The Scottish Highlands is an incredible place, and there isn't much that can take away from it. Rabbie's 3-day tour to Skye makes the surprisingly far distance manageable, and stops at all of the right places. I particularly like the stop in Pitlochry, which is avoided on other trips. Other great things about the tour include the lodging (my friend I signed up for "hostel" and were put up in a lovely little bed-and-breakfast with a super nice host, other guests had similar experiences!), the bus, which is a spacious and comfortable Mercedes van, the small group size, and the amount of time you are given to explore the many towns and stops along the way. These things definitely helped make the trip wonderful, and are why I loved my journey into the highlands, even in the wind and the pouring rain.
With all that being said, there were two things I wasn't too fond of: the "tour guide", and the fact that no hike is included. Being surrounded by some of the most incredible hiking trails in the world, it would be great if we had the time to do even a 1 or 2-hour loop somewhere. I was itching to get out and actually experience the land, and never really got to beyond climbing the Dun Beag Broch (which was awesome).
The guide also pissed me off. Chick was a charismatic enough guy, definitely very Scottish, but he had next to nothing to offer about the place, historical landmarks, and really anything. We sat for 3 days in a van for hours with this guy, and he not only knew nothing, but happily spouted completely incorrect information. My friend and I, who were studying at the University of Edinburgh, were absolutely appalled at the outlandish "facts" he just made up about just about everything! From absurd statistics like the fact that Scotland runs on 95% wind power (in actually only like 60% is even renewable energy), pointing out castles that and landmarks in Edinburgh that literally weren't what he said they were (he called a random building the Palace of Holyrood, and said Mary Queen of Scots had three children), it was so annoying. I don't know if he was doing it to test us "tourists" and see if we actually knew the truth, or literally did not know, but when other people started asking about basic things later on, he would straight up admit that he didn't know and say he would look it up (he never did). The only thing he really did was preface the Battle of Culloden, telling us he would tell us the story the entire time, and we only actually got to the battleground at the end of the trip.
That was my main issue with Chick, but my friend was also offended by some of his jokes, one was a bit homophobic and others were sexually explicit. I think he was harmless and wasn't hateful or anything, and I wasn't personally bothered, but if you are traveling with children or sensitive to this kind of thing, it may bother you as well.
In conclusion, I was upset with the guide because I expected to learn new information on my tour. Instead, my friend and I would google all the attractions the night ahead and read up so we knew what we were looking at during the tour, and made sure we got correct information.
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