Scottish Highlands, Isles of Arran, Skye & the Outer Hebrides Tour
Isle of Arran – Kilmartin Glenn – Isle of Skye – Isle of Lewis – Oban (Isles of Mull & Iona) – Loch Long
Proposed Itinerary for this 9 Day Ancient, Mystical & Historical Sites Tour of Scotland
Day 1. The Isle of Arran
Leaving Preston, we will head north to catch the ferry over to the Isle of Arran, where we will check into our hotel in Blackwaterfoot. Whilst on Arran we will trensverse the island taking in its many ancient and muystical sites.
Day 2. Isle of Arran Ancient Sites
Another day visiting the amazing ancient sites of the Isle of Arran, incliuding Machrie Moore where we will find what has been called a ‘Megalithic Carnival of Ancient Sites’.
Day 3. Kilmartin Glenn, the Valley of the Kings
The ferry from the opposite side of the island takes across to the Kintyre Peninsular, the location of Kilmartin Glenn the so called ‘Valley of the Kings’, another fascinating area of megalithic, ancient sites. After lunch at the Visitor’s Centre we will continue our Scottish Highlands tour north to our hotel in the seaside town of Oban, famous for its sea food.
Day 4. Kyle of Lockalsh
Continuing our journey north we will head through the beautiful mountains and lanscapes of the Scottish Highlands, heading for Kyle of Lochalsh, the gateway to the Isle of Skye and our home for the next two nights.
Day 5. Ancient and Historical sites of the Isle of Skye
Today we will cross the magnificent bridge onto the Isle of Skye for a day exploring a variety of ancient and historical sites and other interesting places.
Day 6. Isle of Lewis and the Outer Hebrides
We will continue to the northern port of Ullapool, where we will take the ferry to the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and Stornoway the islands capital and the location of our hotel for the next two nights.
Day 7. A day exploring the Ancient Sites of the Isle of Lewis including the Callanish Stone Circles
The Isle of Lewis is the home of the mighty ‘Callanish Stone Circles’ series of ancient sites and we will spend the day visiting these important monuments that are for some a source of pilgrimage in their own right. Other places of interest include the nearly complete Carloway Broch, the huge Clach an Trushal monolithic standing stone, the enigmatic ancient stone site of Steinacleit and more.
Day 8. Ferry to Ullapool, Ancient and Historical Sites of the Scottish Highlands Arrachor
Taking the early ferry we will head for Ullapool back on the mainland. From here our journey turns south through the beautiful Scottish Highland countryside and along the banks of Loch Ness, calling off at the Strathpether and the Pictish Eagle Stone. Ending the day at the Arrachor hotel on the banks of Loch Long, (Please note that breakfast is not included this morning as we have to leave early for the 6am ferry. The cafe on the ferry will be open).
Day 9. Completing out Scottish Highlands and Islands Tour we will head home
After a hearty breakfast south and home.
Price for the 9 day tour £1500 + Single Supplement £100
Deposit £250
Including all transport from pick up in the minibus until drop off, all site visits, ferry crossings, day tours and accomadation in the hotel on a B&B basis.
The 2018 tour
Pictures of the Isle of Arran
A couple of weeks on from Neil’s tour of the megalithic sites in Western Scotland and I’m still buzzing with all the amazing things we saw and places we visited. We covered large distances, but the tour is very well thought through and paced so that you feel each day is full with visiting both ancient sites and sites of historical or cultural interest, but with enough time to relax built in so as not to be overwhelmed by the traveling.
We began with the Twelve Apostles in Holywood before journeying to the beautiful carnival of megaliths on Machrie Moor and the astounding Valley of the Kings in Kilmartin Glenn. Callinish on the Isle of Skye was the icing on the cake – beautiful site with an amazing energy to it. Amongst many, many other places we visited during the week were Burns house in Mauchline, (the home of the curling stone), ancient Brochs on both the Isle of Skye and on Lewis, the graves of the Templar Knights in Kilmartin, the home of the famous giant Angus MacAskill, the Eagle Stone in lovely Strathpeffer and of course Beauly Abbey.
I loved all the ferry journeys we did hopping and skipping between the mainland, Arran, Skye, Lewis and on our last day but one, Mull, Iona and Staffa. The trip was certainly epic and there was a terrific camaraderie with Neil and the 7 of us who went on the tour – a motley bunch, but then the shared interest in a connection with our ancestors and the sheer mystery of the stones, was enough for any group to have enough in common for it to be a great and stimulating experience. And we had lots of fun, too, along the way.
Colin Hambrook (Brighton, England)