Scotland is a beautiful country with lovely people. We traveled from Glasgow to Edinburgh in a circle including the highlands into the lowlands. We had unusually beautiful weather and saw some Fall colors. It was a nice time to visit without excessive crowds. Our trip planners provided excellent lodging suggestions and met our desire to see a lot of Scotland, hitting a lot of high points. We saw a lot of castles and learned much of Scotland history from the castles and visits to Culloden battlefield and Clava Cairns.
Other highlights were a sheep dog demonstration at Great Times Farm which was fascinating, a wonderful boat ride on Loch Ness and seeing salmon jump at Shin Falls. Visiting Islay was also well worth it. We visited Lagavulin Distillery and Laphroaig Distillery, which were a good combination and quite different tours. We also spent a day learning about the history of the Island. Our driver guides were great and very informative. Our walking tour of Edinburgh was really outstanding with a super informative guide.
We also stayed at Inverlochy Castle, which was special. We did wish that rather than sightsee each day we might have had a down day there. Another very interesting visit was the Falkirk Wheelβquite a sight! We also very much enjoyed our visit to Dornoch. Quite a walkable and quaint town and even had a private dinner in a Vault at Dornoch Castle. Jonathan and his team planned a fantastic five-day trip for my wife and me. Our trip was the first week of November, which was a perfect time to visit, as it was just after the tourist crush from summer and early autumn, and just before the tourist-heavy season of the Christmas Market.
Jonathan recommended we stay at Princes Street. Just to be safe, he booked us at another fine property as well, in case early reviews from other clients of his were not stellar. The itinerary Jonathan put together struck a great balance between guided tours and activities, along with enough unscheduled free time to relax, shop, and visit a pub or two. The guides were all very friendly and knowledgeable. We started with our guide Jill for an architectural walking tour of Edinburgh.
The time flew by before she ended the tour at Edinburgh Castle and gave us great recommendations about what to explore there. On another day we met our guide Murray for a one-hour drive to, and tour of, famous Stirling Castle. After the castle, Murray took us to Deanston Distillery, where we saw how Scotch Whisky is made and we got to taste several of the whiskies.
