About this trip
Five days by coach through the Highlands, taking in the classic sweep from Edinburgh up to Skye and back round through Inverness. You get one night in Oban, two on Skye, and a final night in Inverness, so there's a proper base each evening rather than constant moving.
The route covers a good spread of Scotland's big names — lochs, glens, castles and battlefields — with a guide filling in the history and stories as you go. It's a fully guided coach trip, so you can sit back and take the scenery in rather than navigate.
What you'll do
- Drive through Loch Lomond and Kilmartin Glen en route to Oban
- Cross Glen Coe and take an optional Loch Ness cruise past Urquhart Castle
- Visit Eilean Donan Castle (optional extra)
- See Kilt Rock, the Mealt Falls and the Old Man of Storr on Skye
- Optional stop at Culloden Battlefield near Inverness
- Several highlights (Loch Ness cruise, Eilean Donan Castle, Culloden) are optional extras, subject to availability, so check what's included before you go
- Long coach days with pick-up at 8.30am and drop-off around 7pm
- You change base a few times over the five days — Oban, then Skye for two nights, then Inverness
Worth it if you get Rob or an experienced guide and accept variable accommodation standards. Think twice if you're unlucky with driver allocation or need accessible, ground-floor rooms.
- Quality guides like Rob deliver real Scottish history, flexibility on itineraries, and handle narrow roads with confidence and humour.
- Driver experience varies wildly; one first-time guide hadn't done an overnight before, lied about in company literature, with a bus fault unresolved.
- B&B accommodation spreads across areas; some rooms are cramped attic spaces with steep stairs, problematic for over-70s or those needing ground floors.
- Bus climate control inconsistent; air con failure and loose fan belt noise made Scottish accents harder to understand during long drives.
Distilled from real traveller reviews on TourRadar — we don't edit out the bad bits.
The same-vibe trips, side by side — price, value per day, and how each is moving. Only we can lay two operators' trips out honestly.
Sorted by fit — never by who paid. Price moves and fill fill in from our own tracking as it builds.
Departing in Jul is cheapest — from £806, about 11% below the priciest month (Sep).
Getting there
Opens Trip.com, pre-filled — one-way so you can book your return whenever. Prices & booking shown there.
Where to stay
A night before your tour in Edinburgh · 19 Jul – 20 Jul
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