Scottish Highlands, Loch Ness and Glencoe Day Trip from Edinburgh

A very long day and too much dialogue from the guide. The check-in process was not well managed and had us in the last row of the bus because the guide could not find my name on the list going by first name only!

Perfect day trip out to the highlands! A lot of amazing sites included in 12hrs! Guides were witty and accommodating!

We had the smaller bus (16 passengers max) which was AWESOME. (I cannot comment on the full-size tour bus, but they looked miserable). Our driver was Jamie. He gave us insight into local lore and also the origins of many sayings (look up “the cold shoulder). True or not, it was hilarious. His playlist was also fantastic, and he shared it at the end of the tour. He stopped just enough times and we had great photo ops. Beware, the tour is LONG, but it’s what we all sign up for. No surprises. We opted for the Loch Ness cruise and Urquhart Castle tour (THIS IS OPTIONAL - do it! It’s £31). We had a quick lunch at the Clansman Hotel before boarding the cruise. The Cullen skunk and fish & chips were GOOD. As was the raspberry cake. I’ve always been hesitant of day tours. This one was excellent and worth it!

An amazing Highland tour! Our guide was knowledgeable, funny and brought Scotland’s history to life with fascinating stories. As an Outlander fan, I especially appreciated him playing the Scottish practice chanter for me—a thoughtful touch I’ll always remember. The music, storytelling and breathtaking scenery made the Highlands truly come alive. A big thank you to Alan, our driver, for getting us around safely and for the wonderful banter between them that made the journey even more enjoyable. Highly recommended!

Dejan and Kesh were a hilarious duo! Dejan is SO well educated with facts and lots of connections to American pop culture that connected to Scottish culture and history (or false history -thanks a lot Mel Gibson). Stand up guys, friendly, helpful. I’d take a tour with them again!

Wonderful day, so full of… Scotland! The Loch Ness cruise was a lucky one (it did not rain, imagine!) and Glencoe stole our hearts, what a scenery! Our driver, Mike, was like a pro, taking us on the narrowest roads woth precision, and Terry, wih her vibrant personality kept us entertained al day long, huge thanks for their effort! Highly recommend!

I had an excellent experience as far as the tour guide and driver go. They were funny, had amazing knowledge of all the places we visited, and shared great stories to keep us entertained. The highlands are absolutely stunning, the Loch Ness is breathtaking and so is Glencoe. That being said, the tour is very long, about 13 hours. You spend entirely too much time on the bus, just riding. The hills are vast, so the view doesn’t change much. And because there is so much driving involved, you don’t get to spend too much time at the sites. Also, the highland cows were a bit of a let down because it was 4 cows in the back of a tourist shop/cafe, next to the highway. They also tell you you’ll be visiting two forts but you don’t. You simply pass through the town where they once stood. You also don’t get to see Stirling Castle, it’s in the far distance as you pass it. Another thing to note is, you’ll need cash for the boat ride and ticket to Urquhart Castle. They don’t tell you this ahead when booking, which is strange. I would DEFINITELY recommend doing the boat and castle because the views are stunning! Another thing to note, particularly for those traveling with kids of all ages, there is barely any food at any of the stops! Pack snacks and sandwiches. They tell you you’ll have the opportunity to have lunch at the castle but you barely have time and there is barely any food left by the time you get there. People were grabbing candy bars because they were so hungry. All in all, it was a good experience mainly due to our guide and driver. I would recommend making the route shorter and breaking up the sites in a different way to allow people to be able to make more meaningful stops than just taking pictures of the same mountains from 10 different angles. Also, stopping in a nice little town for shopping would be nice. All the tourist shops at the stops really sucked.

This was a wonderful day and tour! Our guide, Joe and his trainee, Gary, really made the day. Joe was knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor. He did a great job keeping us on time and pointing out the additional facts along the way. We were able to see so much of Scotland. Highly recommend!

Overall, a solid tour where you cover a lot of ground. The day is definitely long, and advanced preparation (e.g., have a good breakfast, pack lunch, bring cash) goes a long way to making sure the trip is comfortable and that rest stops don't feel too rushed. Our tour guide Terri was very energetic and lively, giving a good overview of Scotland's history and highlighting points of interest throughout the trip. Yes, you're on the bus for quite some time, but that was to be expected considering how far Loch Ness and Glencoe are from the city center. There are bathroom stops no more than 2.5 hrs at a time, and lines can get long at busy rest stops as others have mentioned. I did think the highland coos stop was a bit underwhelming (only around 5 cows and located at a rest stop where you have ~30 mins total). Additionally, I suggest requiring people to select the boat tour / Urqhart Castle tour options when purchasing the ticket online. I think this would alleviate stress the day of for people who didn't bring cash and--considering the alternative was for people to stay put at a local hotel--seems pretty important to show as part of the total cost of the tour.

The trip and the sites were amazing - the microphone did not work and half the charter bus could not hear what was being said by the tour guide no matter how many times we said we could not hear. They pick you up in a spot a tourist knows and then drop u off after a day of travel in an unknown area and don’t care that you are a tourist in an unfamiliar area. We were traveling with our 74year old mother and we were dropped off at 8:30pm in a part of town we never been in. It was very off putting to say the least. My mother’s safety and health was the most concern for her two daughters. I do not recommend this tour as they seem to lack basic customer satisfaction or care for their fellow humans.