Highland Experience Tours

We did the 1 day highland tour which turns out to be a bus ride out to Loch Ness and back. You do drive thru Glen Coe, Stirling, Loch Lomond & Cairngorms National Parks. Their are a total of 2 pitstops before reaching Loch Ness and 1 on the way home. Both pit stops are at tourist traps (gift shops and 1 – 2 food places in the middle of nowhere) where almost every tour bus seems to stop at so expect to wait in line for everything at those stops for which we were given ½hr each. The fish’n’chips chop at the 2^nd stop isn’t too bad, but expect to eat fast or do take-​away. The one on the way home stops in a town with a public restroom stop which was closed by the time we got there so we had to go into an establishment in town and buy something to use the facilities, seems planned as there were multiple tour buses having their clients do this.
Murray was our driver. He is extremely friendly and knowledgeable. He gave us history lessons and fun facts all along they way. The bus is a 30 passenger van which left much to want for space. I think I’ve had more space on the most cramped flights I’ve ever taken. In a van this size you will feel all the bumps, twists and turns, so if you get car sick, you probably should take a Dramamine before hand… three people were sick on our tour and Murray somewhat joked that that was a success… in hindsight I think he was actually being honest. Also, if you are looking for reading light like I was on the way home because it was dark out and couldn’t see any sights, you’re in for a surprise… the reading lights for all the seats don’t work, everyone’s light fixtures when pressed actually fell out, so not even connected.
We stopped at a couple of spots to take pictures of the beautiful highland scenery but wish there were more spots. Loch Ness cruise is not included in tour price.

I took the 1-​day Northern Highlands tour and the 1-​day Western Highlands tour, and thoroughly enjoyed both. I was traveling with my mom, and the trips were long (especially the Loch Ness tour) but not strenuous. The real gem was our tour guide, Fergus. A great storyteller and guide, he answered all my questions and more. I was exceedingly lucky to have him for both tours. The Loch Ness tour doesn’t have a ton of time for a longer lunch, but Fergus was great about letting us bring stuff on the bus. The pickup location is also great! It’s right on The Royal Mile, and easy to get to from most of the Old Town. All-​in-​all, Fergus made it an amazing tour and you won’t be disappointed in the day tour destinations.

To the one day tour of the Highlands and boat tour. I give Mark our guide 5 stars for being a great story teller and truly providing entertainment and information the entire 12 hours.
More sitting then expected bur the boat ride was amazing. Beautiful trip that could have been boring if it were not for Mark.

Over the late May 2013 bank holiday we did the 12 hour Loch Ness, Glen Coe, and the Highlands tour from Edinburgh (£45 per person). We had an excellent tour guide and I feel terrible I can’t remember her name! She told great historical stories during the entire ride and made the trip very entertaining. She even handled other tour attendees tardiness politely but strongly. The tour is bus heavy and the seats where very uncomfortable but we made several stops along the way and were at least entertained with the stories as we drove through the beautiful highlands. I would highly recommend this to others who want a quick highlight of the highlands with a stop for a £12 boat cruise through the Loch Ness.

This tour group deserves a post — but for the wrong reason.
We booked a 2D1N LOCH NESS, INVERNESS AND THE HIGHLANDS tour from 22−23DEC12 for my partner and I and we were assigned to Steve on the day we left (22^nd). The tour can be simply described as a bus ride up to Loch Ness and back. Where most tour guides would make the difference between a proper tour (i.e. explanations about the history, geology, etc) and a bus ride, For someone who kept harping on punctuality and timelines, Steve showed up late (we were all ready by 8.15am while Steve showed up at 8.45am). While it is good to remind the less considerate tourist (s) on timelines, Steve overdid it, including «jokes» (which can easily be interpreted as threats to some) on leaving people behind. While the weather was partly to blame for the lacklustre itinerary, Steve seem more interested in getting us to watch the «Clansman Show», held at the Clansman Centre and the Dalwhinnie Distillery Tour. In particular, for the «Scottish show» held at the Clansman Centre, Steve collected GBP 8 from everyone — Apparently no price difference for adults and children. What was interesting was that there we spotted not one, but two signs which GBP 5 for adults, GBP 4 for children, GBP 15 for a family of 2 adults and 2 children (see photo). Dishonesty? I leave that for you to decide. When asked by an Indian family with a 13 year old kid if there was a child rate (for a subsequent tour in the Loch Ness Exhibition), he simply replied «I can’t tell how old he is», when it was clear to everyone he was a kid. Some of the remarks he passed were extremely rude and borderline racist in nature. When asked by the same family if they could have five more minutes from his suggested timeline of 45 minutes as they need time to order food, his reply was «in this country, we have stipulated time breaks». Comments about Indians being very laid back about timelines were also not appreciated, and as a fellow Asian, I felt that those comments were extremely inappropriate.
In summary, what we got was essentially an overpriced bus ride by a grumpy driver who took us to Loch Ness (boat tour at our own expense) with some photo stops along the way; a mysteriously priced clansman show (at our own expense); a distillery tour (at our own expense) — you get the picture. While the bad weather played it’s part in severely reducing the activities originally planned for, Steve did little to help. Ask for anybody but Steve — especially if you’re Asian. You may (and probably be a lot better off) with other guides, or even tour companies.

Had a splendid 12-​hour Highlands tour from Edinburgh during the week between Christmas and New Year’s 2012. Our tour guide, Steve, was professional and entertaining. He filled the hours spent on the road with lots of terrific tales of the Highlands. Loved his excoriating of the BRAVEHEART film, telling us the real story of William Wallace, as well as who Rob Roy really was. We crossed the authentic Bridge of Doane (aka, Brigadoon), and even spotted «Glenbogle» from MONARCH OF THE GLEN. We even got a fascinating hour-​long boat tour of Loch Ness. Our driver (Vince?) navigated the winding roads expertly in the dark, rainy weather. Highly recommended!

We booked a 3-​day/​2-​night tour from Edinburgh to the Isle of Sky and Loch Ness. It was a wonderful tour! There were only 7 people on the shuttle so we had our pick of seats. We are a young couple, and were worried the bus would be full of geriatrics, but it was a great mix with mostly people our age and we made friends quickly. The driver, Eddie, was very friendly and knowledgeable. He even went out of his way to book us all a dinner reservation for the second night when we didn’t know where to eat. He was also very patient with all the passengers and our questions.
The only snag in our trip was our bus getting stuck on an icy road in the highlands. Eddie and the other passengers handled it well and it turned out fine. I suppose that is a risk you take for booking in December. I would love to return in the spring or summer to see the heather in bloom!

Please do yourself a favor and book with the «Hairy Coo.» We paid for a tour to Oban (West Highlands) and ended up getting off the shuttle bus in Glasgow and taking a train back to Edinburgh. We lost about $ 135, so that tells you how bad it was! Several reasons initiated our departure: First, they picked a shuttle bus for this long drive totaling 6 hours. It was uncomfortable to say the least; Second, it was impersonal and annoying; they played a recorded tape the entire hour it took to get to Glasgow (loudly.) Lastly, they took a detour to Glasgow, they said for sights, but we didn’t actually see any sites. It was merely to fill up the shuttle bus with two more people. I can understand if there were maybe 10 to pick-​up, but 2 people! The bus only had two seats left. It was a complete waste of time to take the detour. I contacted the company to offer my suggestions and they basically didn’t care. Now what kind of customer service is that? Anyways, I just wish someone had warned me because I could have used that money for a different tour company.