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Guided Tours and Walks in Scotland

Guided tours take many forms. There are custom-made Scotland tours with your own tour guide, with the tour often built round a specific theme, for example genealogy or fine dining. There are whole programmes of guided tours, usually starting and ending in the cities, which allow small groups of visitors more than a glimpse of the scenic Highland areas of Scotland. These tours can be one day or longer. A number of tour guides also offer special interest tours, such as birdwatching or walking.

In addition, a great way of getting to know some of Scotland’s cities is by the ‘hop-on, hop-off’ open-topped bus tours, of which there are several. Scotland’s historic cities, especially Edinburgh, also make great venues for a range of themed walking tours, that allow visitors a close encounter with the past, often using costumed guides and actors – especially if visitors choose some of the ghost or dramatic themes available. Many of Scotland’s towns also offer self-guided walking tours, with supporting literature and guidance available from the local visitor information centre.

 

Shetland Orkney Northern Highlands Western Isles Skye & Lochalsh Inverness, Loch Ness & Nairn Aberdeen & Grampian Highlands Aviemore and the Cairngorms Fort William & Lochaber Argyll & Bute Perthshire, Angus & Dundee Loch Lomond, Stirling & the Trossachs Ayrshire, Arran & Clyde Valley Glasgow Dumfries & Galloway Kingdom of Fife Lothians & Borders Edinburgh

 

Edinburgh Classic Bus Tour

Guided Tours & Walks »

City tours by open topped bus, ghost tours in the evening and wildlife safaris are some of the options.

Castles and Stately Homes »

Early castle sites in Scotland take the form of ‘mottes’ - grass mounds once topped by wooden fortresses, now long gone. A small rectangular stone tower on the island of Wyre, Orkney, Cubbie Row’s Castle, as it is known today, is probably the earliest surviving stone fortress in Scotland, c. 1145.

Historic Buildings »

Scotland’s historic buildings are represented by far more than her famous castles. Scotland’s heritage in stone includes key industrial and civic buildings, domestic dwellings, houses of famous Scots, military installations and specialist constructions such as lighthouses.

Historic Sites and Monuments »

Scotland’s historic sites and monuments span the centuries, from Neolithic standing stones such as the famous circle at Calanais on Lewis to 20th-century sites such as the Churchill Barriers on Orkney.

© Copyright David Hayes Historic Towns »

From the time of the 12th-cenury King David I onwards, towns in Scotland were given ‘burgh’ status. Some early burghs include Aberdeen, Elgin, Edinburgh, Peebles, Lanark and Inverness.