Whisky & Historic Scotland Tour

I met my group of six Wisconsin travellers in Fort William to drive to Inverness, on the way we stopped at the Glenfinnan Viaduct just in time to catch (with a camera), the Jacobite steam train in all it’s glory, think Harry Potter flying car scene (Chamber of Secrets). Lingering a while taking more pictures & enjoying the scenic views we enjoyed the atmosphere created by the passing steam train and our many fellow travellers soaking up the experience. We departed for Eilean Donan Castle arguably one of the most beautiful in Scotland, a stunning location, conscientious restoration and quality visitor centre/cafe pitch a strong argument. Urquhart Castle was our next stop to take in one of Scotland’s most iconic sites on the shores of Loch Ness, no sightings of Nessie on this day but the visitor centre one of the best in Scotland provided a warm welcome with tours of Urquhart castle highly recommended, a recent investment of £300,000 to an already awesome location provides visitors with a 5 star experience. We travelled further on to Inverness staying at the Glen Mhor for the night, sampling some of the excellent local pubs & restaurants Inverness has to offer.

Our second day was Whisky day starting at the unbelievable Macallan Distillery, the design & scale of the Macallan visitor experience a view of the future (now) of Whisky in Scotland, a must visit on any Whisky tour…Glenfiddich was next offering a different but equally interesting tour with knowledgeable tour guides with many an interesting story to tell, to note Balvenie distillery is a fine smaller distillery not to be missed but book well in advance to avoid disappointment as tours are on a much smaller scale here. Speyside has over half of all the Whisky distilleries in Scotland so something for everyone here.

In between our Whisky stops we visited Walkers shortbread for much needed provisions & had lunch at the Copper Dog in Aberlour, a great pub offering a true Scottish experience with helpful staff & a nice mix of locals & visitors creating a cosy, welcoming experience to savour (which we did).

First visit on day 3 was Clava Cairns East of Inverness, unfortunately we had no time to stop at Culloden which is a hugely interesting & Historic site, well worth a couple of hours or more, the battlefield saw the end of the Jacobite uprising in 1745. Clava Cairns is a Bronze Age burial site, eery, sombre but fully engaging, you will be immersed in the feel of Clava Cairns & experience a 4,000 year old cemetery, pretty cool!

We then moved onto St.Andrews, the Auld Grey Toon offering many delights to visit: the Cathedral and the British Golf Museum for example which is located next to the most famous golf course in the world, the Old Course. Have lunch, chill a bit & visit Taste a cool coffee shop serving great drinks & cake (it gets busy but is worth the wait).

The diverse feel of St.Andrews is fantastic with the chilled out vibe of the students to the even more chilled out golfers roaming around in Golf’s mecca, high on nostalgia & the best golf in the world, intoxicating for golfers & non golfers alike, I love this place!

I departed from my Wisconsin friends in Edinburgh and wished them safe onwards travel having thoroughly enjoyed our time together.

The tour could of course be split into single days or added to, just ask and I can do, talk soon....