We are considering this trip in 2026, mid September. Please comment if you went on this trip in 2025.
How many people in your group?
How was the weather?
Did you have sufficient free time for exploring?
What was your favorite experience?
Did you make good friends in the group?
Have you taken a Scottish tour with another company and how did this compare?
Please add anything else of note and thank you very much.
Welcome to the forum!
Have you read the reviews on the tour page?
I'll just add that all Rick Steves tours are limited to 28 people, and the weather in Scotland is known for varying widely even in a 24 hour period.
I haven't taken a RS tour in Scotland, but we did a walking tour with a different tour company in early September of 2023, we loved it. We lucked out with the weather and had beautiful sunshine the entire week we were in the Highlands. We arrived in Edinburgh just as the Military Tattoo had ended on August 31st, spent a few days there on our own and then took a train to Glasgow to meet up with our tour group. I wish I had spent more time in Scotland and hope to make it back someday soon.
We did not take this trip in 2025 but in mid August of 2019 and it was wonderful. We had the average number for RS tours in our group and all were good to travel with. The weather was rainy (hard rain a couple of days and more misty a few days and some sunshine too- prepare for everything I would say).
We had a lot of time for exploring everywhere but would have liked more time in St Andrews, it seems the adjusted itinerary may allow for that extended time.
We were able to go to the Tattoo which was a favorite thing, we also really enjoyed Oban and the trip to Iona. We saw Glasgow on our own with a guide but that is included in the itinerary now which is nice.
We traveled with some of our hometown friends and also another couple that we met on a previous RS tour, all the other tour members were friendly and we enjoyed them.
We have not gone to Scotland with another tour company, but would love to go back on our own and explore more. This tour was a good mix of guided tour and time on our own.
I really loved the Greyfriar's cemetery - it was really interesting to look through and we went back a couple of times. We also toured the Royal Yacht after the end of our tour as we stayed an extra night.
I took this tour in September 2023. It was my ninth RS tour and one of my favorite! The scenery was gorgeous, great food, and a lovely group of 29. That is the largest number for the tour, but we really got to know the group well. I felt there was sufficient time on our own. I like to geocache, so taking walks and caching was on my agenda. The tour ends in Edinburgh, so if you really want to explore there more add a day or two. We were blessed with very good weather overall. Our day at Culloden was very cold and rainy, however. The whiskey waiting for us was a welcome warm up. There was also one short sudden down pour in Edinburgh that I was completely unprepared for, because we had been having such nice weather (not rainy but cool). It's hard to say a favorite experience, because they were all unique in their own way. Before the trip start in Glasgow, we took a private tour with Stewart Gunn (Tartan Tours) to the Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel. That was something I would recommend.
We just returned home from this tour! It ran from Sept 23-Oct 5. It was our first RS tour and we loved it! We had originally 28 people on the tour but unfortunately one (in a group of 4) had to be hospitalized the second day. So the family group of 4 dropped out.
The weather was fantastic! It rained only 2 days. The temps ran from early 50s to high 60s. We arrived in Glasgow the day prior to the beginning of our tour. We ended up loving Glasgow. After settling into the Clayton Hotel (which was one of our favorites), we walked to the West Brewery. Our tour started at 4 pm the second day we were there. We had reservations for a tour and tea at the MacIntosh at the Willow tea room, did a free tour of the City Chambers and walked alot. The tour's first night's dinner was in a Scottish restaurant. It was a fantastic start to our trip.
We loved all the hotels, especially the Dunkeld Hotel. The meals were fantastic. Our tour guide, Liz was outstanding. She was our wow factor. We had a few itinerary hitches - winds too high to take the ferry to Iona, & Power outage so the gondola was cancelled. Each alternative was smoothly made.
At each location, except one, we had 2-3 nights stay at each. There was free time at each location. The only time I thought I needed more time was at Sterling Castle. We opted for a free tour by the castle instead of by our guide, thereby not allowing enough time to see everything. Our mistake - we should have gone with our guide.
There is quite a bit of walking, but one can always opt out of many of those activities.
We actually didn't have one favorite experience. Both my husband and I were wowed the entire 13 days!!
We stayed a few extra days in Edinburgh after the tour. The price of where we were staying (B+B Edinburgh) was pricey, so after the tour ended we moved to a lovely guesthouse that was recommended in the Rick Steves book.
As mentioned, we were surprised to really like Glasgow as much as we did. On the surface, the city doesn't wow you as Edinburgh does. But the longer we explored, the more we liked. Also, Glasgow does not have the massive amounts of tourists as Edinburgh has.
I took 2 guided bus tours years ago (not RS) and enjoyed them, plus travelled independently a few times. I had some hesitations about doing another guided tour, but this one was absolutely fantastic! And, in fact, we are now considering when we could take our second RS trip.
Any questions - please reach out.
For what it's worth, we signed up for the 9/20/2026-10/2-2026 tour, so if you end up joining the tour on those dates, we'll be in the same group. :) We have never been to Scotland; it's a "bucket list" place for me.
However, this is our 2nd Rick Steves tour. We did Paris and the Heart of France in May 2023 and it was outstanding! The guides were amazing and it was very well organized. It was just the right mix of organized/group time and time to ourselves to either chill out and rest or explore on our own. I was also worried there would be too much time on a bus, but there wasn't. We liked this tour so much that we came back to Rick Steves for Scotland. :)
As to the group dynamic on the France tour, there were 27 of us, but one person got Covid, so that couple dropped out. Everyone was very nice. I would say the group tacked "older." At the time, my husband and I were 58 and 53, respectively, and on the younger end. We had our college-age kiddo with us (who also really enjoyed the trip which speaks to how good it was), and he was by far the youngest! Of the other couples, there was one couple I would say were either late 30s or early 40s.
Everyone was very nice and friendly. No one was a "grump." There were a few that we gravitated more towards and, amazingly, a couple who live in the same area we do. There was a group of 6 family members, I believe siblings and spouses, who kind of kept to themselves, but again, no one was unfriendly or anything like that.
There was a LOT of walking on that trip and RS is not kidding when they say that you will have to carry/roll your own luggage sometimes a good distance and on surfaces that are less than smooth. I am somewhat "high maintenance," so had a 25-in. suitcase. I pack for every contingency -- lol! My husband or son would trade with me and I don't regret taking it. But sometimes I did envy the people with the travel backpacks. ;)
I anticipate this experience will be equally as good! :)
