Loch Ness & Highlands Small-Group Tour from Edinburgh with Cruise
Description
Embark on an unforgettable 12-hour adventure from Edinburgh and experience the very best of the Scottish Highlands. Travel in comfort aboard a luxury mini-coach with a friendly, knowledgeable guide and a small group of no more than 16 people – ensuring a relaxed, personalised experience. Marvel at the dramatic landscapes of Glencoe, steeped in history and surrounded by towering peaks. Continue your journey through rugged Highland scenery to the picturesque village of Fort Augustus. Here, you’ll enjoy a cruise on the mysterious Loch Ness, where you can soak up breath-taking views and perhaps even catch a glimpse of the elusive Nessie! With the water stretching out against a backdrop of forested hills, this is a true highlight of the day. Afterwards, travel through the stunning Cairngorms National Park, passing natural landmarks. Your final stop is the charming Victorian town of Pitlochry, where you can enjoy a short stroll before the scenic drive back to Edinburgh.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your driver-guide takes you to their favourite stop within the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park where you can grab coffee and enjoy the views.
Be moved by the sheer beauty and tragic tales of one of Scotland’s most famous landscapes.
*Cruise on Loch Ness is included in your ticket Fort Augustus boasts the Caledonian Canal, which is a great spot to relax and watch the boats sail by into Loch Ness. You can search for the infamous monster on a relaxing boat cruise
We'll take a short break here in the charming village of Spean Bridge, nestled in the heart of the Scottish Highlands. This peaceful spot offers stunning views of the surrounding mountains, including glimpses of Ben Nevis on a clear day. It’s the perfect place to stretch your legs, breathe in the crisp Highland air, and take in the beautiful scenery.
Gradually, the dramatic mountains soften and become cloaked in lush forest. Among the towering trees of Perthshire, you'll take a final refreshment break in Pitlochry before continuing south through the rolling hills and fertile farmlands of the Kingdom of Fife.
Your last highlight is the view of the iconic UNESCO-listed Forth Rail Bridge on your way to Edinburgh. Please note: Some tours may run in reverse You return to Edinburgh at approximately 8.00pm.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Check-in closes 15 minutes prior to departure. This tour will depart from Edinburgh Bus Station, Gate J and Gate K, St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH1 3DQ.
- Luggage Allowance: You're restricted to 20kg (44lbs) of luggage per person. This should be one piece of luggage similar to an airline carry-on bag (approximately 55cm x 45cm x 25cm / 22in x 17in x 10in) plus one small bag for onboard personal items.
- In order to retain the integrity of the tour and try to ensure that all our customers have the best possible experience, we do cap bookings from any one party to 8 passengers.
- We apologise, but we cannot accommodate children under 5 years old on our tours. Children under 18 need to be accompanied by an adult. Please note that if this policy is not followed, we will have to refuse travel without issuing a refund. Thank you for understanding.
- Loch Ness cruise – We reserve tickets for you. Included in tour price.
- The Loch Ness boat cruise is weather dependent and may be cancelled without notice.
- This route may be reversed on some occasions.
- Children under 18 need to be accompanied by an adult.
Reviews(6,177)
The bus is pretty small. They oversold the tickets so my husband had to sit on the tour guide seat which is a flat board. Very uncomfortable and horrible for his back. My husband mentioned that to the tour guide Al and he said it’s first come first serve and made light of it. The ride is like 4 hours to get to Loch Ness. We made one stop to see the one cow and bathroom station. When we got to Loch Ness he gave us one hour which was taken up by boat ride in Loch Ness which was unremarkable. We didn’t have time to get lunch like he said we would. After that we did a bathroom stop but the food area was closed at 4pm so we were left with no food all day. Then we made another stop which finally had food but when my daughter took it back to the bus he told her no hot food in the bus. I think an exception should be made considering he didn’t let us eat all day. We were extremely dehydrated as well. She started crying out of sheer frustration of the day and I asked him what did he say to her. He said that I told her no hot food. I said well that’s not very nice since you made her starve all day. He said, “I made her starve, it wasn’t traffic?” I said no you should have accounted for that since when is there no traffic in scottland? They really need to afford people time to enjoy themselves and not just drive to Loch Ness and be done with it. He made some snarky remark oh yeah…. I also heard from one of the mates on the bus that he told them that he needs 10 minutes without customers when he tried to get on the bus early. This was a truly horrible experience and I would not recommend this to anyone. I would like a refund for the tour that I felt was like being at work instead of enjoying myself.
Our driver/guide Eric made the trip fun, his informed commentary together with his jokes ( unusual for a Scotsman) had us laughing all the way.
We had an incredible day-long journey from Edinburgh, across the Highlands, and finally to Loch Ness. We had an incredible Rabbie's guide, Lizzie, who kept us enthralled with facts, stories and music throughout the entire day. It truly was a great day with lots of beautiful scenery and great insights into Scottish history. Also, we capped our day with a visit with some Scottish cows! P.S. We can't recommend Lizzie enough! She must know every piece of Scottish history and lore that there is!
It was a long drive from Edinburgh, but our tour guide, Tom, did a wonderful job of breaking up the drive and showing us points of interest. He was an awesome tour guide! I didn't want to leave Scotland without hitting the highlands. The landscape is so different from the lowlands and the area around Edinburgh. I also didn't want to rent a car for a day and navigate those windy roads. This was perfect for us! I definitely recommend this tour!
Stewart was a great driver as well as a wealth of information. We saw so much of the landscape during the drive but for me the highlight was Loch Ness. I didn’t know how big this beautiful lake is. I would have been happy with more time on the lake. It’s a long day but if you have limited time it gives you a good taste of the highlands.
Loved the smaller group, tour guide Mina was wonderful. Loved the history and information shared, and the sights were incredible. Nice big windows for viewing the sights on the coach. Do wish there was just a little longer in each location, as sometimes it was a toss up for seeing the sight, getting a souvenir, or using the restroom before time had run out. Was a great way to see a lot in one day. (Very long day!)
The trip was very hurried. The guide, Barbara, didn’t seem to like us much since we were sometimes last to get back to the bus. I know there was a lot of ground to cover, but the driver was very dangerous in my opinion. Often speeding and joking about it. Barely slowing down even in those many areas where you can’t see the road ahead. A few of us passengers looked at each other with a lot of concern about the driving. Also there was some stops that were very rushed, barely time to use a restroom and we had to to leave. A lot to see. The boat ride on Loch Ness was fun and exciting.
Hello James, I'm sorry to hear that you felt like this tour was rushed. You are correct that there are a lot of grounds to cover, however, we try to have a balance of quick stops, and more in depth stops for exploring. I regret to hear that the balance wasn't right for you. As for the driving, we expect polite and proper conduct from our teams at all times, and it’s disappointing and very worrying to receive a complaint regarding impatient or dangerous driving. We'd love to investigate this further so we can reinforce driving safety with the driver-guide. Would you mind contacting us directly at feedback@rabbies.com with the details of your booking so we can find which bus you were on? That way, we'll be able to share your feedback with our operations team, who will carry out an internal review to identify the incident and the driver involved. We will then take any appropriate action to help ensure our standards are upheld. Thank you for taking the time to share this feedback, and I'm sorry that this tour was disappointing. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the boat ride on the Loch Ness. I've done one at sunset in the past and it was brilliant. I'm looking forward to hearing back from you. Best regards, Camille
It was a lovely day seeing the Scottish Highlands. Our guide Nathan did a good job of getting us around safely and was able to make several stops for us. We loved it.
Van seats are small no leg room. If you are tall or cannot sit for long periods of time not good for you.
The tour takes you past loads of historical sites including Loch Ness as well as Glencoe. Very informative. Our guide Stephen Jones (Ness bus 7) was super knowledgeable and quite funny, making the entire ride incredible. Me and my fiancé had an absolute blast. I would definitely take a Rabbies tour again, as well as recommend it to anyone else who would like to have an immersive Scottish Highlands experience.
