Scottish Highlands Private Day Tour with Scottish Local

As your tour leaves Edinburgh admire magnificent views across the Firth of Forth as you drive north to Fife. Keep a look out for the UNESCO-listed Forth Bridge as you cross the Forth Road Bridge, then soak up the scenery as you wind through the countryside.

Scone Palace was the crowning place of Scottish kings where Macbeth, Robert the Bruce and Charles II were once crowned. Scone breathes history like nowhere else in Scotland. It is the family home of the Earls of Mansfield and the ancient crowning place of Scottish kings on the stone of Scone. See where the Stone of Scone, known as the Stone of Destiny, once stood. Admire the needlework skills of Mary Queen of Scots bedhangings that she worked on while in prison on Loch Leven. Discover the desk at which Frances’ tragic young Queen, Marie Antionette, wrote her letters prior to the days when the guillotine beckoned. You can also see the State Rooms where Queen Victoria was entertained on her way to the Highlands in 1842, and the bedroom in which she slept. If you are a lover of fine things, Scone is a treasury of furniture and paintings, porcelain and other objets d’art.

ALterntive to Scone Palace The Black Watch Museum is housed within the historic Balhousie Castle in Perth, the origins of which are said to date back to the 12th century. A visit to the ancestral Home of The Black Watch brings the history of Scotland’s oldest Highland Regiment’s to life, through artefacts, personal stories and interactive displays.

Blair Athol Distillery stands at the gateway to the Scottish Highlands in the picturesque town of Pitlochry, one of the oldest working distilleries in Scotland. After enjoying a leisurely conducted tour, you can mull over the distinctive character of the finished article as you sip your dram of Blair Athol 12 Year Old. Set in open moorland, in the foothills of the Grampian mountains, Blair Athol’s source of water the Allt Dour, flows through the grounds from the slopes of Ben Vrackie, contributing to the whisky’s, mellow quality and smooth finish.

Discover Blair Castle, the ancient seat of the Dukes and Earls of Atholl and home to Europe's last remaining private army, the Atholl Highlanders. Blair Castle is nestled in the landscape of Highland Perthshire and has been home to 19 generations of Stewarts and Murrays of Atholl. Unique amongst Scottish castles, the story told here will take you from a visit by Mary Queen of Scots to the Civil War and from the Jacobite cause to the disaster of Culloden following Bonnie Prince Charlie's own stay in the castle. You'll hear how the lucky inheritance of a smuggler-infested island helped turn the castle into a comfortable home and how a visit from Queen Victoria led to the creation of Europe's only surviving private regiment, the Atholl Highlanders.

Alternative to Blair Castle For more than 200 years the Falls of Bruar have been a place of pilgrimage. As you walk along the banks of the Bruar Water today, you are treading in the footsteps of these people – poet William Wordsworth, by the artist William Turner, by Queen Victoria and many others less well known. The House of Bruar Store is widely acknowledged as Scotland’s most prestigious independent store, with luxury gourmet produce and artian treats.

The Queen’s View in Highland Perthshire overlooks Loch Tummel and is said to have been named after Queen Victoria, following her visit to the area in 1866. The Queen’s View Visitor Centre lies at the eastern edge of Loch Tummel and is surrounded by part of the Tay Forest Park. As well as a stunning viewpoint overlooking the loch and beyond to the iconic Schiehallion, the area offers a range of woodland walks suitable for all abilities. One of the most photographed areas in Scotland, Queen Victoria is said to have remarked that the spectacular view was named after her, when she visited the area in 1866. However, it has also been suggested that the view was in fact named after King Robert the Bruce’s wife, Queen Isabella of Scotland, over 550 years earlier.

The ‘Fair City’ of Perth sits on the banks of the River Tay in the east of Scotland, just a short journey from Edinburgh and Glasgow. Perth is nestled between two sprawling public parks, and has elegant Georgian townhouses, cobbled streets and medieval spires. Enjoy the beautiful Perthshire countryside as you return to Edinburgh and finish your Highland adventure.