SCOTLAND
From the Royal Mile to the Isle of Skye.
Edinburgh’s Old Town and the whisky glens, Loch Ness and the Highland passes, the Isle of Skye and the islands off the west coast. The tours, day trips and walks that show you the best of the country.
Only in Scotland
Start with what only Scotland has.
City tours and day trips exist everywhere. These three don’t. Scotch tasted at the still that made it, the deepest loch in the country with a legend living in it, and a second city sealed beneath Edinburgh’s streets. Build the trip around them.
At the source
Single Malt Where It's Made
Scotch can only legally be called Scotch if it's made here, aged here, in these glens. A distillery tour means standing over the copper stills and tasting a dram a few steps from the warehouse it matured in. Speyside, Islay, the Highlands and the Lowlands each pour something different. Nowhere else in the world can.
- 1 The Scotch Whisky Experience Guided Whisky Tour – An Introduction to Whisky
- 2 Edinburgh Food Tour with Scotch, Haggis, a Secret Dish & More
- 3 Scotch Whisky Tasting & Stories — Bespoke Whisky Lounge
Into the glens
Loch Ness & the Highlands
Loch Ness holds more fresh water than every lake in England and Wales combined, and the most famous legend in the country lives in it. The day trip pairs a cruise on the loch with Glencoe's glacier valley and the Great Glen. The scale of this landscape is the thing photos never quite manage.
- 1 Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands, Glencoe and Pitlochry Tour
- 2 Loch Ness & Highlands Small-Group Tour from Edinburgh with Cruise
- 3 Edinburgh: Glenfinnan Viaduct, Glencoe & Fort William
Beneath the Old Town
Edinburgh's Underground City
Under the Royal Mile is a second Edinburgh: the sealed South Bridge vaults and the buried closes the medieval city was built on top of as it grew upward instead of out. Lit by lantern, with five centuries of plague, crime and ghost stories, it's a walk you can only take in this one city.
- 1 The World Famous Underground Ghost Tour
- 2 Underground Vaults Walking Tour in Edinburgh Old Town
- 3 Edinburgh Darkside Walking Tour: Mysteries, Murder and Legends
Start here
The one most people book first.
If you’ve only got time for one, this is where most trips to Scotland begin.
The essentials
Scotland's Most Popular Tours
Edinburgh Castle, Loch Ness, the underground vaults, the Highland glens. The experiences most travellers come to Scotland for.
Planning the trip
Edinburgh, the Highlands, or both?
Nearly every first trip comes down to this one question. The capital is compact and walkable; the big scenery starts three to four hours north. Here’s how most travellers square it, and what to book for each.
By region
Pick your part of Scotland.
Each one is its own kind of trip. Edinburgh for the Old Town and the castle. The Highlands for Loch Ness and Glencoe. Glasgow for the music and the murals. Skye for the ridges and the sea light.
By the kind of day
Or pick the kind of day you’re after.
A whisky tour if you came for the drams. A ghost walk if you want the dark history. A Highland day trip if you want the big scenery. Castles, loch cruises, Outlander locations and the rest.
Scotland on screen
Where the films were shot.
The Jacobite steam train over the Glenfinnan Viaduct, the country houses of Outlander, the streets that doubled for Hogwarts and the Highlands. The tours that take you to the locations themselves.
Edinburgh on foot
The Old Town, close by close.
The Royal Mile runs downhill from the castle to the palace, and the real city hides in the narrow closes either side of it. A walking guide is the way to read five centuries off the stone. Three we’d start with.
Out on the water
Onto the lochs and the firths.
Scotland is stitched together by water: Loch Ness and Loch Lomond, the Three Lochs, the firths off Edinburgh and the west-coast sounds. Seeing it from the deck changes the scale of it. Three cruises worth the time.
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