カウドール城とクラヴァケアンズのある秘密のネス湖

I booked this cruise excursion directly with Thistle, cost wasn’t much less than the cruise line, but we got to see the highland cows with this excursion. 😊 I could not be happier. We were picked up right at the port, and brought back with plenty of time for all aboard. Our travel guide, Rabe, was amazing! There were 7 of us so it was a very intimate excursion, no fighting to see anything or hear anything. The Scottish Highlands are just beautiful and this was a bucket list trip for me. I could not recommend this excursion or company more. They were just perfect. Thank you for making my trip to Scotland so memorable. Paige

Highly recommend if you are arriving via cruise ship. Super easy to get to the meet up spot and this tour really does give you a taste of Inverness and Invegordon. June was the sweetest lady and amazing tour guide. I was lucky and only had to share the tour with two others and it was in a car and not bus.

We booked this tour expecting it to be a small group, but it ended up being a private tour for my family. June was our tour guide, who was very knowledgeable, sweet, and easy to understand. We started off at Culloden Battlefield, which the show Outlander was based on. My wife was very excited as that’s one of her favorite shows. We then went to Clava Cairns which was super interesting. It’s like a smaller version of Stonehenge that I never heard of but just as impressive. We then went to Cawdor Castle where we also got to hear a bagpiper. After, we got to roam Inverness and had a very nice lunch, followed by a trip to Loch Ness and finally ended up seeing some hairy coos. Such a nice excursion with so many things to see that we weren’t expecting. Highly recommend!

The excursion with Thistle Excursions was excellent. We arrived in Invergordon on a cruise ship. The excursion gave an excellent overview of the area around Inverness and it was great to be able to spend some time at Dores, on the shores of Loch Ness. No other tour offers this. Eleanor was an amazing guide who embellished the tour with her knowledge, humour and efficiency. Highly recommended.

This tour was fabulous. To start off our cruise ship was delayed getting into port. Thistle Tours stayed in contact with us during the delay and was able to seemlessly replan the day so we didn’t miss out all - still while getting us back in time for our ship. We spent the day with June who was a great tour guide. She explained so much about Scotland to us. She had great stories and was the sweetest person. She made sure we got to see the things that were important to us. We really got a sense for Inverness and its history as well as modern day issues and values of the Scottish. I highly recommend this tour.

Covers a lot in one day. Our tour guide Danny was friendly and knowledgeable. Loved his stories. Good for all ages

Exceptional driver and guide Nigel Newell local enthusiast. September 2025 We went to the Dunrobin Castle , Shinfalls, The Highlands and BalBlair distillery. Exceptional local knowhow about area and people, traditions and food, drinks and speciality. A calm trip like the Scottish way of doing it. No stress at all. Lovely people and nature.

+6

From start to finish, this was a brilliant tour. The organisation Portside was exceptional and the staff at Thistle were friendly and professional. Our tour guide, Mike, made the experience memorable. His local knowledge of the area was exceptional and his friendly approach was amazing. The countryside was spectacular and his accounts of important parts of Scottish history added to the experience. I would highly recommend this tour. Mike had us back to the cruise port with ample time before the all aboard was called. Brilliant!

+1

Fairytale castle! Absolutely incredible architecture! The falconry show was amazing and ran at 11:30am and 2:30pm. The inside of the castle was nicely laid out and had helpful information boards in various languages dotted around. The staff were informative and kind. Food in the cafe was lovely and reasonably priced. Gets busy fast so pre book the earlier slots

Wonderful experience even though it down poured on us. Rona with Thistle excursions was a wonderful host and ran our jackets and umbrella down to the gardens for us! The castle is beautiful and we were provided with great knowledge and narration throughout by our guide. I left my phone at the castle and Rona and our driver Sue coordinated with a fellow driver to get it back to the boat and saved the day! If I get to return to Scotland I will definitely use thistle again!