Background
For Thanksgiving break 2024, our family visited England and Scotland! Last Christmas, we visited Germany and Austria and loved the long train rides through the countryside. We decided that the Scottish Highlands would be the perfect adventure for our next trip to Europe. We spent a few days in Edinburgh, took a bus tour to the Highlands, and wrapped up our trip in busy and historic London.
This post covers our experience with Hairy Coo’s 3-day Isle of Skye, Inverness and Highlands Tour
For more on our United Kingdom trip, see our posts here
Benefits of a Bus Tour
We did not feel comfortable driving in the Scottish Highlands, but knew we wanted to visit the area. A bus tour of the Scottish Highlands offers numerous benefits, making it an excellent option for travelers. We chose to take a multi-day tour so we could see as much as possible without backtracking. Our bus was a 16 passenger bus and filled with several other couples and solo travelers. Here are some benefits of a bus tour through the highlands:
- No Driving Required: Navigating the narrow, winding roads of the Highlands can be challenging, especially for those unfamiliar with driving on the left.
- Knowledgeable tour guide Our guide shared great context and history of the area we were exploring.
- Reasonable prices: When adding in the cost of the car rental, and insurance, it was reasonable. And there’s also the benefit of having a pre-determined itinerary of highlights
- Reduced Carbon Footprint: Shared transportation is more eco-friendly compared to individual car travel.
- Uninterrupted Views: Without the stress of trying to direct us, we could enjoy the views and point things out as we were driving.
Hotel in Inverness
Our tour required us to make our own accommodations in Inverness. We found a cheap family suite apartment above a bar and it was perfect for our needs as it had a separate kids room with bunk beds! We actually didn’t spend a lot of time in Inverness but the main city area was very small and all very walkable.
Our 3 day itinerary in the Highlands
Day 1: Kelpies, Glencoe, Glenfinnan, Inverness
Of course, because we were on a guided tour, we didn’t get a say in our stops but I believe we hit a lot of great highlights in a quick trip. Many other tours make very similar stops along the way. We always saw other small busses at the parking lots where we stopped. Our tour met in Edinburgh at 8am and we drove in hour to 2 hour blocks over the next 3 days to see lots of great sights. Our first stop was in Falkirk, where we visited a giant art horse sculpture. The Kelpies are 30-meter-tall steel sculptures of two horse heads. They are the largest equine sculptures in the world and are named after “kelpies,” shape-shifting water spirits from Scottish folklore. Carter actually had encountered them in several YA fantasy books including The Menagerie. The visitor center also had some cute Highlands items and a little cafe. We always took advantage of every potty break. Our youngest was 7 and we were a little worried about being on a group tour with her little bladder but we ran into no issues as stops were never more than 2 hours apart.
We continued our drive and stopped for a quick lunch in the town of Callendar. This was a very little (20 shops) main street that I’m sure is busier in the high season. We also had the chance to take some pics with some cutie Hairy Coos. (A hairy coo is a nickname for the Highland cow.) Our next section was a lot of driving, but with some beautiful scenery and our guide sharing some history of the Clan history of the areas
We were also excited that the tour included a stop to see the Glenfinnan Viaduct area. This area is in the Harry Potter 2 movie and I’ve read that sometimes tours can actually see the train go across! The views were a little foggy but still really gorgeous! There was a also a cafe and informational visitor center here. After this stop we did one more potty break at a little souvenir shop area before arriving in Inverness. We actually didn’t get to spend much time in the city during daylight hours. We found a pizza and brewery spot to enjoy dinner and then went to bed early.
Day 2: Isle of Skye Tour: Portee, Kilt Rock, Quiraing
Isle of Skye
It was important that we visit the Isle of Skye on our Highlands tour, even though we only hit some of the highlights. This area would be great to explore in warmer months with tons of amazing dramatic landscapes and scenic hikes. This was definitely a highlight of our trip
We made several short picture stops along the way including of Eilean Donan Castle, and gorgeous lakes and mountain landscapes. We stopped for a grocery/bathroom break right before the Isle of Skye bridge and found some of our favorite snacks, millionaire shortbread (caramel chocolate sweetness), and 60 pence pancakes!
Portee and the Trotternish Peninsula
We had lunch in the cute seaside town of Portree. As we visited in November, many of the spots were closed. There were ads for boat tours and nature adventures. I definitely think if we visited in the warmer months, it would be great to base ourselves in Portree for a longer stay. There was so much beauty to see in the area with gorgeous backgrounds and amazing views of cliffs, waterfalls, and rivers. The tour made sure to make several stops at picture perfect spots along the way, The Quiraing stop was definitely my favorite. We stayed here for a longer period of time and explored a little. So gorgeous. After this stop, we adventured back towards Inverness with a couple potty spots along the way. For dinner, we enjoyed some music at the bar Hootenanny. Lots of fun choices to see in the city!
Day 3: Loch Ness Boat Tour, Clava Cairns, Culloden Battlefield, Pitlochry
We started our morning with a Loch Ness cruise. We didn’t see any monsters but it was fun to hear about some of the mysteriousness of the water and its properties. Lots of cool stories about this Loch. The boat tour was brisk and we alternated between inside the cabin and up on deck for pictures. It was really cool to see the fog on the water. Very spooky
Culloden Battlefiled
Ben and I have been watching Outlander and had some history context into this spot. This battle was the sight of the last Jacobite Rising. Because it was a little chilly to explore the battlefield, we opted to pay for the museum tour and it was really well done. They had a kid’s scavenger hunt activity and the museum really told the story well about theell done. They had a kid’s scavenger hunt activity and the museum really told the story well about the lead up to the last Scottish stand. The museum was laid out where you could follow the British side of the story along one side and the Scottish background along the other. It was really well done. Lots of primary sources and insights into the various factors that go into winning or losing a war. We also had a delicious lunch at the museum cafe of small pastries and soups.
Clava Cairns and back to Edinburgh
Our last major stop was at Clava Cairns. These standing stones and burial chambers have a very somber feeling. Of course, we had to get our Outlander-inspired time travel attempt documented. Good thing we didn’t go back in time. I really like indoor plumbing. On the way back down, we made a brief spot in the town of Pitlochry. At this point in our tour, we were pretty done with exploring so we found a bar and just sat. It was important that we stopped for the driver to have breaks (and our bladders) but we were ready to be back in Edinburgh. We arrived in town with one more evening to do a little bit of exploring before heading off to the next part of our trip in London!
More Thanksgiving 2024 Posts
For more on our United Kingdom trip, see our posts here
