Scotland and Isle of Skye vacation package: 6-day guided tour
Explore and photograph the Highland landscapes, lochs, and coastlines on this exclusive 6-day Isle of Skye vacation package from Edinburgh.
Highlights
Photograph the incredible landscapes of the Scottish Highlands and Isle of Skye as you learn about their deep-time origins and fascinating human influences.
Explore hidden lochs and view towering peaks in the company of two tour leaders who are experts in history, Scottish culture, and photography.
Enjoy a visit to a whisky distillery as well as a whisky tasting evening with a local expert.
Stay in top-quality accommodation and experience a true taste of Scotland with dinner included each evening.
Travel from Edinburgh by comfortable small coach, returning to Edinburgh from Inverness by 1st class rail on final day.
Quiraing at sunset, Isle of Skye
Overview
Immerse yourself in the breath-taking beauty of Scotland on this six-day, five-night adventure. Starting in Edinburgh, you’ll travel to the Highlands and the Isle of Skye, experiencing the region’s landscapes, culture, history, and geology.
As part of a small group, you’ll see the most spectacular castles and famous sights of the Scottish Highlands and the Isle of Skye. Our Scottish Tour leader, Ali Motion, breathes life into their history with her trove of stories and anecdotes, while professional photographer Alex Hare shows you how to capture striking photographs to treasure. Enjoy a day on the island of Lismore with an extra expert guide, Dr Noelle Odling who will reveal the geological wonders of Lismore.
Scottish Highlands and Isle of Skye tour activities
Highlights of your Isle of Skye vacation package include boat trips to secluded lochs, a visit to the famous Talisker whisky distillery, short walks in sweeping glens with beautiful and atmospheric views, and bespoke creative tips from GeoCultura’s photography expert, Alex Hare.
As you explore, our experts will layer the tour with fascinating stories rooted in the geographical, geological, and human history of Scotland.
Capturing your Scotland & Isle of Skye vacation
Keen amateur photographers will have the opportunity to join Alex on an early morning trip to catch the sunrise at spectacular locations, and embark on evening outings for Scotland’s renowned sunsets.
Between outings, you’ll stay in comfort at three of GeoCultura’s favourite Good Hotel Guide-recommended hotels, all with excellent a la carte dinners, scenic locations and a warm welcome after a day’s touring.
- Start / finish: Your tour starts and finishes in Edinburgh, Scotland
- Activity level: Leisurely to Moderate, with a range of walks and hikes across the Scottish landscape between 1 and 3 miles long, with a slightly longer optional hike on Day 3 (view our activity level definitions). This tour also includes boarding a boat via a ramped pier.
- Transport
- Getting there: The tour will start in Edinburgh.
- Getting around: Small comfortable coach, plus passenger boat trip on Day 2 and 1st-class rail from Inverness to Edinburgh on final day.
- Weather: Generally cool to warm in September, but there can often be a risk of rain. Skye has changeable weather (there’s a good, weather-based reason it’s known as the Misty Isle) but we find that this often enhances its craggy landscape – and therefore your experience – and won’t affect our itinerary.
- Accommodation
- Two nights at The Pierhouse Hotel, Port Appin, a welcoming restaurant with rooms with exceptional views and a menu rich in local seafood options.
- Two nights at Cuillin Hills Hotel, Portree, on Skye, with one of the views of the island’s landscape and mountains.
- Final night at Coul House Hotel, Strathpeffer, a welcoming 18th-century mansion.
- A la carte dinner is included at the hotels on each night of the trip.
Where you will visit…
The tour starts in Edinburgh, then hits the open road on your Scottish tour. Your first stop is at the Great Moor of Rannoch, one of the few remaining wildernesses in Europe, and full of lochans and dramatic views of the surrounding mountains.
Your Scottish tour continues as you take in magnificent mountains, the Three Sisters of Glencoe. There will be time here for some guided photography of this iconic view of the Scottish Highlands. This leg of your tour also includes the story of the Glencoe Massacre, a notorious event in Scottish history, which adds a certain poignancy to the area’s rugged beauty.
Rounding off your first day in the Scottish Highlands, you’ll receive a warm welcome and a group dinner at The Pierhouse Hotel in Port Appin, where you can enjoy the view of Loch Linnhe on your doorstep. (Photo Credit: The Pierhouse Hotel)
- Check into The Pierhouse Hotel, Port Appin, for two nights
- A la carte group dinner
After breakfast enjoying views of the loch at the Pierhouse Hotel, you’ll be spending today on the Island of Lismore with one of the residents, Dr. Noelle Odling. Noelle returned to family home on the Island in 2014. Noelle is now Treasurer of the Lismore Gaelic Heritage Centre, and a fiddle player in the Lismore Dance Band.
Noelle will guide you through the fascinating Island landscapes, history and geology, as well as giving you a unique and first-hand account of living on the Island. As an artist and a geologist (an Associate Professor at Leeds University), Noelle is the perfect guide as you visit castles, brochs, a medieval church, and the Heritage Centre.
The journey to Lismore involves a short drive (40 mins) to Oban and and short ferry crossing to Achnacroish, a hamlet on Lismore, with views of the dramatic mountains on the Isle of Mull.
- Hotel: The Pierhouse Hotel, Port Appin
- A la carte group dinner and an after-dinner special whisky tasting lecture from a local expert
Our first Day 3 stop is the Glenfinnan Viaduct, made famous by the Harry Potter films. There will be a private tour of the Glenfinnan Monument dedicated to those who died in the Jacobite rising.
We then continue to Mallaig to catch the ferry over the sea to the Isle of Skye. This provides the ideal platform to start unravelling the story of continental collision and mountain building that underlies the dramatic scenery.
You’ll receive a warm welcome at the Cuillins Hill Hotel, a four-star hotel overlooking the harbour town of Portree and the Cuillin Mountains.
- Check in at Cuillins Hill Hotel, Portree, for two nights.
- A la carte group dinner.
If you’ve spent the previous day admiring the Cuillin Mountains from a distance, you’re in luck as today, as we’ll head right into the heart of the mountains to a secluded loch!
Travelling down to Elgol, you’ll board a boat across the sea to Loch Coruisk, a scenic loch surrounded on three sides by the equally impressive and dramatic Cuillin Mountains. After time to admire and photograph the area and gain insights into the geology and formation of the mountains, you’ll boat back for a light lunch.
Next up is Talisker Bay, a secluded cove with plenty of unique features and photo opportunities, including a sea stack on one side of the bay and a waterfall on the other. The area also holds one of Skye’s two whisky distilleries; we’ll tour the island’s oldest, Talisker.
- Hotel: Cuillins Hill Hotel, Portree
- A la carte group dinner
If you thought Skye didn’t have any more to offer, we’ve saved the best until last. Today is dedicated to the north of the island, the Trotternish Peninsula.
This part of the island is home to several of Skye’s most recognisable landmarks.
First, you’ll see the Quiraing (pronounced ‘Kwirrang’), another famous Skye sight. This slow-motion landslip has a history stretching back to the opening of the Atlantic Ocean, and its incredible landscape of hills and jagged peaks has inspired photographers and artists for as long as landscape appreciation has existed. Now it’s your turn to unravel the earth history on venture beyond the landscape!
If time we will also visit a more mysterious location: the Fairy Glen an unusual clearing-and-tower on Trotternish!
Next stop will be Eilean Donan Castle, a postcard-perfect castle, before you head to Loch Ness, a view of Urquhart Castle and hear about the amazing geological story of faulting, earthquakes, and ice behind the origin of the Great Glen and Loch Ness. Then to your final hotel. A warm welcome always awaits you at Coul House Hotel in Strathpeffer, a family-run Georgian mansion that’s an ideal base for your last night in the Highlands.
- Check into Coul House Hotel, Strathpeffer, for one night.
- A la carte group dinner
Savour breakfast at Coul House Hotel, then enjoy a taxi transfer to Inverness to board the mid-morning train back to Waverley Station in Edinburgh.
Note: If required for reasons beyond our control, GeoCultura reserves the right to substitute alternative accommodation of equal or higher quality or adapt the itinerary if required.
Double room for single occupancy is £598.
For an extra charge of £425 per person, we can arrange first-class return rail tickets between London and Edinburgh, at a time to suit each individual traveller.
Your tour starts and finishes in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The activity level is rated as LEISURELY to MODERATE, requiring an average level of fitness (view our activity level definitions). The tour will involve walking in generally easy terrain but will require good walking boots (please note, some paths may be uneven and loose underfoot). Walks are 1-3 miles long. This tour also involves boarding a passenger boat to reach Loch Coruisk, from a ramped pier.
If walking is an issue, alternative arrangements can be made during the scheduled longer walks, so please let GeoCultura know in advance.
Transport will be by small comfortable coach, passenger boat and first-class rail.
Average temperatures range from lows of 8° to highs of 15°C in September (46°F to 59°F).
Rain is always possible, so you should bring light waterproof clothing. Insect repellent is recommended, as Scotland’s infamous midges might be about!
The tour includes:
- The services of your two expert guides who will be with the group throughout the tour, plus our geology specialist on Day 2 .
- All transportation costs travelling from Edinburgh on the first day, and returning to Edinburgh.
- Entry fees, local guide fees and activity fees, where arranged as part of the tour.
- All accommodation costs for the nights stated, assuming two people sharing a double room. Single occupancy rooms are available for a surcharge. See Single Supplement in ‘Need to Know’ tab.
- Five breakfasts, five a la carte dinners.
- All service charges and most gratuities.
The tour excludes:
- Travel insurance. Guests should carry their own health and travel insurance.
- Extra or optional activities not described in the tour.
- Lunches not included.
- Personal expenditures, any alcoholic drinks with meals, and extras at hotels such as laundry bills.
- Transportation to and from Edinburgh Waverley railway station at the start and end of the tour.
- Passport and visa fees.
Our tour leaders are happy to provide suggestions for alternative activities for guests who prefer not to participate in certain parts of the tour walks or visits, or group dinners.
Nights 1 & 2: The Pierhouse Hotel, Port Appin
The former home of Port Appin’s Pier Master, The Pierhouse Hotel is ‘a lovely hotel with stylish bedrooms and a varied menu, long on fish’. Breakfasts and dinners are accompanied by exquisite views of Loch Linnhe and the distant mountains.
Nights 3 & 4: Cuillin Hills Hotel, Portree
With ‘arguably the best location in Portree’, the Cuillin Hills Hotel sits at a vantage point in the north of the town, providing exceptional views of Loch Portree, the Sound of Raasay and the distant Cuillin mountains. Know that you are in good hands as the hotel has been running for 25 years by staff who are known to ‘take pride in their work’. Shortlisted in the Good Hotel Guide (46th edition).
Nights 5: Coul House Hotel, Strathpeffer
A ‘stunning Georgian building with wonderful grounds’, this 1820s mansion has been run as a hotel by ‘lovely, friendly’ hosts Susannah and Stuart Macpherson since 2003 – Good Hotel Guide (46th edition)
Note: If required for reasons beyond our control, GeoCultura reserves the right to substitute alternative accommodation of equal or higher quality or adapt the itinerary if required.
Deposit: A deposit of 10% of the tour price is due upon registration for a tour.
Final payment: Full payment is due 60 days before a tour begins, or upon registration if within the 60-day window.
Cancellation by participant: A participant may cancel a registration after securing a confirmed place on a tour for any reason. The following refund terms will apply:
- Greater than 60 days before tour begins: Any monies paid plus half of the deposit will be refunded
- 30 to 59 days before tour begins: 35% of tour price will be refunded
- 15 to 29 days before tour begins: 25% of tour price will be refunded
- Within 14 days of tour or during the tour: No monies will be refunded
Cancellation by GeoCultura: GeoCultura reserves the right to cancel any tour due to low enrolment, inability to run the tour or concerns about the safety, health or welfare of participants. If a tour is cancelled before it begins, all monies paid will be refunded (including any deposit).
Please refer to our Terms and Conditions page for additional details.
Your tour leaders
Ali Motion
With a lifetime of working in the great outdoors and an enviable knowledge of the best places to visit in Scotland, Ali has more than enough experience of guiding people around her homeland.
As a Blue Badge-accredited guide with the Scottish Tourist Guides Association, Ali delights in showcasing Scottish landscapes, wildlife, culture and history.
Career highlights for Ali include working as Education Manager for the Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET), and running the Discovery Centre at the Royal Highland Show, Scotland’s biggest annual agricultural show which attracts visitors and exhibitors from across the country.
Ali’s Hill and Moorland Leader (HML) qualification means she is perfectly placed to take you on and off the beaten track in search of spectacular landscapes, captivating wildlife and history-rich sites in Scotland.
Alex Hare
Alex Hare is an award-winning professional travel, landscape and tourism photographer based in Kent, southeast England. He is also an experienced photo tour guide, well equipped to help you build your photography skills and confidence with any smartphone or camera during our photography tour.
Whatever your level of experience, Alex is here to help you. He’s particularly passionate about helping new or inexperienced photographers master their smartphone or camera to make the most of the kit they have. He also has plenty of technical, creative and post-production tips to help advanced photographers enhance their existing skills.
Alex has taught hundreds of adult learners, from beginners through to advanced, on the various workshops he has run over the years. He studied photography as part of his own Undergraduate degree, and has formal teaching experience from teaching photography students at his local university.
Alongside Kent, Alex’s other favourite places to photograph are the picturesque Lake District and, of course, the Scottish Highlands, the Outer Hebrides and the Isle of Skye!
As a self-confessed outdoors-type and a practiced landscape photographer, Alex is committed to protecting the natural environment, and puts 5% of profits towards environment-supporting charities and carbon offset initiatives.
Noelle Odling
Dr. Noelle Odling is a geologist and retired university lecturer. She worked in several research institutions in South Africa and Norway before moving to Leeds in 2000, where she was a member of staff (Associate Professor) at the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds and ran the MSc course in Hydrogeology.
In her research she used numerical modelling techniques to investigate the flow of water through fractured rocks and the transport of contaminants, an important topic for groundwater vulnerability. Noelle has also had a keen interest in the arts and participated in a number of projects at Leeds in which artists and scientists collaborated.
She moved to Lismore, a small island near Oban, on retirement from Leeds in 2014. There she became interested in the hydrogeology of the island which, unusually for the Highlands, is composed of fractured metamorphic limestone. In 2013 she started a program of borehole testing as a free service to islanders interested in improving water supply security. Noelle is also treasurer for the Lismore Gaelic Heritage Centre, makes Japanese woodblock prints and is a member of the Lismore Dance Band.
Stone bridge leading to the isolated Eilean Donan Castle, Highlands, Scotland.
The dining room at Pierhouse Hotel, Port Appin, Scotland.
Testimonials
Scotland and Isle of Skye | Gina & Dave B, June 2024
We had the absolutely best trip to the Highlands! We have been on many tours, and our guide, Ali, was one of the best ever! We would highly recommend this adventure!
Scottish Highlands, Scotland | Lisa H, September 2023
We thoroughly enjoyed the Highlands tour. Learned so much about the landscape, the history of the Clearances, the Clans and the Battle of Culloden. I got home and ordered a small selection of books for further reading! The company was great and the accommodation was excellent, especially the Coul House Hotel. Amazing hospitality there, beautiful grounds, walks from the doorstep, and great food.
Scottish Highlands, Scotland | Ron F, September 2022
UPCOMING TOURS
Prices from GBP £3,650 pp
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