Guided Tours of Scotland
Private Tours With Driver-Guide Greg Kain
Grand Tour of Scotland
Photo: Connor Mollison
The Grand Tour of Scotland itinerary takes you around the country in a 10 to 28 day trip taking in the Highlands, the Lowlands, cities, towns, villages, dramatic coastline and at least one island. The following is a sample itinerary for guidance only, I can make up a schedule incorporating the places you want to visit and the sights I think you should not miss! Remember tours can start and/or finish anywhere in Scotland or the UK, In the sample itinerary below I have used Edinburgh purely as an example. I recommend booking this tour well in advance as availability reduces quite early in the year for long road trips.
Sample Scottish Road Trip Outline Itinerary
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DAY 1
Glasgow or Edinburgh - Scottish Borders - Scott's View - Melrose Abbey - Jedburgh Abbey - Hadrian's Wall
DAY 2
Lanercost Priory - Gretna - Caerlaverock Castle - Scottish Riviera - Kirkcudbright (Scotland's Artists Town) - Galloway Forest Park
DAY 3
Wigtown ('Scotland's Book Town') - Isle of Whithorn (birthplace of Christianity in Scotland) - Mull of Galloway Lighthouse (most southerly point in Scotland) - Galloway and Ayrshire Coastal Route - Culzean Castle - Alloway (Robert Burns Birthplace Museum & Heritage Centre)
DAY 4
Glasgow - Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park - Inveraray Castle - Loch Awe (Kilchurn Castle & St Conan's Kirk)- Oban
DAY 5
Oban - Castle Stalker - Glencoe ('Valley of the Weeping') - Fort William (Old Inverlochy Castle, Aonach Mor Mountain Gondola cable car) - Glenfinnan Viaduct - Morar - Mallaig - ferry to Armadale, Skye - Cuillin Mountains - Portree
DAY 6
Isle of Skye South (including some of the following; Armadale Castle Gardens & Museum of the Isles, Dunscaith Castle, Torabhaig Whisky Distillery, Sligachan Bridge, Talisker Whisky Distillry, the Oyster Shed, the Fairy Pools, Dun Beag Broch
DAY 7
Isle of Skye North (including some of thr following; Portree, Dunvegan Castle, Neist Point, Coral Beach, Stein Inn, Fairy Glen, the Quiraing, Museum of Island Life, Brother's Point, Kilt Rock, the Old Man of Storr
DAY 8
Skye Bridge - Eilean Donan Castle -Plockton - Attadale Gardens - Loch Carron - Bealach na Ba (Scotland's highest single track road) - Torridon - Shieldaig - Gairloch
DAY 9
Inverewe House & Gardens - Russian Convoy Museum - Corrieshalloch Gorge - Rogie Falls - Singleton of Glen Ord Whisky Distillery - Ullapool
DAY 10
Achiltibuie - the 'Wee Mad Road' - Kylesku - Wailing Widow Falls - Ardvreck Castle - Kylesku - Handa Island Nature Reserve - Smoo Cave - Scrabster - ferry to Orkney - Stromness
DAY 11
Orkney Mainland North (including some of the following; Skara Brae,Ring of Brodgar,
Maes Howe, St Magnus Cathedral, Brough of Birsay, Broch of Gurness, Bishop's Palace, Earl's Palace
DAY 12
Kirkwall - Italian PoW Chapel - Churchill Barriers - St Margarets Hope - ferry to Gills Bay - Dunnet Head (most northerly point on mainland Scotland) -John O'Groats - Duncansby Head sea stacks- Castle Girnigoe
Whaligoe Steps - Dunrobin Castle - Dalmore Whisky Distillery - Loch Fleet seal colony - Dornoch - Inverness
DAY 13
Inverness - Loch Ness - Culloden Battlefiled and Visitor Centre - Clava Cairns - Cawdor Castle - Nairn - Elgin
DAY 14
Elgin - Speyside Whisky Train - Cairngorm National Park - Balmoral - Braemar -
Glenshee (Cairnwell Pass, highest road in Scotland)
DAY 15
Pitlochry - Dunkeld - Perth - Scone Palace - Dundee - Tentsmuir Nature Reserve - St Andrews (cathedral & castle ruins, beach, golf museum)
DAY 16
Kingsbarns Whisky Distillery - Crail - East Neuk Of Fife fishing villages - Falkland Palace - Forth Bridges - Edinburgh or Glasgow
Photo: Greg Kain
This sample Scottish road trip itinerary can be lengthened or shortened to a Grand Tour of Scotland that fits your own criteria. To shorten the itinerary I can remove certain days which can be leapfrogged and to lengthen it I can add in more islands to the schedule or one or two 'free days' (see below).
Free Scottish Tour Day
For Grand Tours of 8 days or more I offer my clients the option of a 'free day' - ideal if you want to spend a full day in a particular place, to explore on foot, take a boat trip, go shopping, or just to relax. This is effectively a day off for me, and there is no charge to you for this, other than my overnight expenses. Your 'free Scottish tour day' can be taken anytime after the third day of a 8+ multi-day itinerary and the second free day can be taken anytime after the tenth day of a 16+ multi-day trip. There is no obligation to use a 'free day', unless the tour is over 12 days in duration.
How to Book Your Grand Tour of Scotland
Big road trips take time to plan and the beginning of that process is a conversation between you and your tour guide. A private tour of this length requires a big commitment from both parties, and is a trip of a lifetime for most people, therefore the preliminary planning stages should not be rushed. Ask me to draw up a no-obligation quote and itinerary proposal for you. You can email, phone or message me through SMS, WhatsApp or Messenger. There's the enquiry form option too.