Check into your hotel. In the afternoon, there’s time to rest or discover Scotland’s great cultural city. This evening, meet your Tour Director and travelling companions for dinner at the hotel. 

Start your day with an orientation drive taking in the fine 12th-century cathedral, imposing university buildings, and elegant Georgian squares. Continue on to Stirling where you will have time to admire the castle, a great symbol of Scottish independence and favoured residence of Scotland’s kings and queens. Pause in Culross featured in the popular TV series “Outlander”. After arrival in Edinburgh, why not join an optional excursion: a traditional Scottish night out with Highland dancers, bagpipers, and of course, the Ceremony of the Haggis?

A full day to enjoy the Scottish capital. Morning sightseeing with a Local Guide introduces you to the 200-year-old “New Town,” home to famous scientists, inventors, and novelists. In the “Old Town,” visit Edinburgh Castle to admire Scotland’s Crown Jewels. Afternoon at leisure. Later, a unique optional experience: board the former Royal Yacht Britannia. Tour five decks and see how the Royal Family and crew of 240 lived and worked on board. Dinner rounds out this optional evening. For departure August 14 2022 and August 13 2023, 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

A day of memorable sightseeing. Take the elegant Forth Road Bridge to St. Andrews, whose Royal and Ancient Golf Club has given us the rules of golfing, then cross the Firth of Tay and head into the Highlands, with a stop in the Victorian mountain resort of Pitlochry. Cross the battlefield of Culloden Moor with its memories of Bonnie Prince Charlie, then proceed to your Highland destination.

More spectacular Scottish scenery: Dornoch Firth, the Kyle of Sutherland, the Falls of Shin, the Mountains of Assynt, and Knockan Crag. Then, follow Strath Oykel for a visit to Ullapool, a remote fishing harbour on Loch Broom, before returning along Loch Glascarnoch. Our recommendation for this afternoon: join the optional Loch Ness Experience, which includes a lake cruise, followed by supper.

More heather-clad moors as you drive through the western Highlands to Lochalsh and the Inner Hebridean Isle of Skye. The route back to the mainland is by ferry across the Sound of Sleat to Mallaig. Pause at Glenfinnan to see the monument to fallen Jacobite clansmen and the famous viaduct well known to “Harry Potter” fans before reaching Fort William beneath Ben Nevis. Glen Coe, where the MacDonald Clan was massacred in 1692, and a drive along the “Bonnie Banks” of Loch Lomond are scenic highlights on the way back to Glasgow.

Your holiday ends with breakfast this morning.