• Well-paced journey through Scotland
• Glasgow touring
• Glasgow’s unique architecture
• Private guided tour of Pollok House
• Beautiful Scottish Highlands scenery, including Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, Glencoe, Loch Ness
• Evocative ruins of Urquhart Castle
• Isle of Skye excursion
• Historic Culloden Moor
• Medieval St. Andrews
• Edinburgh touring, including Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood
• Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (select departures only)
• Pleasing mix of guided touring and time for independent exploration

Day 1: Depart U.S. for Edinburgh, Scotland

Day 2: Arrive Edinburgh/Glasgow We arrive today in Edinburgh and transfer by coach to Glasgow, where we check in at our hotel. As guests’ arrival times may vary greatly, we have no group activities planned during the day. Late this afternoon we gather with our Odysseys Unlimited Tour Director for a briefing on the journey ahead. Then we enjoy a welcome dinner at either the acclaimed National Piping Centre or the well-appointed Corinthian Club.­ D

Day 3: Glasgow This morning’s tour highlights “Glasgow Style,” the city’s distinct architecture of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Though Glasgow has a rich medieval history, very few structures from that time survive; it is the Victorian-era buildings of red or blond sandstone with long lines that define the city’s historic built environment. Among the standout buildings we see: Glasgow Central Station, the Royal Exchange, and Glasgow City Chambers. We also visit Sir John W. Simpson’s immensely popular Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, housing an excellent collection of arms and armaments, and European artwork including Salvador Dali’s Christ of St. John on the Cross. Following our city tour we visit Pollok House, ancestral home of the Maxwell clan and now a museum with the United Kingdom’s greatest collection of Spanish art. We take a privately guided tour of the Edwardian country house after we enjoy lunch here. Then we return to our hotel mid- afternoon; the remainder of the day is at leisure. B,L

Day 4: Glasgow/Loch Lomond/Glencoe/Fort William We leave Glasgow this morning by motorcoach, bound for the scenic Highlands, Scotland’s sparsely populated historic northern region. We stop by the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, Great Britain’s largest lake and part of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park. We tour the island-dotted loch by coach before continuing on to Glencoe, one of Scotland’s most beautiful spots with deep valleys flanked by steep-sided mountains, rushing rivers, and dramatic waterfalls. Then we travel on to Fort William, the Highlands’ second largest settlement, arriving late afternoon. B,D

Day 5: Fort William/Isle of Skye We embark on a full-day excursion to the Isle of Skye, the largest of Scotland’s Inner Hebrides, known for its vivid history, strong Gaelic influence, and stunning scenery. En route, we make a photo stop at Glenfinnan Monument honoring “Bonnie Prince Charlie” for his leadership in the Jacobite Rising of 1745. Then we board a ferry for Armadale on the southern tip of Isle of Skye, where our touring begins with a visit to Armadale Castle and Gardens, where we have lunch. Next we set out on a scenic drive through the imposing Cuillin Hills (or “Black Cuillin”). Returning to the mainland via the Skye Bridge, we stop to visit iconic Eilean Donan Castle then dine tonight at our hotel. B,L,D

Day 6: Fort William/Loch Ness/Aviemore We depart today for the Northern Highlands, stopping en route at fabled Loch Ness. We enjoy a boat ride on the 23- mile-long lake best known for the unearthly creature alleged to live in its deep waters. We also visit the ruins of lakeside Urquhart Castle, one of Scotland’s most popular attractions. Dating to at least the 13^th century, the castle sits surrounded by water on three sides, giving it a once-formidable advantage in battle. Then we travel on to the historic Culloden Moor battle site. After time on our own to tour the museum here, we tour the hallowed grounds, site of the last battle of the Jacobite Rising in 1746. Early this evening we arrive in Inverness on Scotland’s northeast coast and cultural capital of the Highlands. We dine tonight at our hotel.   B,D

Day 7: Highlands Our exploration of the High­lands continues on today’s excursion along the Pictish Trail, sites connected with the late Iron Age/early Medieval Celtic people who once lived here. We visit striking Dunrobin Castle & Gardens, where we see a falconry demonstration then embark on a tour and tasting at a small local distillery that has been producing hand-crafted single malt whisky for generations. We continue our drive along the scenic coastal road flanked by small farms with sheep, cows, and Shetland ponies before returning to our hotel, where we enjoy dinner together tonight. B,D

Day 8: Inverness/Kincraig/Pitlochry/St. Andrews Today’s first stop is Kincraig, where we watch a sheepdog demonstration with working border collies, known for their herding abilities. We travel on to the holiday town of Pitlochry in the heart of Scotland, where we enjoy some free time before continuing on to legendary St. Andrews late this afternoon; dinner tonight is on our own in this charming town. B

Day 9: St. Andrews/Edinburgh Home of Scotland’s oldest university (St. Andrews) and renowned as the home of golf, where the game has been played for some 600 years, delightful – and compact – St. Andrews measures just one mile across. This morning we embark on a walking tour of the medieval seaside town, followed by lunch together then free time to explore on our own. Later this afternoon we continue on our way to Edinburgh. Dinner tonight is on our own in the Scottish capital, which boasts a robust culinary scene. B,L

Day 10: Edinburgh Our morning tour of this stately city built on seven hills features both the 18^th-century Georgian “New Town” and the medieval “Old Town” – together, the districts form a UNESCO site. In the Old Town, we pay an inside visit to Edinburgh Castle, symbolic heart of the country. We also travel the Royal Mile, the warren of medieval streets that form the thoroughfare stretching from the castle to Holyrood Palace, official residence of the Queen when in Scotland. This afternoon is at leisure to discover Edinburgh as we wish; museums, galleries, and shops abound. Guests on select August departures will enjoy an evening performance of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. B

Day 11: Edinburgh This morning we again encounter the Royal Mile, with its mix of attractions, shops, and restaurants. We tour Holyrood, as it is called, and see where British royalty schemed and slept as we tour the State Apartments. The remainder of the day is free for independent exploration. Tonight we celebrate our Scotland sojourn over a farewell dinner at a local restaurant. B,D

Day 12: Depart for U.S. We transfer this morning to the Edinburgh airport for our return flights to the U.S. B

B = Breakfast included L = Lunch included D = Dinner included

• Round-trip air transportation from listed cities
• 10 nights’ accommodations in Deluxe, Superior First Class, First Class, and unrated hotels
• 19 meals: 10 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 6 dinners
• Extensive sightseeing as described, including all entrance fees
• Services of an Odysseys Unlimited Tour Director
• Private motorcoach transportation throughout your trip
• Luggage handling for one bag per person
• Gratuities for local guides, dining room servers, airport and hotel porters, and all drivers
• $100 frequent traveler credit towards your next Odysseys Unlimited tour ($200 after 3 tours; $300 after 10 tours)

2023 Tour Dates & Prices
including international airfare and all taxes, surcharges, and fees

Please call if your city is not listed or for land only prices. Prices are per person based on double occupancy and include airline taxes, surcharges, and fees of $701, which are subject to change until final payment has been made.

Single travelers please add $1,595 Military Tattoo departures; $1,295 all other dates. Your $475 deposit is fully refundable up to 95 days prior to departure. All 2023 tour prices above (excluding airline taxes, surcharges, and fees) are guaranteed.

Accommodations: Days 2-3: ^The Hotel Indigo (Glasgow)

Business Class upgrade (subject to availability; pricing subject to change) on round-trip Trans-Atlantic flight: $3,995 per person

2024 Tour Dates & Prices
including international airfare and all taxes, surcharges, and fees

Please call if your city is not listed or for land only prices. Prices are per person based on double occupancy and include airline taxes, surcharges, and fees of $701, which are subject to change until final payment has been made.

Single travelers please add $1,595 Military Tattoo departures; $1,295 all other dates. Your $475 deposit is fully refundable up to 95 days prior to departure. All tour prices above (excluding airline taxes, surcharges, and fees) are guaranteed.

*Includes reserved seating at an evening performance of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

Business Class upgrade (subject to availability; pricing subject to change) on round-trip Trans-Atlantic flight: $3,995 per person

John McPhee
The Crofter and the Laird
McPhee packs up his family and returns for a year to his ancestral land on the Isle of Colonsay in this lyrical, appreciative portrait of place and traditional ways of life in the Hebrides.

Neal Ascherson
Stone Voices, The Search for Scotland
Ascherson writes with verve and insight on the centuries-old impulse toward nationhood in Scotland in this absorbing portrait.

Fitzroy MacLean, Magnus Linklater (Contributor)
Scotland, A Concise History
This richly illustrated survey brings Scottish history up to the present through its romantic figures and bloody battles. With 250 well-integrated illustrations, this revised fourth edition includes a newly added chapter on Scotland’s place in the 21st century.

Eyewitness Guides
Eyewitness Guide Scotland
This compact, illustrated travel guide features color photography, excellent maps and a region-by-region synopsis of Scotland’s attractions.

National Geographic Maps
Scotland Adventure Map
A double-sided folded map of Scotland by the National Geographic Society and World Mapping Project at a scale of 1:440,000.

Streetwise
Edinburgh Map
An accordion folded, pocket-size, laminated travel map of Edinburgh at a walking scale of 1:12,000.

John Scotney
Culture Smart! Scotland
A concise, well-illustrated and practical guide to local customs, etiquette and culture, equally of interest to the traveler and business person.

Alistair Moffat
The Highland Clans
This excellent compact history of the Scottish Highland clans brings to life their leaders, traditions, families and heroic deeds with color illustrations, photos, a clan map and an alphabetical family list.

Andrew Fisher
A Traveller’s History of Scotland
This brief history of Scotland through the 1990s is wide-ranging, accessible and necessarily condensed. With a useful chronology, a list of monarchs and a historical gazetteer, this book marches confidently through the centuries.

J. Philip Newell
Celtic Prayers from Iona
While wardens on the island, Philip Newell and his wife were inspired by Gaelic prayer and the poems of the 19th-century Scotsman Alexander Carmichael. To spread their appreciation for the art form, they developed this handsome book of prayers.

Barry W. Cunliffe
The Celts: A Very Short Introduction
A concise, revealing social history of the Celts by a reigning authority and popular writer.

Hugh Palmer
The Most Beautiful Villages of Scotland
Not just drop-dead beautiful, this lavishly illustrated compendium includes suggestions for historic hamlets, market towns, castles and estates. With notes on travel, hotels, restaurants and accommodations.

Andrew Beattie
The Scottish Highlands, A Cultural History
An exploration of the past and present of the Scottish Highlands, from the first Celtic settlements to their transformation into Scotland’s modern mining capital.

Fitzroy MacLean
Highlanders, A History of the Highland Clans
A marvelous storyteller, MacLean recounts the origins, uprisings and personalities of Highland Scotland from Celtic legends to the bloody defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden Moors in this vivid, beautifully illustrated history.

Samuel Johnson, James Boswell
A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides
Written when Johnson was 63 and Boswell 32 in 1773 (when they had been friends for ten years), these travel journals were the result of a three-month trip to Scotland. Johnson observed Scotland, and Boswell observed Johnson.

Neil Miller Gunn
Off in a Boat, Hebridean Voyage
Gunn captures the romance and exhilaration of small boat travel in this enchanting account of a 1930s voyage through the Hebrides, interweaving his own adventures with history and lore.

Adam Nicolson
Sea Room, An Island Life in the Hebrides
Nicolson explores the nature, history and magic of three remote islands in the Outer Hebrides in this affecting memoir. Tiny islands surrounded by serious tides, the Shiants nonetheless make their mark with 500-foot basalt cliffs, seabird and seal colonies and a long history.

William W. Starr
Whisky, Kilts, and the Loch Ness Monster
Beginning and ending in Edinburgh and making stops at Glasgow, Culloden, Loch Ness, the Isle of Skye and more, William Starr follows hilariously in the footsteps of Boswell and Johnson across Scotland.

Hermann Palssom, Paul Edwards
Orkneyinga Saga, The History of the Earls of Orkney
A fusion of myth and legend, circa A.D. 1200, by an unnamed Icelandic author. The medieval chronicle has its center of action among the Orkney Islands, describing their conquest by Norwegian kings during the Viking expansion of the ninth century.

Muriel Spark
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
A terribly witty novel from the pen of Dame Muriel. Miss Jean Brodie is an unorthodox teacher at an Edinburgh girls’ boarding school who wins the hearts and minds of her students, only to discover that girls from the provinces are ill-prepared for progressive thought.

Sir Walter Scott
Waverly
Scott drew on childhood tales for this richly detailed portrait of the Highland and Lowland Scots, culminating with the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charles at the 1746 Battle of Culloden.

Tony Soper, Dan Powell (Illustrator)
Wildlife of the North Atlantic, A Cruising Guide
This compact, illustrated guide covers the many petrels, ducks, gulls, terns and other seabirds, as well as the rich abundance of life existing under the waves, that populate the vast Atlantic region from the British Isles to Newfoundland.