the Valley of Glencoe. Join a ranger for a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience, learn about the protection of this rare ecosystem and the important work reintroducing lost indigenous species to its flora and fauna. In the evening, enjoy market-fresh Scottish ingredients and wine, as you get together with your newfound friends for a sumptuous dinner. Don't be surprised if, by the end of the evening, you're 'Toasting to the Lassies' or singing 'Auld Lang Syne'.
Accommodation: Ballachulish, Glencoe
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Spend time around peaceful Loch Lomond, ‘Queen of Scottish Lochs’ according to Sir Walter Scott and the largest in Great Britain. Perhaps experience the beauty and tranquillity of the loch with an optional cruise before continuing to Glasgow? An orientation drive through the city will show you the grand public buildings, including George Square and St. Mungo’s Cathedral. Then the rest of the afternoon is at your leisure.
Accommodation: Radisson Blu, Glasgow
Meals: Breakfast
Today, bid farewell to your journey along the country roads of Scotland as you transfer to the airport.
Meals: Breakfast
Similar Tours
Tour Operator
Insight Vacations (CA)
Part of The Travel Company (TTC) family of brands, Insight Vacations began operations in 1978 and is based in Cypress, CA. Journeys are featured to destinations, such as the U.S. and Canada, Europe, Latin America, North Africa, Asia, the UK and Ireland. The company offers are a variety of tours under the classifications of Regional Journeys, Country Roads, Discovery Journeys, Easy Pace trips, and Special Interest tours. Insight is the ideal name for the tour operator, as the journeys provided by Insight Vacations allow travelers to gain further insight into whatever destination they wish to explore. For example, Discovery Journeys are the ideal choice for first-time visitors to Europe. Itineraries include Dine-at-Home or Farm-to-Table experiences so travelers can learn more about how locals live and dine. Regional Journeys allow trip-goers to see a specific location in Europe that they have always wanted to see – Poland, Switzerland, Italy, etc. The carefully planned trips enable customers to immerse themselves in one specific region or country and to become acquainted with its culture, traditions, and people. For anyone seeking travel off the beaten track, Insight Vacations offers Country Roads – trips that lead travelers off the well-tread tourist trail to explore hidden gems where visitors can savor the local produce with Farm-to-Table dining. Some trips are offered under the Easy Pace travel style – the ideal trip choice for trip-goers who wish to slow their pace during their vacation. During these tours, vacationers stay at least 3 nights at each destination, giving them some additional time to explore a place and enjoy it. Regardless of the travel style, many of the vacations offered by Insight Vacations begin with Relaxed Starts – giving travelers time to sleep in a little, spend more time at breakfast, or explore an area on their own. The tour company prides itself on providing business class tours that features luxury coaches with 40 seats. While most coach touring operators provide vehicles with 53 seats, Insight Vacations has re-configured its motor coaches to hold up to 40 guests. This gives passengers extra leg room while traveling and offers them more space and privacy.
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