Top Tours
All Scotland, expedition cruises, self guided adventures and vacation packages. Find the best guided and expert planned vacation and holiday packages. Read more about Scotland
Award winning travel
Best Scotland Tours by Duration
Best Scotland Tours by Price
Top Scotland Attractions & Experiences
Scotland Tours & Travel Guide
Scotland's contributions to the world are remarkable for a small nation of just over 5 million people: golf, bagpipes, kilts, Robert Burns, the Loch Ness Monster, Scotch whisky -- the list goes on. Whether you want to play on the world's oldest links, learn to do a Highland Fling or follow the Whisky Malt Trail, all these and more are waiting just north of England.
There are many different ways to experience Scotland, each one worthy of it’s own trip. You might enjoy a golfing trip visiting, among others, the famous St. Andrews course. You might dive into the various forms of scotch on a whisky tasting tour. Or you might visit the untamed highlands, or explore the depths of Loch Ness seeking the elusive monster.
Golf enthusiasts will be in heaven visiting various courses in the country where the sport was invented. Many guided tours in Scotland will highlight this history. And some are devoted to golf alone! True aficionados can go on a private golf tour and enjoy playing some of the most famous golf courses in the world.
If you plan to visit multiple golf courses while you are abroad, taking a guided tour is highly recommended. Unlike in the United States, where many top golf courses are entirely private and a tour operator will not be able to change this fact, technically private clubs in the U.K. do welcome guests to play. Guests, however, are usually restricted by complex rules (usually pertaining to what times they are allowed to play), and a tour guide can be essential in navigating these rules, and helping bend them if need be.
A guide’s regional knowledge can also make or break your Scottish golf vacation package. If you are uncomfortable driving on the opposite side of the road, or simply don’t want to waste time getting lost on the notoriously unpredictable Scottish backroads, a guided tour will also provide convenient and comfortable transportation between courses.
Although there isn’t a main waterway in Scotland to take a multi-day cruise on (although you can take a riverbus service along the River Clyde, which connects Edinburgh and Glasgow, or take guided Scottish island cruise), those who enjoy trips to Scotland to immerse themselves in the bucolic countryside also tend to love relaxing on a river cruise. As a result, some tour operators combine overland tours in the United Kingdom with river cruises in other parts of Europe. This way, you can get the best of both worlds.
For whiskey lovers, Scotland is the place to be. Scottish whisky (rather than whiskey!) remains Scotland biggest export, and is sometimes called “the water of life” -- in fact, this is what the gaelic word for whisky directly translates into.
Scotch tasting and distillery tours are popular activities, and many whisky tasting tours will include this as a part of their itineraries. Brush up on basic whiskey knowledge, and best practice if you want to make the most of the experience. For example, don't ask for ice -- this is not how it's served and you may be setting yourself up for some, if good natured, ribbing.
Beyond the manicured golf courses and friendly dive bars, there are the exhilerating highlands. Visit Glencoe for the experience of small village life nestled among the Scotlands natural beauty. If you do plan to go hiking in the Scottish countryside, which is a very popular activity, make sure you do your research! Your tour guide can provide you more detailed information, but it's imporant to be aware that the hiking might be very different to what you're used to.
Just because you have experience hiking in the Alps or the Rockies, doesn't mean a hill in Scotland can't challenge you unexpectedly. The terrain in the Highlands can be surprisingly difficult to traverse, and presents its own array of challenges, from midges (a pesky insect native to Scotland), to holes in the earth. Your phone will most likely not work well so prepare to use a physical map. Trails are not nearly as well marked as most US trails, so if you are venturing out on your own, pick up an Ordnance Survey map of the area to help you navigate.
Find more hiking and walking tours >>
Travelers are sometimes surprised by the fact that Scotland tours can have a wildlife element. The animals on these tours are usually coastal. During the spring and early summer, you can see Scotland’s migrating colonies of puffins begin to nest. The fall is prime time for spotting massive basking sharks and whales.
Maintaining their unique culture is incredibly important to the Scottish. Historically, the Scottish have struggled to keep their customs, language (Scottish Gaelic), and heritage after unification with Britain in 1707. Many tours of Scotland which venture into the Highlands will take you on a tour of Culloden Battlefield -- an important place in Scottish history, where the Highlanders were finally defeated by the British.
Scotland’s unique culture is a modern feature, and can be seen in a hundred different ways. Try, for example, try to visit a Highland Games event, see (and take part!) a ceilidh, or go to a viking fire festival -- or ensure you'll make it by going on a cultural tour.
Tourists usually see “Scotland” as a single, unified concept -- and this is usually linked to some of the classic stereotypes about the place. What they don’t realize is that Scottish culture can seriously vary depending on where are you. Edinburgh and the surrounding Lothians are known for its mix of international cultures, high-brow accent and tastes.
Glasgow is a booming, industrial city -- here you are a lot more likely to see street art over castles, get that friendly pub welcome, and hear a truly powerful Scottish brogue. The northernmost Scottish islands, Orkney and Shetland, have stronger ties to their Viking heritage than the Celts, and their language is closer to Old Norse than Norway and Sweden’s.
Stephen Lane
Oct 2023
The optional excursions were hit or miss.
Michael Hansen
Sep 2023
Our itinerary was very well thought out!! I don’t ...
Lorna Klein
Sep 2023
The trip was truly the "best of Britain". Although we didn't stay in one place for very long, we visited so many different places, saw beautiful scenery, enjoyed th...
Trusted Customer
Sep 2023
All of the hotels were nice, clean and well-appointed. You just have to adapt to differences in how lights, water, etc. work. Electricity converters for those of u...
Trusted Customer
Sep 2023
Very busy. Wonderful sites.
1. Does Travelstride have all the tour operators?
2. How does the Member Savings program save me money?
3. Can I trust the tour operator and trip reviews on Travelstride?
4. What does ‘Stride Preferred’ mean?