Price includes
- Five full-day excursions in a state-of-the-art Mercedes midi-coach with local guide
- Return journey from Edinburgh (including Taxes and Ferries)
Price does not include
- Accommodation, meals and entrance fees
Minimum age: 17 years
Please note: Seats have sold out on 13th June 2012
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Itinerary
Day 1: Edinburgh to Inverness
Heading north from Edinburgh, the tour travel over the River Forth and into the Kingdom of Fife before passing through Perthshire - surrounded by mountains, forests and salmon packed rivers. First stop is at Dunkeld with its glorious cathedral. You then head over the lonesome Pass of Drumochter which links the southern and northern Highlands. Lunch is in the small village of Kingussie, made famous by the 'Monarch of the Glen' TV show. Then it's off through the Cairngorm National Park to lonely Culloden Battlefield, scene of the last major battle in Britain.
Day 2: Inverness to Orkney
You continue your journey north passing over the Moray Firth where you may even spot some common dolphins or minke whales. You then pass the Black Isle (home of the delicious Black Isle beers). Next it is onto John O'Groats, Britain's most north easterly point before catching the ferry over the Pentland Firth to the Orkney Islands, home to more archaeological ruins in one area than anywhere else in Europe and your base for the next two nights.
Day 3: Orkney
Today you head off to explore Skara Brae, dating from the late Neolithic period and inhabited between 3,200BC and 2,200BC. This incredible stone village is made up of eight dwellings (some still containing original furniture) linked together by a series of low alleyways and is a marvel of ancient building techniques. There will also be time to visit the magnificent standing stones at the Ring of Brodgar before heading to the 5,000 years old Maeshowe - a Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave.
Day 4: Orkney to Carbisdale Castle
First you visit the Italian chapel. This place of worship was built by 550 Italian POW's in the Second World War. You then bid Orkney farewell and make the ferry crossing back to the mainland and a journey south through Scotland’s rugged terrain. You travel through the sparsely populated wilderness of Sutherland and Caithness, via glens left deserted as a result of the Highland Clearances. Tonight you have a chance to spend the night in a haunted Highland castle where you can spend the evening exploring the corriders, forest and grounds that surround this legendary building.
Day 5: Carbisdale to Edinburgh
Winding your way down the west coast of Scotland, you’ll visit the monstrous Loch Ness and the mysterious and haunting Glencoe - areas that formed the backdrop to the movies "Braveheart" and "Rob Roy". You cross the wilds of Rannoch Moor (watch out for the stags) and south, past historic Stirling, arriving back in Edinburgh early evening.
*Another hostel may be substituted for Carbisdale Castle as an overnight stop.
Operates
- From June to September, Wednesdays
- No tours on 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January.
Departure
- 8.30 (check-in: 8:15), from 60 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TB
- Returns at 17.30 (day 5).
The programmes brochured have been designed for travellers aged 18 years and over with the style and operation specifically designed for young independent travellers. This fact should be recognised when you book. Passengers are primarily in the 18-35 year age group. Passengers must be aged 18 years or over.