Amazing tour in every way - Awesome tour and beautiful places! We will definately return to Scotland. Jim was the best tour guide ever and we will miss him

Great time being led by guide Daniel - We had a fantastic 3-day tour of the Scottish highlands and Isle of Skye. Our tour guide Daniel was excellent. Considerate of our group's interests (2 couples, a solo traveler, and a mom and her 2 daughters). Given the days are short in December, he optimized everything for efficiency without feeling anything got short shrift. His tour explanations were thoughtful (well informed, not too much detail, and happy to add more when questioned). His driving was great and we appreciated he asked passengers to move seats every few hours so we could all enjoy the best views (and avoid any car-sickness). We saw all the major features on the island, including a few off the itinerary because we had some extra time. He really made our trip even better!

Jim: Good guide! The most jampacked tour for scenic views! Book accommodation yourself to make the most of your money. - The tour: (Warning: Long read ahead on the tour details & my thoughts)   JIM was a wonderful guide. He was new, and about 3 months in the job but he did a lovely job in guiding us, telling us stories, giving some context/history of a place, and giving instructions. If there were a few questions he could not answer immediately, he would look into it and give us an answer later on. He was also quite easy but at the same time provided good guidance on time discipline. He was also sensitive on what the rest of the group wanted to do/see, so on some parts would provide us 5-minute stopovers even with locations outside the planned itinerary, in order for us to be able to take good photos of the view.   If you want a tour that is jampacked with stopovers to as many as possible interesting sites and scenic views within a 3-day period, this is the tour for you. If you like a lot or a bit of hiking (and can do it fast), this is also a tour for you. If you want your tour too relaxed and get stressed with rush, this possibly might not be for you, or you will just be the party pooper to people who signed up for this tour to cover as much locations as possible in 3 days. But yes, it will feel rushed and you would feel that you wanted to spend more "quality time" to digest the view in certain places even more OR you will feel like you want to see even more---but obviously it can never be like that in a tour and in fact, with the amount of detours Jim took for the group, he had to drive faster to compensate for lost time. It will, however, give you a good view of places that you want to come back to on your next visit to the Isle, and I know I definitely would. They have the most jampacked itinerary amongst 10-20 tours that I've compared online.   Do note that summer tours slightly differ from winter tours. There are places that are closed during winter, e.g. Dunvegan Castle, or "harry potter" trains not running on the Glenfinnan viaduct. (Also note that riding on the train is also not part of the tour---only seeing the viaduct is, whether the train is running or not)   Here are the sites we've seen/stopped in from  Dec 20 to 22 (winter season):   Day 1: SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS Loch lomond Glenfinnan viaduct Buachaille Etive Mor (rannoch mor viewpoint) 3 sisters Glencoe Ben nevis (view) Fort William Beach Viewpoint of the Isle of Eigg "Mordor" (detour along Arisaig Cove on the way to the ferry) Mallaig - Ferry to Isle Of Skye Portree   Day 2: ISLE OF SKYE Cuillin mountain range viewpoint Sligachan old bridge "eternal beauty" Viewpoint (roadstop) to old man of storr "Old man of Storr" Kilt rock & Mealt falls viewpoint Duntulum castle Fairy Glen (and sheep all around!) Portree   Day 3: CENTAL HIGHLANDS Skye Bridge Eilean Donan Castle Fort Augustus Lochness Ben Nevis Viewpoint Highland cows (stopover in Creag Meagaidh not originally in the plan but Bruar house (Pitlochry along the path but no stop it was already dark) Edinburgh   Now, note that there will be not much time for lunches or long snack-stops. It will be rushed eating and on Day 2, we eat on the go (so needed to buy groceries). This is not a culinary tour---it's mainly a tour for scenic views. Portree, where you spend your nights, closes early during winter and have very few restos, so there won't be a lot of choices at night, but you will find tables at least. There are no night activities, so you have your free time then.   The accommodation: Now one (major negative) thing to note is the price and accommodation. As a single If you book only the tour without the 2-night accommodation, you will pay 394.63 USD. But if you include accommodation, you will pay either 1201.40 or 970.47 USD for 1 person, and 988.34 USD for 2 persons. Which, for a single traveler like me, meant I spent 296.86 USD PER NIGHT on accommodation, which was more expensive than my Marriott Hotel stays in Edinburgh (which cost only over 100 USD) or price almost comparable to the 5 star hotels I have stayed in. Now, while I understand that accommodation here will not be great, and it's expected that way (I have no issuees camping), the price for the accommodation is just usurpation. You look up the property they put me in, and it was worth 87-125 Euros per night on Google. Far from the price I paid, and the quality was intensely poor for the 300 USD I paid---it was small (10-12 sqm), dirty, old, had an unpleasant smell, the faucet temperature control did not work and would switch between too hot or too cold (even if the faucet said cold, it would sometimes give you hot water instead, and vice versa), and had broken showers (the shower temperature would not rotate, so I only got full hot day 1 and had to use a glass to shower from the faucet) and then the next day it gave me cold. The place was a small in with no elevators, had a very strong smell coming from the carpets, and the walls and floors were like paper---I could not sleep the first night---you could hear every move your neighbors made on both left and right side plus the hallway plus the people on the floor above you. It was a disaster. The staff was nice, however, but apart from that, I really don't see 300 USD. I have stayed in better cheap 18 Euro hostels or hotels.   On this case, I would have given them a 1 or 2 on accommodation, but I don't want that to spoil the impression on the tour because I think the tour was great, and I would give a 5. So just book it without accommodation and find your own accommodation in Portree Center that are better and not as expensive.   Overall, for the sake of the tour and the tour guide, I would still give it a 5.

Good guide. The most jampacked tour for scenic views. Book your own accommodation to get better value for your money. - The tour: (Warning: Long read ahead on the tour details & my thoughts)   JIM was a wonderful guide. He was new, and about 3 months in the job but he did a lovely job in guiding us, telling us stories, giving some context/history of a place, and giving instructions. If there were a few questions he could not answer immediately, he would look into it and give us an answer later on. He was also quite easy but at the same time provided good guidance on time discipline. He was also sensitive on what the rest of the group wanted to do/see, so on some parts would provide us 5-minute stopovers even with locations outside the planned itinerary, in order for us to be able to take good photos of the view.   If you want a tour that is jampacked with stopovers to as many as possible interesting sites and scenic views within a 3-day period, this is the tour for you. If you like a lot or a bit of hiking (and can do it fast), this is also a tour for you. If you want your tour too relaxed and get stressed with rush, this possibly might not be for you, or you will just be the party pooper to people who signed up for this tour to cover as much locations as possible in 3 days. But yes, it will feel rushed and you would feel that you wanted to spend more "quality time" to digest the view in certain places even more OR you will feel like you want to see even more---but obviously it can never be like that in a tour and in fact, with the amount of detours Jim took for the group, he had to drive faster to compensate for lost time. It will, however, give you a good view of places that you want to come back to on your next visit to the Isle, and I know I definitely would. They have the most jampacked itinerary amongst 10-20 tours that I've compared online.   Do note that summer tours slightly differ from winter tours. There are places that are closed during winter, e.g. Dunvegan Castle, or "harry potter" trains not running on the Glenfinnan viaduct. (Also note that riding on the train is also not part of the tour---only seeing the viaduct is, whether the train is running or not)   Here are the sites we've seen/stopped in from  Dec 20 to 22 (winter season):   Day 1: SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS Loch lomond Glenfinnan viaduct Buachaille Etive Mor (rannoch mor viewpoint) 3 sisters Glencoe Ben nevis (view) Fort William Beach Viewpoint of the Isle of Eigg "Mordor" (detour along Arisaig Cove on the way to the ferry) Mallaig - Ferry to Isle Of Skye Portree   Day 2: ISLE OF SKYE Cuillin mountain range viewpoint Sligachan old bridge "eternal beauty" Viewpoint (roadstop) to old man of storr "Old man of Storr" Kilt rock & Mealt falls viewpoint Duntulum castle Fairy Glen (and sheep all around!) Portree   Day 3: CENTAL HIGHLANDS Skye Bridge Eilean Donan Castle Fort Augustus Lochness Ben Nevis Viewpoint Highland cows (stopover in Creag Meagaidh not originally in the plan but Bruar house (Pitlochry along the path but no stop it was already dark) Edinburgh   Now, note that there will be not much time for lunches or long snack-stops. It will be rushed eating and on Day 2, we eat on the go (so needed to buy groceries). This is not a culinary tour---it's mainly a tour for scenic views. Portree, where you spend your nights, closes early during winter and have very few restos, so there won't be a lot of choices at night, but you will find tables at least. There are no night activities, so you have your free time then.   The accommodation: Now one (major negative) thing to note is the price and accommodation. As a single If you book only the tour without the 2-night accommodation, you will pay 394.63 USD. But if you include accommodation, you will pay either 1201.40 or 970.47 USD for 1 person, and 988.34 USD for 2 persons. Which, for a single traveler like me, meant I spent 296.86 USD PER NIGHT on accommodation, which was more expensive than my Marriott Hotel stays in Edinburgh (which cost only over 100 USD) or price almost comparable to the 5 star hotels I have stayed in. Now, while I understand that accommodation here will not be great, and it's expected that way (I have no issuees camping), the price for the accommodation is just usurpation. You look up the property they put me in, and it was worth 87-125 Euros per night on Google. Far from the price I paid, and the quality was intensely poor for the 300 USD I paid---it was small (10-12 sqm), dirty, old, had an unpleasant smell, the faucet temperature control did not work and would switch between too hot or too cold (even if the faucet said cold, it would sometimes give you hot water instead, and vice versa), and had broken showers (the shower temperature would not rotate, so I only got full hot day 1 and had to use a glass to shower from the faucet) and then the next day it gave me cold. The place was a small in with no elevators, had a very strong smell coming from the carpets, and the walls and floors were like paper---I could not sleep the first night---you could hear every move your neighbors made on both left and right side plus the hallway plus the people on the floor above you. It was a disaster. The staff was nice, however, but apart from that, I really don't see 300 USD. I have stayed in better cheap 18 Euro hostels or hotels.   On this case, I would have given them a 1 or 2 on accommodation, but I don't want that to spoil the impression on the tour because I think the tour was great, and I would give a 5. So just book it without accommodation and find your own accommodation in Portree Center that are better and not as expensive.   Overall, for the sake of the tour and the tour guide, I would still give it a 5.

Isle of Sky - Matt is the absolute best! We are so lucky he was available for our Isle of Skye adventure. He brought wonderful energy and knowledge to our group. We cannot recommend him enough.

Amazing and super scenic!... - Amazing and super scenic! Rachel was the best tour guide and was very knowledgeable. Our group had some much fun.

Fantastic experienceinf - What a great trip we had! Matt was our guide and we couldn't have been better! How wonderful and enthusiastic and humorous he can tell about his beautiful Scotland. For us, this trip had an extra emotional charge because we were able to scatter ashes of our husband and father who died 10 months ago in the Fairy Pools on the Isle of Sky. Matt really made a moment of this. Thankful.

The Right Trip For Us - Our guide, Richie, was a joy to be with. He encouraged us to take time to enjoy what we would be experiencing. He told us stories of the places we traveled through providing historical context in many cases. He also prepped us on each day’s agenda. As much as he tried, he could not prepare us for the beauty of what we would see. This trip exceeded our expectations and we loved the fact that the group sizes were kept small. It made the for a more pleasurable experience as we all got to know a little bit about one another.

Isle of Skye - Great trip. Absolutely beautiful landscape. Our guide, John MacRae was very knowledgeable and managed the pace of each day very well.

We were taken to the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Our guide was fun and made the trip better than expected. - Our guide was John MacRae and I would recommend you request him for your guide. Friendly, fun and extremely knowledgeable about Scotland. He made the trip fun and relaxing.