Loch Ness & Highlands Small-Group Tour from Edinburgh with Cruise
Description
Embark on an unforgettable 12-hour adventure from Edinburgh and experience the very best of the Scottish Highlands. Travel in comfort aboard a luxury mini-coach with a friendly, knowledgeable guide and a small group of no more than 16 people – ensuring a relaxed, personalised experience. Marvel at the dramatic landscapes of Glencoe, steeped in history and surrounded by towering peaks. Continue your journey through rugged Highland scenery to the picturesque village of Fort Augustus. Here, you’ll enjoy a cruise on the mysterious Loch Ness, where you can soak up breath-taking views and perhaps even catch a glimpse of the elusive Nessie! With the water stretching out against a backdrop of forested hills, this is a true highlight of the day. Afterwards, travel through the stunning Cairngorms National Park, passing natural landmarks. Your final stop is the charming Victorian town of Pitlochry, where you can enjoy a short stroll before the scenic drive back to Edinburgh.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your driver-guide takes you to their favourite stop within the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park where you can grab coffee and enjoy the views.
Be moved by the sheer beauty and tragic tales of one of Scotland’s most famous landscapes.
*Cruise on Loch Ness is included in your ticket Fort Augustus boasts the Caledonian Canal, which is a great spot to relax and watch the boats sail by into Loch Ness. You can search for the infamous monster on a relaxing boat cruise
We'll take a short break here in the charming village of Spean Bridge, nestled in the heart of the Scottish Highlands. This peaceful spot offers stunning views of the surrounding mountains, including glimpses of Ben Nevis on a clear day. It’s the perfect place to stretch your legs, breathe in the crisp Highland air, and take in the beautiful scenery.
Gradually, the dramatic mountains soften and become cloaked in lush forest. Among the towering trees of Perthshire, you'll take a final refreshment break in Pitlochry before continuing south through the rolling hills and fertile farmlands of the Kingdom of Fife.
Your last highlight is the view of the iconic UNESCO-listed Forth Rail Bridge on your way to Edinburgh. Please note: Some tours may run in reverse You return to Edinburgh at approximately 8.00pm.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Check-in closes 15 minutes prior to departure. This tour will depart from Edinburgh Bus Station, Gate J and Gate K, St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH1 3DQ.
- Luggage Allowance: You're restricted to 20kg (44lbs) of luggage per person. This should be one piece of luggage similar to an airline carry-on bag (approximately 55cm x 45cm x 25cm / 22in x 17in x 10in) plus one small bag for onboard personal items.
- In order to retain the integrity of the tour and try to ensure that all our customers have the best possible experience, we do cap bookings from any one party to 8 passengers.
- We apologise, but we cannot accommodate children under 5 years old on our tours. Children under 18 need to be accompanied by an adult. Please note that if this policy is not followed, we will have to refuse travel without issuing a refund. Thank you for understanding.
- Loch Ness cruise – We reserve tickets for you. Included in tour price.
- The Loch Ness boat cruise is weather dependent and may be cancelled without notice.
- This route may be reversed on some occasions.
- Children under 18 need to be accompanied by an adult.
Reviews(6,187)
Great Experience. We went for the day tour of the Highlands and Lochness. Loved our tour guide Eric! Thanks for everything.
The highlands were beautiful, but we felt this tour was unnecessarily long. We could’ve taken 3 hours off of the tour. Several people were nauseous as our driver drove way too fast on winding roads— enough for our backpacks to fly out of the luggage rack. We didn’t have time to eat lunch and were rushed at each stop. Much too much time in a van. But the sights were beautiful.
Steven was an incredible tour guide - so knowledgeable and friendly! I love it when you can just feel how much someone loves what they do and where they live. I also loved the pace and all the things we got to see on this tour - I know “speed dating” type tours aren’t for everyone but I really loved this one. Steven shared so much history and stories about Scotland and the places we saw, it made for a very special day!
The Loch Ness/Glencoe day trip was a fantastic introduction to the Highlands for someone short on time (like myself). It honestly left me wanting more - I’d love to come back to Scotland and do a multi day tour at some point. Found it to be solo traveler friendly as well. Loch Ness is truly the main attraction on this tour and for that reason, I regret not doing the boat cruise. The walkways in town weren’t as long as I’d hoped so I felt like I could only see so much. Don’t be like me! Craig was a fantastic guide - good stories, a killer playlist, and most importantly a great sense of humor that made the trip so much better!
We had a wonderful time. Our tour guide/driver, Eric, was knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and entertaining. We made several stops for photos, bathroom breaks, shopping, and lunch. It was a long, but enjoyable day.
This trip was both a bit long and not nearly long enough! The scenery was gorgeous. The driver was knowledgeable and entertaining. The bus was comfortable. The stops were lovely. Highly recommend. Hopefully you’ll get Derek as your guide/driver.
This tour is a fantastic way to experience a bunch of different sides of the Highlands in one shot. It’s a long day, of course, but it was packed with stunning photo stops and tons of interesting history. The Loch Ness boat tour delivers as well. This was our favorite day of our vacation.
We really enjoyed this tour, especially our tour guide David. He is a great storyteller with an incredible grasp of historical events and shows an amazing amount of enthusiasm for sharing this information with his guests. The boat tour wasn’t as good as we were hoping, but probably about what we expected.
Duncan, our guide/driver, was great - lots of entertaining stories (what he didn’t know, he was talented in making up). Directions for meet up were spot on. Slightly confusing when we got there and found a crowd for a 16 person tour, but apparently they were sending out 7 buses at the same time, so once you shuffled through that mild chaos you were assigned your driver and bus #. Bus seats are very very narrow. Really not suitable for a grown man. Several in our group (not excessively large people) needed seat belt extenders. Apparently the company won’t spring for more so the drivers have to fight over them. Mildly annoying that we went as a couple but couldn’t sit anywhere near each other for the entire trip— saw someone else complain about this in another review and it was dismissed as “well you should have shown up early to get seats together” — you all enter the bus at the same time. Unless you wanted me to throw shoulders and plow people over, it wasn’t our fault. Would be nice if you arranged seats by reservation. Take your own food and drinks - stops just aren’t long enough to be sure you can grab more than a coffee. We did the Loch Ness boat ride - which I had done several years ago but at a different time of year and enjoyed much much more then. If it’s prime tourist season, skip this and just enjoy the time walking around the little town. Boat was PACKED. We made LOTS of stops for photo opps. You could tell Duncan put careful thought into these and wanted you to see the most you could. We loved Glencoe and would have been happy to spend more time there, but I understand the trip is long enough.
Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and did a great job! We loved the boat cruise on Loch Ness! The highlands are beautiful.
