When I started planning my trip for Scotland, I knew I definitely wanted to get up into the Highlands. However, when I started to do more research, I decided not to rent a car and found that many of the trains and buses have limited access to the Highlands during the fall months. Although I hadn’t thought I wanted to do a tour, I started looking into options and stumbled upon Rabbie’s Tours. Rabbie’s has a bunch of tours throughout Scotland and all tours are a maximum of 16 people. The reviews were great, so I decided to schedule a tour with them. I wanted to do a several-day trip, but my dates weren’t working out, so I ended up just doing a 2-day tour to the Highlands and two separate day trips with them. I highly recommend their tours!
Our tour departed early in the morning, with our first stop of the day at Queensferry Crossing and the Forth Bridges. There are three bridges that cross the Forth River just outside of Edinburgh. The oldest (and prettiest) bridge, built in 1882, is a railway bridge built with 54,000 tons of steel and 194,000 cubic yards of granite. It is majestic and impressive, and our tour guide, Stefan, commented he believes it will last forever. The other two bridges are road bridges built in 1964 and 2017.
From there we headed to Dunkeld, a picturesque village with an old cathedral. The cathedral is partly ruin and partly still in use. We were let loose to explore on our own, so I walked along a path to the cathedral, took in views of the stunning fall foliage, and walked along the bridge for views of the river.
Our next stop was at Pitlochry, a slightly more busy town. Our tour guide recommended walking to the dam since the foliage was so incredible. When the dam was built, the fish couldn’t make it to their usual spawning location, so a fish bridge was built, which is visible from the dam. It was a beautiful walk. This was also our lunch stop, and there were several restaurants and cafes to choose from (I had a panini at Cafe Calluna).
From Pitlochry we continued on to Loch Morlich. Scotland has more than 31,000 lochs (or lakes), so you can’t visit Scotland without seeing several. We had time to relax or walk along a quiet beach near Glenmore. It was sunny but cold and windy.
After an hour or so here, we had a surprise stop with a free whisky tasting at Tomatin Whisky Distillery. We were only there for about half an hour, during which time we had a small taste single malt Scotch whisky and watched a short video about how the whisky is made.
Our final stop before Inverness, where we were staying for the night, was just outside the city. Clava Cairns, a series of stone circles and piles, date from prehistoric times. They are full of mysteries and history. After some time exploring, we were dropped at our lodging for the night. I walked through the city center, then grabbed a bite to eat before having a relaxing night in at my B&B.
Not a sponsored post, I just really enjoyed my Rabbie’s Tour. Check out their website here, and the Loch Ness, Inverness & the Highlands Tour here.
The Oke Den 