Full Itinerary

Day 1

Pick up from central Edinburgh by our guide Sarah and travel to our first destination, Rosslyn Chapel.  It is a rare architectural gem with exquisitely carved stonework; it has long been associated with mystery, the Knights Templar and is even said to be home to the Holy Grail. It was made famous by Dan Brown’s book The Da Vinci Code, but there is alot more going on at Rosslyn than is suggested in the book! We will have a guided talk about this extraordinary chapel and time to explore at our leisure, there is so much to see, it is hard to know where to look.

Then travel out of the Lowlands and towards the Highlands of Scotland!  We will have a stop for lunch at the oldest distillery in Scotland, dating back to 17th century.   Their fine restaurant in a lovely setting by the river and a perfect setting to relax in before our whisky experience.  We will have a private tour of the distillery; it really is one of a kind. Everything is done in a traditional way, relying on expert knowledge and a keen eye rather than technology.  It is a wonderful personal place producing top class whisky which we will have a chance to sample.  The smell of the malt with the river running by in a beautiful glen, all just seems to befit a good place to create good whisky and a great place to sample it.  After time to browse in their excellent shop it is onwards again and heading further into the Highlands.  We will traverse rugged glens and remote moorland to finally descend down taking in outstanding views of the Tay valley and up to the enigmatic “fairy mountain” – Shiehallion, one of Scotland’s best known Munros. We arrive at a pretty highland town on the banks of the river Tay, which will be our home for the next three nights. Evening at your leisure, there are many nice places to eat in the evening maybe followed by a dram of whisky!

“O Scotia!  my dear, my native soil!  For whom my warmest wish to Heaven is sent”

Robert Burns – 1785

Day 2

After breakfast we meet with our guide Scot for an exciting explore of the many treasures the Tay valley has to hold.  The area has been a major trade route and pilgrimage route from east to west for millennia and it has an incredibly rich history.  There are scattered throughout the valley many very fine examples with Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments. With Scot we will visit some of its best.  We will traverse the length of the Tay, one of the largest and longest lochs in Scotland, passing in the shadow of great Munros , we will explore places off the beaten track with Scot regaling all sorts of incredible stories, folklore and facts about this valley.  There will also be a chance to see the healing stones of St Fillian *.  After a full day out evening at your leisure, maybe a gentle stroll on the banks of the river Tay.

“The mountains are fountains, not only of rivers, but of men.  Therefore we are all, in some sense, mountaineers, and going to the mountains is going home”

John Muir – 1918

Day 3

We meet with Scot and will spend the day exploring Glen Lyon and its mythology. Glen Lyon, is a hidden remote highland glen, the longest enclosed glen in Scotland and its most sacred.  Sir Walter Scott described the glen as the loveliest in Scotland.  It has a great natural beauty and a remoteness of landscape that is felt by the visitor. It was the site of the last Pictish strongholds pre 900AD, home to early Christian sites, a Fairy hill of the Celts, the last continuously kept earth Goddess shrine in Great Britain and legends and talks of Fionn MacCumhal.  It is quite a place.  We will explore these themes with Scot as we journey through the glen.  Return to your accommodation to relax in its wonderful Highland setting.

Evening at your leisure.

“Highest of all, where white peaks glanced, Where glistening streamers waved and dance, 

The wanderer’s eye could barley view 

The summer heaven’s delicious blue; So wondrous wild, the whole might seem 

The scenery of a fairy dream.”

Sir Walter Scott – 1810

Day 4

Morning visit to an ancient loch dwelling on Loch Tay and see what life was like in the area in the early Iron Age, it’s a great insight.  We then venture onto a 14th century castle with a big history, including being a place Bonnie Prince Charlie briefly stayed.  We will have a fully guided and fascinating tour exploring this incredible building.  Afterwards there is a chance to visit the clan’s mausoleum and pre reformation kirk which feels as if the ancestors a very much still alive, containing extraordinary art work, altar and two sanctuary stones.

Then time to explore Aberfeldy with its lovely eateries and great array of independent shops, including a much acclaimed and superb bookshop, specialist tweed shop and art galleries.

We then begin the journey home stopping at an award winning artisan chocolatiers, there is a small interesting museum relating the history of their single origin chocolate which comes from a South Atlantic Island.  To end this wonderful journey we visit some of the tallest native trees in Scotland and spectacular waterfalls.  Its a wonderful place to walk underneath the magnificent canopy.

Then homeward wend to Edinburgh and say farewell to your new found travelling friends.

Farewell to the mountains, high covr’d with snow.

Farwell to the straths and green valleys below;

Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,

Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods. 

Robert Burns – 1789