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Scotland

Tailor-Made Tour

Ideal season:
Spring / summer / autumn

Accommodation:
Hotels and apartments

Main highlights:
History, nature and landmarks

Price level:
$$$$

The Gaelic word ceilidh does not just mean a dance. It describes a whole gathering with singing, fiddles and accordion that stretches long into the night. You will find the same taste for sharing across Scotland, from mountain pubs in the Highlands to harbour taverns on the west coast. The Highlands rise around Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Britain, and stretch past the dark waters of Loch Ness to the vast Cairngorms National Park. To the west lies the Isle of Skye, with the jagged peaks of the Cuillin and the rock tower of the Old Man of Storr. Further east lies the Spey valley, home to the highest concentration of Scottish distilleries. The West Highland Way, the country's best-known long-distance trail, crosses the Highlands. Walk through Glen Coe, taste a single malt straight from a distillery on Speyside, climb Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh and spend a night in a mountain hut among the moors.

Plan your trip

What to see and do in Scotland

Climb the Old Man of Storr and walk through the rock maze of the Quiraing on the Isle of Skye, or climb Ben Nevis near Fort William, the highest mountain in the British Isles. Take a boat trip along the nearly 40-kilometre-long Loch Ness to the ruins of Urquhart Castle, and taste whisky at one of the Speyside distilleries, home to more than half of Scotland's whisky production. Visit Edinburgh Castle, rising above the capital, explore the cobbled streets of the Royal Mile, and play golf on the legendary Old Course in St. Andrews, the home of golf since the 15th century.

Places with soul

Isle of Lewis & Isle of Harris

Lewis and Harris look like two separate islands, yet no strait or bridge divides them, only the hills and peatland of a single landmass. They lie in the north of the Outer Hebrides, and the island itself is the largest in Scotland. The northern two-thirds is called Lewis, and the southern third is Harris, home to Clisham, the highest peak in the archipelago. At Calanais you will see a stone circle erected between 2900 and 2600 BC, older than Stonehenge. On Luskentyre beach you will walk across white sand along the turquoise waters of the Atlantic. In Tarbert you can taste a seaweed-flavoured gin from the local distillery. The Orb stamp on the famous Harris Tweed fabric may only be given to tweed woven by hand, at home, by one of the islanders. A law has required this since 1993.

Isle of Lewis & Isle of Harris

Lewis and Harris look like two separate islands, yet no strait or bridge divides them, only the hills and peatland of a single landmass. They lie in the north of the Outer Hebrides, and the island itself is the largest in Scotland. The northern two-thirds is called Lewis, and the southern third is Harris, home to Clisham, the highest peak in the archipelago. At Calanais you will see a stone circle erected between 2900 and 2600 BC, older than Stonehenge. On Luskentyre beach you will walk across white sand along the turquoise waters of the Atlantic. In Tarbert you can taste a seaweed-flavoured gin from the local distillery. The Orb stamp on the famous Harris Tweed fabric may only be given to tweed woven by hand, at home, by one of the islanders. A law has required this since 1993.

Cairngorms NP

The park's Gaelic name, Am Monadh Ruadh (the red hills), is internationally known by its English name, Cairngorms, taken from a single peak, Cairn Gorm (blue hill). It was established in 2003 and, at 4,528 km², is the largest national park in the United Kingdom. The plateau, at around 1,000 metres, is what remains of mountains worn down by erosion over time. From Ben Macdui, the second-highest mountain in Britain, you will see Lairig Ghru, the pass that divides the massif in two. At Rothiemurchus, a path through the pines leads to Loch an Eilein, with a 14th-century castle ruin on a small island. On the slopes you may encounter a herd of around 150 semi-wild reindeer, the only free-ranging herd in Britain, brought over by a Swedish herder in 1952.

Cairngorms NP

The park's Gaelic name, Am Monadh Ruadh (the red hills), is internationally known by its English name, Cairngorms, taken from a single peak, Cairn Gorm (blue hill). It was established in 2003 and, at 4,528 km², is the largest national park in the United Kingdom. The plateau, at around 1,000 metres, is what remains of mountains worn down by erosion over time. From Ben Macdui, the second-highest mountain in Britain, you will see Lairig Ghru, the pass that divides the massif in two. At Rothiemurchus, a path through the pines leads to Loch an Eilein, with a 14th-century castle ruin on a small island. On the slopes you may encounter a herd of around 150 semi-wild reindeer, the only free-ranging herd in Britain, brought over by a Swedish herder in 1952.

Orkney Islands

Orkney means 'seal islands' in Norse. The name was given by the Norse, who arrived four thousand years after the first settlers. The archipelago off the northern coast of Scotland is made up of more than seventy islands, of which only around twenty are inhabited. The village of Skara Brae, on the Orkney Mainland, was built around 3180 BC, earlier than Stonehenge or the Egyptian pyramids. You can walk among its eight stone houses, with surviving stone beds and dressers, and at the Ring of Brodgar you will see 27 of an estimated sixty stones in a circle 104 metres across. A storm uncovered the village in 1850. Before that it had lain buried under the dunes for four thousand years.

Orkney Islands

Orkney means 'seal islands' in Norse. The name was given by the Norse, who arrived four thousand years after the first settlers. The archipelago off the northern coast of Scotland is made up of more than seventy islands, of which only around twenty are inhabited. The village of Skara Brae, on the Orkney Mainland, was built around 3180 BC, earlier than Stonehenge or the Egyptian pyramids. You can walk among its eight stone houses, with surviving stone beds and dressers, and at the Ring of Brodgar you will see 27 of an estimated sixty stones in a circle 104 metres across. A storm uncovered the village in 1850. Before that it had lain buried under the dunes for four thousand years.

East Neuk

The orange roof tiles of the East Neuk do not come from Fife but from the Netherlands, where Scottish ships carried grain and returned with pantiles (clay roof tiles) as ballast. The region lies on the coast of the Firth of Forth between Elie and Crail and was sustained by the herring trade from the Middle Ages onwards. Crail, the oldest of the region's towns, was granted the right to hold a market on Marketgate by Robert the Bruce in 1310. In the 16th century, more than fifty herring boats were moored at Cellardyke. Along the Fife Coastal Path, the walk from Crail to Anstruther takes just under two hours. Boats sail from Anstruther to the Isle of May, home to tens of thousands of nesting puffins. At the harbour you can see the Reaper, a herring drifter built in 1901, moored at the quay. It appeared in the television series Outlander.

East Neuk

The orange roof tiles of the East Neuk do not come from Fife but from the Netherlands, where Scottish ships carried grain and returned with pantiles (clay roof tiles) as ballast. The region lies on the coast of the Firth of Forth between Elie and Crail and was sustained by the herring trade from the Middle Ages onwards. Crail, the oldest of the region's towns, was granted the right to hold a market on Marketgate by Robert the Bruce in 1310. In the 16th century, more than fifty herring boats were moored at Cellardyke. Along the Fife Coastal Path, the walk from Crail to Anstruther takes just under two hours. Boats sail from Anstruther to the Isle of May, home to tens of thousands of nesting puffins. At the harbour you can see the Reaper, a herring drifter built in 1901, moored at the quay. It appeared in the television series Outlander.

Experiences that make sense

Whisky Distillery Visit

The oldest written record of Scotch whisky is an official receipt, not a legend. In 1494, the monk John Cor of Lindores Abbey received eight bolls of malt from officials of King James IV to make aqua vitae, enough today to produce around 400 bottles. The word whisky comes from a corruption of the Gaelic uisge beatha, water of life. Speyside has the highest concentration of distilleries, while the smokiest whisky comes from the Isle of Islay. From the port of Port Ellen on Islay, it is a thirty-minute walk to the Laphroaig distillery, whose smoky whisky was exported to the United States during Prohibition as a disinfectant. Dalwhinnie, in the Highlands, is home to the country's highest distillery, at 326 metres above sea level, while Edradour is the smallest, with three employees.

Whisky Distillery Visit

The oldest written record of Scotch whisky is an official receipt, not a legend. In 1494, the monk John Cor of Lindores Abbey received eight bolls of malt from officials of King James IV to make aqua vitae, enough today to produce around 400 bottles. The word whisky comes from a corruption of the Gaelic uisge beatha, water of life. Speyside has the highest concentration of distilleries, while the smokiest whisky comes from the Isle of Islay. From the port of Port Ellen on Islay, it is a thirty-minute walk to the Laphroaig distillery, whose smoky whisky was exported to the United States during Prohibition as a disinfectant. Dalwhinnie, in the Highlands, is home to the country's highest distillery, at 326 metres above sea level, while Edradour is the smallest, with three employees.

Harris tweed workshop

Harris Tweed is the only fabric in the world protected by law, under an act passed in 1993. It may only be woven by residents of the Outer Hebrides, at home, from wool dyed and spun on the islands. In Gaelic it is called clò-mòr, the big cloth. The turning point came in 1846, when the Countess of Dunmore had sisters from Strond weave a family tartan for coats for the estate. Today around 200 certified weavers work in this way. In a workshop by a house on Lewis you will see a Hattersley loom, powered only by pedalling. You will look at a pattern card from the mill and learn how it is used to blend coloured wool. Before the cloth becomes official Harris Tweed, it returns to the mill, where an inspector checks it every fifty metres and stamps it by hand with the Orb mark.

Harris tweed workshop

Harris Tweed is the only fabric in the world protected by law, under an act passed in 1993. It may only be woven by residents of the Outer Hebrides, at home, from wool dyed and spun on the islands. In Gaelic it is called clò-mòr, the big cloth. The turning point came in 1846, when the Countess of Dunmore had sisters from Strond weave a family tartan for coats for the estate. Today around 200 certified weavers work in this way. In a workshop by a house on Lewis you will see a Hattersley loom, powered only by pedalling. You will look at a pattern card from the mill and learn how it is used to blend coloured wool. Before the cloth becomes official Harris Tweed, it returns to the mill, where an inspector checks it every fifty metres and stamps it by hand with the Orb mark.

Seaweed Foraging on the Coast

Tartar on skeletons found in Distillery Cave near Oban shows that people on the Scottish coast were eating seaweed as far back as 4,500 to 6,100 years ago. On the west coast of South Uist, duileasg, an edible red seaweed known as dulse, grows on the older stems of tangle kelp (Laminaria hyperborea). Foraging for seaweed here does not require the landowner's permission; the law treats it the same as picking blackberries. At low tide you will set out with a forager along the rocky shore and learn to identify duileasg among similar species. You will cut the seaweed-covered stems with a knife and taste it raw, straight from the sea. It tastes salty and nutty. The dulse you collect can be pan-fried in butter until crisp, or used to make traditional dulse pudding.

Seaweed Foraging on the Coast

Tartar on skeletons found in Distillery Cave near Oban shows that people on the Scottish coast were eating seaweed as far back as 4,500 to 6,100 years ago. On the west coast of South Uist, duileasg, an edible red seaweed known as dulse, grows on the older stems of tangle kelp (Laminaria hyperborea). Foraging for seaweed here does not require the landowner's permission; the law treats it the same as picking blackberries. At low tide you will set out with a forager along the rocky shore and learn to identify duileasg among similar species. You will cut the seaweed-covered stems with a knife and taste it raw, straight from the sea. It tastes salty and nutty. The dulse you collect can be pan-fried in butter until crisp, or used to make traditional dulse pudding.

Selected premium accommodation

The Bonham Hotel Edinburgh

The Bonham occupies three interconnected Victorian townhouses from the late 19th century, at 35 Drumsheugh Gardens in Edinburgh's West End. The hotel offers five room categories, from Townhouse Double to Signature Suite, fitted with Hypnos beds, linen bedding and a Nespresso coffee machine. The interior, with original plasterwork and wood panelling, was designed by interior designer Nigel Howard. The No. 35 restaurant serves a European menu with Scottish ingredients, with dinner available from Thursday to Saturday. Dogs are welcome at the hotel. It is within walking distance of both Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Botanic Garden.

The Bonham Hotel Edinburgh

The Bonham occupies three interconnected Victorian townhouses from the late 19th century, at 35 Drumsheugh Gardens in Edinburgh's West End. The hotel offers five room categories, from Townhouse Double to Signature Suite, fitted with Hypnos beds, linen bedding and a Nespresso coffee machine. The interior, with original plasterwork and wood panelling, was designed by interior designer Nigel Howard. The No. 35 restaurant serves a European menu with Scottish ingredients, with dinner available from Thursday to Saturday. Dogs are welcome at the hotel. It is within walking distance of both Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Botanic Garden.

Isle of Mull Hotel & Spa

The Isle of Mull Hotel & Spa stands in Craignure, on the Isle of Mull, by Craignure Bay, a short distance from the ferry and about 2 km from the island's centre. The four-star hotel offers 75 refurbished rooms and new sea-view suites in four categories: Classic, Deluxe Sea View, Sea View Suite and Retreat Suite, the latter with a private terrace and its own hot tub. Dining is provided by the Òran na Mara bistro, which focuses on local seafood and cheeses from Mull, along with the Sea Deck Bar. The grounds include the Driftwood Spa, with a pool, sauna, steam room and outdoor hot tub, and the Wilderness Deck, with a private hot tub and sauna. Dogs are welcome at the hotel.

Isle of Mull Hotel & Spa

The Isle of Mull Hotel & Spa stands in Craignure, on the Isle of Mull, by Craignure Bay, a short distance from the ferry and about 2 km from the island's centre. The four-star hotel offers 75 refurbished rooms and new sea-view suites in four categories: Classic, Deluxe Sea View, Sea View Suite and Retreat Suite, the latter with a private terrace and its own hot tub. Dining is provided by the Òran na Mara bistro, which focuses on local seafood and cheeses from Mull, along with the Sea Deck Bar. The grounds include the Driftwood Spa, with a pool, sauna, steam room and outdoor hot tub, and the Wilderness Deck, with a private hot tub and sauna. Dogs are welcome at the hotel.

Scotland awaits. Shall we go?

Every journey is different, just as our clients are all different. At Meraki we know this well, and that is why we approach every enquiry individually, with a single goal: to meet your expectations down to the last detail.

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Let's plan your dream holiday together!

We would be happy to meet with you to design and fine-tune every detail of your itinerary to suit your wishes, destination or season.

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