Experience the beauty of rural Scotland on this 9.5-hour West Highland lochs and castles day trip from Edinburgh. Visit the iconic Doune Castle in Stirlingshire , then head deep into the Scottish Highlands. Take in fine views over shimmering lakes and soaring peaks, and enjoy an hour’s free time in Inveraray. Then, head onward to Loch Awe and Kilchurn Castle — widely considered Scotland's prettiest castle. Explore the highland village of Inveraray and perhaps visit Inveraray Castle. Travel through the beautiful Arrochar Alps back to Edinburgh.

Full-day tour of the West Highlands’ lochs and castles from Edinburgh
Travel deep into the Scottish Highlands, home to the mighty Arrochar Alps
Admire the tranquil lakes and soaking peaks of the Highlands in Glen Ogle

What's Included

Driver/guide
Air-conditioned vehicle

Food and drinks
Gratuities
Attraction Tickets

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

521-523 Lawnmarket
521-523 Lawnmarket, Edinburgh EH1 2PE, UK

Start time

09:15 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Doune Castle

1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included

Inveraray Castle

1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included

Rest and be Thankful

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Luss Pier

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
Minimum age is 4 years old.
Collapsible wheelchairs with removable wheels can be accommodated providing the passenger is accompanied by someone who can assist them board and disembark.

Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately.
Digital translations in English, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian & Mandarin available on request.
Minimum numbers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or a full refund.
Please arrive a minimum of 15 minutes before your tour's departure time.
Please note Inveraray Castle is open to visitors Thursday to Monday, 1 April – 31 October
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 53 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Lenora_S

Our guide Neil, was excellent. Very informative but didn't get overly chatty. The visit to Alnwick Castle was wonderful, it was extraordinarily beautiful. Bramburgh castle stop was a waste it was a long ride to get to a short 30 minute stop. A better use of time would have been to add that time to the Holy Island and the ruins of the abbey. The ruins were fascinating the Island was interesting and the town was quaint.

Reviews

4.5

374 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 374 reviews

The knowledge,...

Terence_C, Sep 2023

The knowledge, storytelling and enthusiasm of the driver was excellent. Bourne Castle was awesome. Views of the highlands and locks was great. Highland weather was a negative.

Loved visiting the...

Kathryn_M, Sep 2023

Loved visiting the Highland cattle. The little town of Luss was lovely. I enjoyed the bagpipe music that our driver played on the trip. It was a lovely day.

Recommend this tour

Alexandra_S, Sep 2023

Great tour, well organized, worth the price. Our guide/driver was great. Tells a lot of "dad jokes" but that's okay. I saw my favorite part of Scotland, "the highlands", loved every minute of it.

Great tour

Kaitlyn_S, Sep 2023

We had Martin as our guide and he did a fantastic job. We enjoyed his commentary and history that he shared on the journey. He was very approachable with questions. The tour itself was great, hit some top attractions and we stopped often enough to explore some small villages to grab refreshments. We were never bored.

Mountains and Castles in September

Ian_S, Sep 2023

Our tour guide Martin was very informative and knowledgeable. The day went by very quickly and we saw many amazing places and beautiful scenery. Our weather was stunning for September which added to the experience.

Excellent tour

Linda_M, Aug 2023

We loved it! Martin was an excellent historian. The bus ride was comfortable. The ride was very scenic and the weather was perfect! Lunch at the Inveraray Castle was great! I recommend the smoked salmon sandwich. 😋

Santa in the summer is hard to beat!

Terje_M, Aug 2023

Santa in the summer is hard to beat! Paul (nickname Santa) was our great, skilled, informative an fun tour guide on this great day trip into the Highlands. Nice and comfortable tour bus. Recommendable!

Timeless Scotland (with Gary!)

Max_W, Aug 2023

GARY GARY GARY! He (tour guide and our humble driver) was nothing short of amazing! entertained, engaged and fun. The entry price (vs) what we could see (that was open to the public) at Castle Inverary was steep with lack lustre cafe onsite. Apart fro this, would def recommend to friends and families! My son (12) and I enjoyed this very much

Stevie was awesome! Thank you!

Shelley_B, Jul 2023

Stevie was an awesome tour guide despite the attempt to subtly insult my English heritage 😂. He was very knowledgeable and funny. Great day today!

Castles, Highland & Lochs. Must see!

Dana_G, Jul 2023

Wonderful tour of Doune and Inveraray castle. The guide stops for photos ops of the highlands. Guide knowledgeable of history and tells in forms of fun stories and has nice mix tape of songs on the long ride. The lunch is a bit boring but the timing of each stop is ample and the tour is a must do!

Fun and beautiful scenery

Rebecca_V, Jul 2023

Marty was a great, informative, and funny guide (especially if you like cheesy dad jokes). My family had a great time seeing the highland countryside. Check what day of the week you book. The second castle isn’t always open. I didn’t notice that till we were on the tour. My mom was bummed, but she still had a nice time.

Aye!!

Nancy_K, Jul 2023

The scenery was awesome! We had the best guide, Paul Santa! Definitely would go again. We enjoyed the castles, photo stops and all!!

An amazingly relaxing day

annaMaria_b, Jun 2023

Driver Stuart was very knowledgeable and gave us alot of information. The drive was pleasant and in beautiful landscape all day. Inverary castle was amazing.

Long day but liked it

Anu_S, Jun 2023

Smooth journey. Enjoyed the Doune castle very much. The last stop at the lake was not great. Could have skipped. The rest was good

Terrible tour guide

AmyJo_W, Jun 2023

The trip itself is lovely but the tour guide, Marty, made this review one star. His behavior was rude, abrasive, condescending and sexually inappropriate. If you have Marty for a tour guide, do NOT go.

Response from Host, Jun 2023

Hi AmyJo_W, After talking to the driver-guide about this and seeing other reviews from this tour, we are surprised to read this. This feedback is not something we have ever heard about Marty. When speaking to him, he informed me that there was some upset regarding your group not being able to sit together. As much as our driver-guides like to help in these situations, they are not able to control the behaviour of other passengers and force them move to accommodate others to sit next to each other. We do recommend that passengers turn up early to ensure they get the seats they want. He also told me that he was able to get other passengers to move seats to accommodate your group sitting together. From what I can gather Marty did everything he could to try and help you get seats together and to ensure you had a great day. Given that information, I don't think this review is fair on him. Best Wishes, Jodie

A Compact Beauty

steve_s, Jun 2023

This was a well organized tour superbly managed by our guide, driver, historian, and group leader Stewart. It was amazing how much geography and Scottish history was packed into those nine hours. Thank you.

All in one day trip!

Lourdes_O, Jun 2023

So so beautiful!! This is like an all in one tour. You get to visit the beautiful Scottish Higlands, visit two Outlander filming locations and Downton Abbey at Inveraray Castle. Such a wonderful experience with Shelby!!! Really attentive, funny and the cherry on top was the music she played while traveling through the Lowlands and Higlands of Scotland! Wow! A moment to treasure forever! Thank you, Shelby, for making it a wonderful trip!

Tour was cancelled got screwed

Tambin_R, Jun 2023

Well the tour was cancelled. I received an email at 11:40pm the night before, that I didn't see until we were standing in line for 40 minutes and the operator told us the tour was cancelled, so we were screwed. The tour was booked over 5 months prior. No other tours had openings. Ruined one of the two days we were in Edinburgh. We bought tickets to hop on hop off so we would have something to do and walked around. Wish the company was more organized so that a new tour could have been booked.

Response from Host, Jun 2023

Hi Tambin_R, Please accept our apologies, again, that we unfortunately had to cancel a tour last minute due to operational reasons. Naturally, we are extremely disappointed when we are forced to cancel tours, especially so last minute. It's great to hear that you were able to make the most of it and I do hope you enjoyed visiting Scotland. Best wishes, Stefanie

Castles, lochs, learning, comfort and enjoyment.

Mary_L, Jun 2023

Our driver Stuart was outstanding. He provided safe travel in a comfortable small group bus. The commentary was detailed, broad and engagingly presented. We saw castles of all types from ruins to living grandeur and walked by the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond. All accompanied by a range of Scottish music. A wonderful day!

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Hi there, thank you for your review, We are very happy to hear that you had a brilliant time on tour with our driver-guide Stuart and enjoyed his commentary and his playlists. We are also happy to hear that you enjoyed the itinerary of our tour and appreciated seeing a wide variety of castles during the day. . We hope we can welcome you on another one of our tours again in the future! Many thanks, Luisa

Wonderful!

Herbert_A, Jun 2023

The driver (Stewart) was excellent. He was very knowledgeable, kind and patient. We had a picture-perfect day for the Highlands. The pace of the trip was appropriate, the stops were well-timed, and the scenery was spectacular.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Hi there, thank you for your review. We are very glad to hear that you enjoyed your time with Stewart on our West Highland Lochs, Mountains and Castles tour. We will be sure to pass your kind comments onto him. Our tours cover a lot of ground, so we are also glad to hear that you felt our itinerary allowed you to explore as much as possible. We hope we will see you again on one of our tours soon! Many thanks again, Luisa

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