My brother visited me for a weekend and we decided to take a day trip to the beautiful Scottish highlands. It had been advised by friends to go with Ness Bus who offers a great quality day out for a low price. But, you’ll find many tours of the Scottish Highlands to join.
What to expect on tours of the Scottish Highlands
We had to be at the pickup point for 7.20am on a Saturday morning. I’m glad that I did not have that much scotch the previous night. At least as not as much my bro though!
A wee orange bus that was designed like a highland cow arrived exactly in time and we hopped in. There was a few additional pick ups and then off we went! Donald was our chauffeur and tour guide. He was lively, funny and gave us plenty of information on the area already in early morning hours.
There was only 24 of us, all cool folks. When we reach our first stop I had already stopped taking notes as it was impossible to keep up, as Donald’s knowledge of Scotland and Scottish heritage was incredible. I need a coffee….
Scottish Highlands tour itinerary
We stopped at Dunkeld, a pretty village where you can walk along River Tay. That is the 7th longest river in UK and the longest in Scotland.
Pretty chilly morning but the sun was shining; going for a little walk in this beautiful scenery is a must. I purchased some fresh bakery goods and some coffee, and we were ready to go again.
The day was getting exciting! Next stop is Dalwhinnie distillery. Scotland has THE best malts. Fact. We had one hour tour in the distillery and of course, there was whisky tasting, accompanied with some chocolate to look professional.
Dalwhinnie is a lady’s whisky. Smooth, sweet and easy to drink. Best company for a chocolate fondant in my opinion. Back to the bus and off we go!
Loch Ness: let’s try to find that famous monster that hiding in that massive loch! We took a boat tour that was optional but obvious. For us.
The boat tour is an hour and starts from Fort Augustus. If you like small village with a loch, old houses, small restaurants and a flood gate, you would love this place!
The captain on the boat was very nice, telling us about the loch and that you even can see the many type of fishes underneath us on a monitor, that for me seemed like a surgery monitor. That’s why I’m not a captain.
The sun was still up and brightening the whole loch. Absolutely beautiful. Monster? Well, I think you need to drink a lot of malt to be able to spot it. However, I managed to get a funny photo…no is not my selfie!
We are on the bus again and heading to Glencoe, the volcanic glen in Highlands of Scotland. Remember the last James Bond movie, Skyfall, when they were at the Scottish manor with the breathtaking views? That was the region we traveled to!
The rain starts. Glencoe is in mystery. The glen starts crying as the rain gets its own road from the top. Heavy, heavy rain but for some reason it’s considered to be normal … it’s Glencoe.
We feel safe in the bus but at one point, I ran outside to take a picture. The picture. I was soaked in 2 minutes but it was worth it. The mountains are around me, and the rain was trying to destroy me.
It’s the power of the nature I have not felt so strong anywhere else in the world. Glencoe is the boss. It has a power. It tells you if you can stay or not. Something is very mysterious and extremely powerful there.
Donald told us all about the history and mystery about Glencoe while driving back to Edinburgh. We passed Stirling and see the castle lightening up. Beautiful!
We were arriving to Edinburgh just before 9pm. I’m exhausted and very grateful.
I am so grateful to Donald who drove me there and shared his incredible knowledge with us. I am also grateful for tours of the Scottish Highlands
