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Tour Code: GG
Tour Length: 9 days
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BONNIE SCOTLAND
Day 1 - Board your overnight transatlantic flight. Day 2 - Arrival in Glasgow, Scotland. Check into your hotel. The rest of the day is free for you to relax in Scotland's largest city. Before tonight's welcome dinner join your Tour Director and traveling companions for a toast to happy touring with a congenial group. (D) Day 3 - Glasgow - Isle of Skye. Your tour of Bonnie Scotland starts in earnest with a day full of spectacular scenery. Follow the "Bonnie Banks" of Loch Lomond and enter the Highlands. Wild Rannoch Moor; Glen Coe, where the MacDonald Clan was treacherously massacred by the Campbells; lovely Loch Linnhe; and Fort William beneath Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain, are on the morning's agenda. Then follow the "Road to the Isles" passing Glenfinnan, the site where Young Pretender's standard was raised in 1745. At Mallaig board your ferry and sail across the Sound of Sleat to Armadale on the romantic Inner Hebridean Isle of Skye where Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora MacDonald took refuge. (FB,D) Day 4 - Isle of Skye - Highlands. Cross the bridge back to the mainland and drive further into the remote Highlands for another day of breathtaking Scottish scenery. Follow the shores of Loch Maree to INVEREWE GARDEN, with its subtropical plants encouraged by the warm Gulf Stream. Follow the trails created by Osgood Mackenzie more than 120 years ago. Loch Glascarnoch and Loch Ness, keeping a lookout for the mysterious monster, are highlights on the way to Inverness, the Highland capital. At CULLODEN VISITOR CENTRE the scene is set of the crushing Hanoverian victory over Bonnie Prince Charlie's Scottish clans before reaching your overnight destination in the Cairngorm Mountains. (FB,D) Day 5 - Highlands - Dundee. Enjoy the drive through heather-clad moors for a visit to a WHISKY DISTILLERY, where your guide explains the ancient art of converting barley, water, and yeast into a heart-warming liquor. Follow the River Dee through the Grampian Mountains to the area where the Royal Family spends their summer holidays and pause for a stroll in pretty Braemar, home of the Royal Highland Games for over 900 years. Afternoon arrival in the city of Dundee overlooking the picturesque Firth of Tay with time for a stroll before dinner. (FB,D) Day 6 - Dundee - Edinburgh. A leisurely start to the day with a drive across the Tay Bridge to St. Andrews, whose Royal and Ancient Golf Club, founded in 1754, has given us the rules of golfing. A fun inclusion is the opportunity to hit a few balls at the ST. ANDREWS GOLF PRACTICE CENTRE. Continue on to Perth and a special visit to SCONE PALACE, the stately home of the Earl and Countess of Mansfield. During your welcome over coffee and shortbread, hear about the crowning of Scottish kings here, then join your guide on a private tour of the Murray family home. Plenty of time later to explore the palace grounds. Cross the mighty Forth Road Bridge to Edinburgh and tonight don't miss our optional Scottish evening with Highland dancers, bagpipers, and the Ceremony of the Haggis. (FB) Day 7 - Edinburgh. Morning city sightseeing with a Local Guide introduces you to the 200-year-old "New Town" and famous scientists, inventors, and novelists. In the "Old Town," drive up the narrow Royal Mile to EDINBURGH CASTLE to admire Scotland's Crown Jewels. The afternoon is free to enjoy this "Prince of Cities" at your own pace. Later, a unique optional experience: board the former Royal Yacht Britannia, which for the Queen was once the perfect royal residence for glittering state visits and family holidays. Tour five decks and see how the Royal Family and crew of 240 lived and worked on board. Dinner rounds off this optional evening. For departure numbers 0727 through 0817 tickets are included for tonights performance of the world-renowned MILITARY TATTOO, a vast spectacle of massed Scottish pipe bands which takes place in an arena on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. (FB) Day 8 - Edinburgh - Glasgow. A fascinating visit this morning to NEW LANARK WORLD HERITAGE SITE, which by the late 1700s was already Britain's largest cotton mill complex. On arrival your specialist guide will orientate you with the history of the mill and tell you about the social pioneer owner. Then view the pretty Falls of Clyde whose water powered the mill wheels, see the massive looms in action, and wander around the village and imagine how people lived and worked here. Back in vibrant Glasgow a final orientation drive takes in the fine 12th-century cathedral, imposing university buildings, and elegant Georgian squares built by the wealthy tobacco barons. Time for last-minute shopping before bidding farewell to your traveling companions during dinner at your hotel. (FB,D) Day 9 - Your homebound flight arrives the same day. (FB) |
