About this trip
Eight days across Scotland, from the Highlands to the far north, with a proper mix of landscape, history and prehistory rather than a single-region focus.
You'll head up through Loch Lomond and Kilmartin Glen to Oban, spend two days taking things slowly on Skye, overnight by Loch Ness, and make the crossing to Orkney to see some of Britain's oldest standing stones and buildings.
It's a fully guided small-group trip with a set pick-up and drop-off in Edinburgh, and the pace is easy rather than rushed, with room to add on a couple of extra stops along the way.
What you'll do
- Explore Skye over two unhurried days
- Cross to Orkney and visit Kirkwall, the Italian Chapel and the Churchill Barriers
- See the Neolithic village of Skara Brae, Maes Howe and the Ring o' Brodgar
- Overnight by the shores of Loch Ness
- Pass through Loch Lomond, Kilmartin Glen and Oban
- Optional add-ons to Eilean Donan Castle and Culloden Battlefield
- Eilean Donan Castle and Culloden Battlefield are optional extras, not guaranteed stops
- Departs and returns to a set meeting point in Edinburgh with fixed pick-up and drop-off times
- Easy pace overall, though you do cover a lot of ground including a ferry crossing to Orkney
Worth it if you want stunning Orkney and Skye scenery with a strong guide. Think twice if logistics matter—accommodation booking failures and guide inconsistency are real problems.
- Orkney guided tours and B&B breakfasts genuinely excellent; guides like Jamie Stewart combine deep knowledge with humour across age groups.
- Accommodation booking failures reported across multiple nights; one traveller had no room booked twice and shared unshared bathrooms.
- Guide quality varies sharply. Some guides lack depth, sidestep questions, or play American pop instead of Scottish content.
- No pre-departure health protocols mentioned despite covid risk; agency reportedly unresponsive to post-tour complaints.
Distilled from real traveller reviews on TourRadar — we don't edit out the bad bits.
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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 · 26 Jul – 27 Jul
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