Europe Art architecture Trips

The tour covers a lot of Scotland and provides a great overview of the country. If you want to spend a lot of time in one or 2 places, this is not the tour for you. Hard to pin down 1 favorite experience but the sheepdog demonstration on the sheep farm was amazing.

Wonderful more inside view of Scotland, especially in the Highlands.

The Collette Discover Scotland tour met and exceeded its title. The 9 days were packed with variety, information, comeradery, and beauty. Amber (the tour leader) provided the exact amount of direction and made us feel a part of the Scotland spirit and history. Starting at Glasgow, we made a look all the way up the west to Orkney Island it the North and back to Edinburgh on the southeast. Each stop and activity contributed a piece of the entire puzzle and gave each of us a chance to make the trip personal. The practicality of Glasgow, beauty of Isle of Skye, majesty of the Highlands, adventure of Skara Brae, the Standing stones, the solemnity of Culloden, the excitement of Inverness, and the ethos of Edinburgh built a wonderful kaleidoscope of emotion, sound, and spirit. The lodgings also provided a variety of historic grandeur, practical necessity, and modern convenience. One of my personal best moment was roaming the mist during the early morning at Loch Linnhe ... but there were many other unforgettable and cherished times.

This was a fast-paced tour that packed a lot in. Our Travel Director and Driver made everything flow smoothly. From Dublin, to Galway, up to Donegal and Belfast, through Glasgow, the Highlands, and, finally Edinburgh, we saw wonderful places and met some amazing people in our local guides, and even a professional storyteller. We are completely satisfied with this trip and have wonderful memories for the rest of our lives.

It is a great itinerary… IF you purchase all of the optional excursions. We covered a lot of miles with the basic itinerary, however, had we not opted in on the excursions, we never would have truly experienced Scotland or Ireland. Our guide was amazing… full of knowledge that one could tell he enjoyed sharing.

The basic itinerary included a day in London at the beginning and end - we'd recommend staying an extra couple of days to see more of one of the world's greatest city. Stratford On Avon, ancient York, and Lake Windemere in the Lake District of England were all eye-opening, unforgettable. Seeing Gretna Green, Glasgow, Stirling and Edinburgh gave us a sense of knowing Scotland - we were sad to leave. The ferry to Northern Ireland was fun with lots of comfortable furniture and good food and drink. Belfast was an unexpectedly fun city to walk around and make discoveries. Our first time in Dublin was spent shopping and in a couple of great pubs, and walking through Trinity University and seeing the Book of Kels. Waterford's highlight was of course the cocktail reception at Waterford Crystal, and seeing ancient evidence of the Vikings. A giant ferry delivered us back to Wales, to stay a night in Cardiff and see the Castle. On our way back to London we spent a couple of hours wandering one of the world's most well-designed, beautiful cities - Bath. The last stop of the tour was just outside London - Windsor - where we walked up to the royal's castle through the streets of the same-named town. Dropped off at out hotel in a charming walkable neighborhood near Kew Gardens, we had a relaxing dinner at a canal-side cafe and reflected on what great value we had in this trip.