Celtic Highlights

Welcome to Glasgow! Settle in with free time before meeting your Tour Director and travel companions at 6 pm for a welcome dinner at your hotel. (D)

Secret Keys to Scottish Lochs Your Celtic adventure starts with an orientation drive through Glasgow where you’ll see the 12th-century cathedral, university buildings, and elegant Victorian architecture. A spectacular drive through the Highlands takes you to Fort William. Take time to admire Ben Nevis, the UK’s highest peak, before looking out for the mysterious monster as you view Loch Ness. Spend the night in Inverness, the Highland capital. (B) TOUR HIGHLIGHT They can take the low road, but we’ll take the high road on a scenic ride through the magic and mystery of the moors and glens of the Scottish Highlands. From lovely Loch Lomond and Loch Linnhe to the boggy expanses of Rannoch Moor and the dizzying beauty of Glen Coe and Ben Nevis, you’ll discover the legends of Loch Ness and more across the beauty of Scotland’s magnificent scenery.

A Red Moor & A White Castle Start the day at the Culloden Moor Battlefield and Visitor Centre to hear the story of the crushing Hanoverian victory over Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Scottish clans. A drive through the Cairngorms National Park takes you to Blair Castle, ancestral seat of the Dukes and Earls of Atholl and home to Europe’s last remaining private army, the Atholl Highlanders. Then, on to the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. (B) TOUR HIGHLIGHT If these walls could talk, they would tell how the 19 generations of Stewarts and Murrays of Atholl have loved, won, and lost through seven centuries of history at Blair Castle, visited over time by Mary Queen of Scots, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and Queen Victoria.

Drummers, Pipers & Precious Jewels Morning city sightseeing with a Local Guide introduces you to the 200-year-old “New Town” and the famous scientists, inventors, and novelists who lived there. In the “Old Town,” visit Edinburgh Castle to admire Scotland’s Crown Jewels. The afternoon is free to enjoy the Scottish capital at your own pace. (B) TOUR HIGHLIGHT Unpack your plaid for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo! Edinburgh Military Tattoo performances are included on departures August 9, 15, 16 and 23. TOUR HIGHLIGHT Ascend to Castle Rock to explore Edinburgh Castle, one of the most important historical strongholds in the Kingdom of Scotland, with a 1,100-year history as "the most besieged place in Great Britain.” Here, you’ll find the royal regalia and Scotland’s Crown Jewels. The Castle forms the background of the spectacular Tattoo, an extravaganza of bagpipes and drums performed en masse in August each year.