8 Day Bonnie Scotland

Tour Description

Breathtaking Highland scenery awaits you in beautiful Scotland. From Glasgow, follow the ‘Bonnie Banks’ of Loch Lomond and take the ferry for your overnight stay on the romantic Isle of Skye. Further into the remote Highlands, keep a look out for the mysterious Loch Ness monster as you make your way to Inverness. Enjoy a sheepdog display, visit a whisky distillery,?then travel to St. Andrews, where you have the opportunity to hit a few golf balls. At Scone Palace, hear about the crowning of Scottish kings before enjoying two nights in Scotland’s capital of Edinburgh. Visit its mighty castle and the Queen’s Holyrood Palace, then discover this city at your own pace. A return to Glasgow via the New Lanark World Heritage Site completes your Scottish experience.

Your Hotels

Stay at the following (or similar):

• Hotel Novotel , Glasglow (F), 
• Dunollie Hotel ,Isle Of Skye  (F) at  Broadford,
• Eight Acres Hotel , Elgin (F),
• Hilton Hotel , Dundee (F),
• The George Hotel , Edinburgh (SF)

Hotel Classifications: Deluxe (D), Superior First Class (SF), First Class (F)

Tour Includes

• GLASGOW: Welcome dinner; Orientation drive; farewell dinner.
• LOCH LOMOND: Take photographs of this stunning beauty spot.
• FORT WILLIAM
• GLENFINNAN: Admire the monument.
• MALLAIG-ARMADALE: Cross the Sound of Sleat by ferry.
• ACHNASHEEN
• INVERNESS: Visit the Highland capital.
• CULLODEN MOOR: Visit the battle site’s visitor centre.
• HIGHLANDS: Enjoy a fascinating sheepdog display; guided tour of a whisky distillery.
• PITLOCHRY: Visit the Victorian mountain resort.
• ST. ANDREWS: Take a guided walk along the 18th hole of the Old Course.
• SCONE PALACE: Coffee, shortbread, and a private guided tour of the Earl and Countess of Mansfield’s stately home.
• EDINBURGH: Guided sightseeing, visit Edinburgh Castle.
• NEW LANARK: Guided tour of the World Heritage Site.

Tour Meals

• Full Scottish breakfast (B); 5 three-course dinners (D) with choice of menus, including a welcome dinner and a farewell dinner in Glasgow.

Itinerary

Day1 Glasgow, Scotland.

Check into your hotel. The rest of the day is free for you to relax in Scotland’s largest city. At 6 pm, meet your Tour Director and travelling companions for a welcome dinner at your hotel. (D)

Day2 Glasgow – Fort William – Isle Of Skye.

Your tour of Bonnie Scotland starts in earnest with a day full of spectacular scenery. Follow the “Bonnie Banks” of Loch Lomond and enter the Highlands. Wild Rannoch Moor; Glen Coe, where the MacDonald Clan was treacherously massacred by the Campbells; lovely Loch Linnhe; and Fort William beneath Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain, are on the morning’s agenda. Then, follow the “Road to the Isles” passing Glenfinnan, the site where the Young Pretender’s standard was raised in 1745. At Mallaig, board your FERRY and sail across the Sound of Sleat to Armadale on the romantic Inner Hebridean Isle of Skye, where Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora MacDonald took refuge. (B/D)

Day 3 Isle Of Skye – Inverness – Culloden – Elgin.

Cross the bridge back to the mainland and drive further into the remote Highlands for another day of breathtaking Scottish scenery. Follow the shores of Loch Carron to Achnasheen, pause at Drumnadrochit on the shores of Loch Ness, and keep a lookout for the mysterious monster on the way to Inverness, the Highland capital. At CULLODEN VISITOR CENTRE the scene is set of the crushing Hanoverian victory over Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Scottish clans before reaching your overnight destination in Elgin. (B/D)

Day 4 Elgin – Pitlochry – Dundee.

Start the day with a unique treat: admire a champion shepherd as he manipulates his flock with up to 10 border collies in a SHEEPDOG DISPLAY. Then, enjoy spectacular highland scenery as you drive through Cairngorms National Park and Glen Carry to the Victorian mountain resort of Pitlochry. This afternoon, visit a WHISKY DISTILLERY, where your guide explains the ancient art of converting barley, water, and yeast into a heart-warming liquor. Stay the night in the city of Dundee overlooking the picturesque Firth of Tay. (B/D)

Day 5 Dundee – St. Andrews – Edinburgh.

A leisurely start to the day with a drive across the Tay Bridge to St. Andrews, whose Royal and Ancient Golf Club, founded in 1754, has given us the rules of golfing. An exciting inclusion is the opportunity to join a Local Guide for a walk along the fairways of the famous OLD COURSE. Continue on to Perth and a special visit to SCONE PALACE, the stately home of the Earl and Countess of Mansfield. During your welcome over coffee and shortbread, hear about the crowning of Scottish kings here, then join your guide on a private tour of the Murray family home. Plenty of time later to explore the palace grounds. Cross the mighty Forth Road Bridge to Edinburgh and tonight, don’t miss our optional Scottish evening with Highland dancers, bagpipers, and the Ceremony of the Haggis. (B)

Day 6 Edinburgh.

Morning city sightseeing with a Local Guide introduces you to the 200-yearold “New Town” and famous scientists, inventors, and novelists. In the “Old Town”, drive up the narrow Royal Mile to EDINBURGH CASTLE to admire Scotland’s Crown Jewels. The afternoon is free to enjoy this “Prince of Cities” at your own pace. Later, a unique optional experience: board the former Royal Yacht Britannia, once the perfect royal residence for the Queen’s glittering state visits and family holidays. Tour five decks and see how the Royal Family and crew of 240 lived and worked on board. Dinner rounds off this optional evening. For departure numbers 0805, 0812, and 0819 tickets are included for tonight’s performance of the world-renowned MILITARY TATTOO, a vast spectacle of massed Scottish pipe bands that takes place in an arena on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. (B)

Day 7 Edinburgh – New Lanark – Glasgow.

A fascinating visit this morning to NEW LANARK WORLD HERITAGE SITE, which by the late 1700s was already Britain’s largest cotton mill complex. On arrival, your specialist guide will orientate you with the history of the mill and tell you about the social pioneer owner. Then, view the pretty Falls of Clyde, whose water powered the mill wheels. See the massive looms in action, wander around the village, and imagine how people lived and worked here. Back in vibrant Glasgow a final orientation drive takes in the fine 12th-century cathedral, imposing university buildings, and elegant Georgian squares built by the wealthy tobacco barons. Time for last-minute shopping before enjoying a farewell dinner at your hotel. (B/D)

Day 8 Glasgow.

Your holiday ends with breakfast this morning. (B)

Dates and Prices for 2011

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Accommodation rating Represents the standard of hotel used most frequently throughout this tour

Extras Represents the individual operators suggested budget to pay for additional activities on tour (dinners,entertainment,excursions etc) NOT included in base tour price

Hotel legend:
D deluxe | SF superior first | F first | MF moderate first | ST superior tourist | T Tourist