Day Tours from Edinburgh

I understand that your husband is worried about the driving, but this seems a bit different particularly because you're headed back into the country that you were just driving in for a lot of it. Also, you could take the train to Oban and do the tour without a car.

If you really want to do this, then I would do the Viking coast and Alnwick Castle one day and then just take a train to Stirling on another day.

Here's another idea. Drive to Oban. Take the tour of Iona--and Staffa and come back to Oban and spend the night. The next morning drive Inverness. Here's a link to the route on via michelin. You can see that they project about three hours. I would plan on 4 plus lunch. The drive up the coast is wonderful. It's beautiful. Stop and pull over and enjoy it. Just before Fort William, if you want to stop and stretch your legs, Glen Nevis might be a good place, or just stop in Fort William. When you get to the other side of Fort William and are just past Spean Bridge, you can stop and check out the Commando Monument and take a look at Ben Nevis. You will drive past some beautiful lochs, through Fort Augustus with the Caledonian Canal and past Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness. You can get to Inverness in time to see Culloden or you can skip it. You can do a day like this at a leisurely pace. Then the next day, do a day trip out of Inverness to the distilleries or some other interesting place on a day tour through a tour company and give your husband a rest. Look online. The advantage of this plan is that you are not back tracking. At this point you could choose to ditch the car and take the train back to Edinburgh or drive back. If you have your heart set on Rob Roy's Grave, here's a route from Inverness. Most of the drive is on the A9, but once you veer east, you drive through beautiful country. The grave site is very nice, but I found the Trossachs themselves more compelling. And I have MacGregor in my background as well. The other way would be to stop off on you way north to Oban. Are you traveling from Edinburgh or Glasgow to Oban?

Pam

If you decide to take day tours from Edinburgh rather than following Pam's advice I can recommend Rabbies. We have done several of their tours and have always been very satisfied. Their guides were always very good. Which ones you take would depend on your personal preference. I've never been on a Heart of Scotland tour so don't know anything about them.

I absolutely get what you are saying. I was so unsure how to resolve the same issue when we were in Scotland a few years ago. I wrote to a number of registered guides and found this one http://www.afternoonteatours.co.uk/ . She started doing tea tours but over the last 5 years or so has vastly expanded her offerings. She (and her husband) are native Scots and live within a few miles of Edinburgh. I really didn't think we could afford a private tour but she worked with us and we could! We traveled with her for 2 consecutive days, staying overnight well north of Edinburgh. She listened to our list of things we wanted to see, made a few reality checks, offered some alternative suggestions and put together 2 days we just loved!

From her website "Visit Scotland Scottish Thistle Awards have been recognised as Scotland's tourism industry's Oscars. I was extremely thrilled and honoured in March 2015 to become the National Winner in the Discovering Scotland Category and awarded The Silver Thistle." and Tripadvisor Awards for Excellence - 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

I don't recommend a million things, but services that I have thought brilliant that exactly match what someone else says they want...then I am happy to suggest a service I have used.

Pam,
Thank you for your help. I enjoy reading your recommendations. We are actually renting our car in Manchester and it is set. We will be arriving in Manchester and then driving to Keswick for two nights. I figured Lake District would be a good place to adjust to the time change as we can enjoy beautiful country. From there we are driving to Oban and staying two nights so we can take a tour to Iona on our full day. From Oban we drive to Edinburgh where we will stay for 4 nights to give us a chance to see the city as well as do a couple of day tours with either Rabbies or Heart of Scotland Tours to allow him a chance to see in detail what we are driving by. Since we are McGregors, I thought it would be great to see Rob Roy's grave, so could do that on our way to Edinburgh - not sure if we should drive to Glencoe for sights or not. He would like to do the Tour of Stirling Castle with the highland Lochs and Whisky one day and the tour of Viking Coast and Ainwick Castle the other day. From Edinburgh we will drive to York and spend only one night (sad but true) to meet our penpals at Betty's and take in Evensong at Yorkminster. We will then have the next day to explore York before driving to Manchester for the next morning flight home. Very busy trip, but thrilled my husband is able to take this much time.

We appreciate everyone's input on this - need to book the tours shortly I assume.
Thanks so much.

Last month while in Edinburgh, I did a Highland Express tour (Stirling, Loch Lomand, Glengoyne Distillery) and a Rabbies Tour (St.Andrews...during The Open!). Both were great. I'm a veteran of 3 Evan Evans daytrips out of London and don't get these people who recommend renting a car and dealing with driving. I enjoy sitting back and being told what I'm looking at, learning history and humor from the driver...and sometimes sneaking some shuteye. Enjoy!