Scotland and Isle of Skye vacation package: 6-day guided tour

Highlights

• Photograph the incredible landscapes of the Scottish Highlands and Isle of Skye as you learn about their deep-time origins and fascinating human influences.
• Explore hidden lochs and view towering peaks in the company of two Tour Leaders who are experts in history, geology, and photography.
• Enjoy a visit to a whisky distillery as well as a whisky tasting evening with a local expert.
• Stay in top-quality accommodation and experience a true taste of Scotland with dinner included each evening.
• Travel from Edinburgh by first-class rail and luxury mini coach as part of this small group exclusive tour (maximum 12 guests).

Overview

Immerse yourself in the breath-taking beauty of Scotland on this six-day, five-night adventure. Starting in Edinburgh, you’ll travel to the Highlands and the Isle of Skye, experiencing the region’s landscapes, culture, history, and geology.

As part of a small group, you’ll see the most spectacular castles and famous sights of the Scottish Highlands and the Isle of Skye. Our Scottish Tour leader, Ali Motion, breathes life into their history with her trove of stories and anecdotes, while professional photographer Alex Hare shows you how to capture striking photographs to treasure.

Day 1: Meet in Edinburgh and on to Port Appin via Rannoch Moor and Glencoe

The tour starts in Edinburgh, then hits the open road on your Scottish tour. Your first stop is at the Great Moor of Rannoch, one of the few remaining wildernesses in Europe, and full of lochans and dramatic views of the surrounding mountains.

Your Scottish tour continues as you take in magnificent mountains, the Three Sisters of Glencoe. There will be time here for some guided photography of this iconic view of the Scottish Highlands. This leg of your tour also includes the story of the Glencoe Massacre, a notorious event in Scottish history, which adds a certain poignancy to the area’s rugged beauty.

Rounding off your first day in the Scottish Highlands, you’ll receive a warm welcome and a group dinner at The Pierhouse Hotel in Port Appin, where you can enjoy the view of Loch Linnhe on your doorstep. (Photo Credit: The Pierhouse Hotel)

• Check into The Pierhouse Hotel, Port Appin, for two nights
• A la carte group dinner

Day 2: Port Appin and Lismore

After breakfast and views of the loch at the Pierhouse Hotel, you’ll be spending today on the Island of Lismore with one of the residents. Noelle Odling, returned to family home on the Island in 2014. Noelle is now Treasurer of the Lismore Gaelic Heritage Centre, and a fiddle player in the Lismore Dance Band. Noelle will guide you through the fascinating Island landscapes, history and geology, as well as giving you a unique and first-hand account of living on the Island. As an artist and a geologist (an Associate Professor at Leeds University), Noelle is the perfect guide as you visit castles, brochs, a medieval church, and the Heritage Centre.

The journey to Lismore involves a short drive (40 mins) to Oban and a Ferry to Achnacroish with views of the dramatic mountains on the Isle of Mull.

• Hotel: The Pierhouse Hotel, Port Appin
• A la carte group dinner and an after-dinner special whisky tasting lecture from a local expert

Day 3: Castle Stalker, wizards and over the sea to Skye

Our next stop is the Glenfinnan Viaduct made famous by the Harry Potter films. There will be a private tour of the Glenfinnan Monument dedicated to those who died in the Jacobite rising.

Continue to Mallaig to catch the ferry over the sea to the Isle of Skye. This provides the ideal platform to start unravelling the story of continental collision and mountain building that underlies the dramatic scenery.

A warm welcome at Cuillins Hill Hotel, a four-star hotel overlooking the harbour town of Portree and the Cuillin Mountains.

• Check in at Cuillins Hill Hotel, Portree, for two nights.
• A la carte group dinner.

Day 4: Western Skye - Talisker Bay and Loch Coruisk

If you’ve spent the past day admiring the Cuillin Mountains from a distance, you’re in luck as today we’ll head right into the heart of the mountains to a secluded loch!

Travelling down to Elgol, you’ll board a boat across the sea to Loch Coruisk, a scenic loch surrounded on three sides by the equally impressive and dramatic Cuillin Mountains. After time to admire and photograph the area and gain insights into the geology and formation of the mountains, you’ll boat back for a light lunch.

Next up is Talisker Bay, a secluded cove with plenty of unique features and photo opportunities, including a sea stack on one side of the bay and a waterfall on the other. The area also holds one of Skye’s two whisky distilleries; we’ll tour the island’s oldest, Talisker.

• Hotel: Cuillins Hill Hotel, Portree
• A la carte group dinner

Day 5: Northern Skye, Eilean Donan Castle, and Loch Ness - landscapes, landslips, lava flows, continental break-up and ice

If you thought Skye didn’t have any more to offer, we’ve saved the best until last. Today is dedicated to the north of the island, the Trotternish Peninsula.

This part of the island is home to several of Skye’s most recognisable landmarks.

Next, you’ll see the Quiraing (pronounced ‘Kwirrang’), another famous Skye sight. This slow-motion landslip has a history stretching back to the opening of the Atlantic Ocean, and its incredible landscape of hills and jagged peaks has inspired photographers and artists for as long as landscape appreciation has existed – and now it is you turn to unravel the earth history on venture beyond the landscape!

If time we will also visit a more mysterious location: the Fairy Glen an unusual clearing-and-tower on Trotternish!

Next stop will be Eilean Donan Castle, a postcard perfect castle, before you head to loch Ness, a view of Urquhart Castle and hear about the amazing geological story of faulting, earthquakes, and ice behind the origin of the Great Glen and Loch Ness. Then to your final hotel. A warm welcome always awaits you at Coul House Hotel in Strathpeffer, a family-run Georgian mansion that’s an ideal base for your last night in the Highlands.

• Check into Coul House Hotel, Strathpeffer, for one night.
• A la carte group dinner

Day 6: Homeward bound

Savour breakfast at Coul House Hotel, then enjoy a taxi transfer to Inverness to board the mid-morning train back to Waverley Station in Edinburgh.

Note: If required for reasons beyond our control, GeoCultura reserves the right to substitute alternative accommodation of equal or higher quality or adapt the itinerary if required.

Activity Level and Transport

The activity level is rated as LEISURELY to MODERATE, requiring an average level of fitness (view our activity level definitions). The tour will involve walking in generally easy terrain but will require good walking boots (please note, some paths may be uneven and loose underfoot). Walks are 1-3 miles long. This tour also involves boarding a passenger boat to reach Loch Coruisk, from a ramped pier.

If walking is an issue, alternative arrangements can be made during the scheduled longer walks, so please let GeoCultura know in advance.

The Tour Includes:

• The services of your expert guides who will be with the group throughout the tour.
• All transportation costs when travelling from Edinburgh on the first day, and when returning to Edinburgh.
• Entry fees, local guide fees and activity fees, where arranged as part of the tour.
• All accommodation costs for the nights stated, assuming two people sharing a double room. Single occupancy rooms are available for a surcharge. See Single Supplement in ‘Need to Know’ tab.
• Five breakfasts, five a la carte dinners.
• All service charges and most gratuities.

The Tour Excludes:

• Travel insurance. Guests should carry their own health and travel insurance.
• Extra or optional activities not described in the tour.
• Lunches not included.
• Personal expenditures, any alcoholic drinks with meals, and extras at hotels such as laundry bills.
• Transportation to and from Edinburgh Waverley railway station at the start and end of the tour.
• Passport and visa fees.