The Traveling Professor inaugurated a small group tour to Scotland in early September. We traveled with 10 active adults and had a terrific time. Here is The Professor's trip report:
Edinburgh: We did an action-packed 5 nights in historic Edinburgh at the 4-star Apex Grassmarket Hotel, located in the shadow of famous Edinburgh Castle. In the 5 days there, we covered a lot. We did a professionally guided walking tour of the city. We did day trips to the Borders region of Scotland and famous Melrose Abbey, the burial place of Robert the Bruce's heart. We finished the day at Rosslyn Chapel, made famous by "The Da Vinci Code" book and movie. In Edinburgh we visited the Edinburgh Castle, the spectacular HMY Brittania (you've seen this yacht if you watched "The Crown" on Netflix), Palace of Holyrood Abbey, and had plenty of time to explore this great city by walking and the Hop-On, Hop-Off bus. The Professor made all the travel arrangements and all the travelers had to do was enjoy each day.
Dundee: We trained it up to Dundee for 3 nights, again at the 4-star Apex hotel. We did a guided tour of the city and it was the only place where we experienced any rain to speak of. We were one of the first visitors to the brand-spanking-new Victoria & Albert Museum. What a privilege! Dundee was used as a base for day trip to the incredibly charming town of St. Andrews, famous for much more than the oldest golf club in the world. We also did a day trip to the old stone castle of Dunnottar, where we saw the ghosts of Mary Queen of Scots, the Marquis of Montrose, and the future King Charles II. It is everything you ever thought a Scottish castle could be.
Inverness: A long and comfortable train ride to Inverness landed us at the quintessential Royal Highlands Hotel. Now, we really felt like being in the Scottish Highlands. From there we visited (and actually saw!) the Loch Ness Monster and visited the stunning Urquart Castle.
Isle of Skye: After leaving Inverness, we headed up to dreamy Isle of Skye but not before we were able to visit another classic Scottish Castle, Eilean Donan, which thrilled our "Outlander" fans.
The Highlands: After departing the Isle of Skye by ferry, we took the famous Jacobite Steam train from Mallaig to Fort William where we stayed at the comfortable 4-star Cruachan Hotel. We did a Whiskey tasting (of course) and then took one of the most spectacular train rides in the world to Glasgow.
Glasgow: Who says Glasgow is not worth visiting? We had a great time! We jumped on the Hop-On, Hop-Off bus and visited Glasgow University, Kelvin Museum, and just had a great time all around in Glasgow.
Check out The Professor's photos of our small group tour to Scotland: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hxRJD9zQH1KAJdtk7 or better yet, join us on our next small group tour to Scotland.