Paul & Eileen’s Scottish Tours

02/10/2026

The past few weeks have seen a first (and second) for our tours, as they both involved a trip down south to the fabulous region of Dumfries and Galloway.

This region is often ignored by many of the larger and more popular tours groups, which is a bit of a shame because it's such a beautiful area with glorious scenery, fascinating history, magnificent monuments, great food, and a culture all of its own.

Our first tour was a 1-day trip from Glasgow with Terri and her family, and took in the following:

* Alloway, the birthplace of Rabbie Burns, and location of the legendary Brigadoon (Brig o Doon)
* The fabulous cliff-top ruins of Greenan Castle
* Turnberry Lighthouse, located the rocky shore at the edge of the Turnberry Golf Course
* Turnberry Castle, the birthplace of Robert the Bruce
* Galloway Distillery, a new wh**ky, gin, and vodka distillery owned by Sam Heughan of Outlander fame
* Balmaclellan, birthplace of Sam Heughan
* Kenmure Castle, ancient ruin and playground of the young Mr Heughan

Our second tour was a 3-day trip from Glasgow with Kathy, and took in the following:

Day 1
* New Lanark, 18th century cotton mill and beautiful waterfall on the river Clyde
* Gretna Green, traditional elopers wedding venue on the English border
* England, a small but pleasant country to the south of Scotland
* Caerlaverock Castle, the moated ruins of a fabulous 16th century triangular castle
* The birthplace of John Paul Jones, founder of the US navy (and not the bass player with Led Zep as some people have apparently assumed)
* Sandyhills beach, a beautiful sandy beach with high cliffs, a huge rocky arch, and fine views of the north of England
* Kirkcudbright, a pleasant, old market town where we stayed for the night

Day 2
* The Temple, a 16th century castle well hidden within a local wood
* Cairn Holy Chambered cairns, fantastic old burial cairns dating from earlier than 4000BC
* Wigtown (aka Booktown), a lovely place with 12 book shops in a town with a population of 850
* Galloway Distillery, another wee visit to Sam's place
* Mull of Galloway, a Stephenson lighthouse located on the fabulous high cliffs at the very southernmost point of Scotland
* Kirkmadrine Chapel, an atmospheric 16th century chapel and graveyard located well off the beaten track
* Dunskey, sunset over the cliffside ruins of another 16th century castle
* Portpatrick, a lovely wee seaside town where we also stayed the night

Day 3
* Sawney Bean's cave, cliff-side home of Scotland's legendary killer and cannibal family
* Turnberry Lighthouse, see above
* Turnberry Castle, see above
* Culzean Castle, awesome 14th century castle and gardens, home to the Kennedy clan
* Dunure Castle, 16th century cliff-side castle ruins, where the Commendator of Crossraguel was roasted alive in 1570
* Alloway, the birthplace of Rabbie Burns
* and back to Glasgow

It's amazing how much you can fit into such a short space of time. And this region certainly has so many places and attractions to choose from.

As always, if this kind of trip is the sort of thing for you, please get in touch and I'll see what I can arrange.

24/07/2026

That's me back from our first long (6-day) trip of the year so far, and it was a cracker. The route, locations, and activities were incredible, the weather gods were very kind, and Yo, Mel, and Denise were all superb and adventurous company🥳.

Over the course of 6 wonderful days, we somehow managed to cram in all of the following (and probably a few more things that I've forgotten) 🥵

Day 1
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Pickup from Glasgow Airport
Loch Lomond (unplanned)
Stayed at Oban (and watched the most incredible sunset over the nearby islands)

Day 2
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Dunadd Hill Fort (where the ancient kings of Scotland were crowned)
Kilmartin Glen (neolithic and bronze age monuments and tombs)
Carnasserie Castle (well-preserved 15th century castle)
Easdale Island (home of the world stone-skimming championships)
Bridge over the Atlantic (built in the 18th century by Thomas Telford)
McCaig's Folly (Oban's most famous sight)
Stayed at Oban (and watched more sunsets)

Day 3
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Leave Oban for Skye
Castle Stalker (Island castle of Monty Python fame)
Glencoe (unplanned hike along the drovers path to the Ralston Cairn)
Glenfinnan (a quick hello to the famous viaduct, and brilliant views of Loch Eil and the Bonnie Prince Charlie monument)
Ferry from Malaig to Armadale, Skye
Sligachan Bridge and the awesome views of the Black Cuillins
Stayed at Portree

Day 4
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Neist Point Lighthouse and awesome edge-of-the-world views
Fairy Glen
Flora MacDonald's grave
Duntulm Castle (ruins of a lovely 15th century castle perched high on a cliff edge)
The Quiraing (awesome rock formations and mountains)
Mealt Falls and Kilt Rock (A bit of a tourist hotspot, but not much water in the falls so a bit meh)
Stayed Portree

Day 5
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Kylerhea Rotating Ferry (totally bonkers, but great fun way to get from Skye to the mainland)
Dun Telve Broch (awesome, well-preserved 2500 year old broch)
Eilean Donan Castle (my favourite castle)
Plockton (beautiful, palm-tree lined village with gorgeous views of the nearby bay)
The Old Man of Storr hike (Fabulous hike up to the famous Old Man)
Stayed at Portree

Day 6
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Leave Portree for Home
The Hermitage (wonderful woodland walkway with giant trees, quirky follies, and a lovely waterfall)
Falkland (a quick stop for the Outlander buffs)
Dropped off at Midhope Castle (an incredible place to stay for the Outlander buffs)

Phew, that was a lot, but it was a simply wonderful trip with great weather, great scenery, and great company.

If this kind of trip is the sort of thing for you, please get in touch and I'll see what I can arrange.

28/05/2026

That’s us just back from another fantastic adventure up north, and like the previous one, this was also blessed with some beautiful warm and sunny weather. Our intrepid travellers this time were Rachel and her 4 fellow engineers, who are currently over in Scotland from Wisconsin for their friends’ wedding, and who wanted to see a bit of the Scottish Highlands while they were over.

As it’s such a great day trip, the tour was very similar to the one I took last month, but as always, we added on a few wee gems here and there to ensure that each tour is unique and interesting. The day started at early o’clock in Edinburgh (actually much earlier o’clock for me), and we first headed across the Queensferry Crossing for a brief look at the historic village of Culross and its beautiful palace, old houses, and cobbled streets. Then after the now ubiquitous stop at the fab Mhor Bread pie and pastry shop in Callander to we headed north to Glencoe and beyond, stopping off at the gorgeous Lochan na h-Achlaise along the way. After a short deerless but very scenic stop at the Kingshouse Hotel, we headed into Glencoe itself for a short hike along the old drovers’ trail to the absolutely awesome viewpoint at Ralston’s Cairn, with its mind-blowing views of the Three Sisters mountains and the west of the glen.

On the road again, we had a short stop at the fab Clachaig Inn before heading into Glencoe village itself to see the monument to those who died in the Massacre of Glencoe inn 1692. Heading south, we briefly said hello to Castle Stalker, before arriving in Oban where we visited the deservedly famous Seafood Hut and tucked in to some yummy oysters, mussels, crab, prawns, squid, and oodles of other tasty sea-dwellers. Heading homeward now (but not without numerous stops and detours), we popped in to see the lovely gothic St Conan’s Kirk and then drove south along the now quiet roads singing along to Lynnard Skynnard and other classic rock tracks.

After a shortish food stop back in Callander, we detoured round to Falkirk to visit the iconic Kelpies, where tradition dictates that we feed them, which we duly did (to be fair it’s not actually a tradition, but is one I’m hoping to establish). The last leg of the trip saw us detour through South Queensferry to watch a beautiful sunset over the 3 stunning Forth Bridges, before finally completing the short stretch back to Edinburgh. In all it was a great day out with great weather, great scenery, and great company.

If this kind of trip is the sort of thing for you, please get in touch and I'll see what I can arrange.

29/04/2026

We had another fantastic (and long) tour yesterday, and the weather was beautiful and warm. After a very early start, we stopped for breakfast at the yummy Mhor Bread bakery in Callander, before heading north through Rannoch Moor to the Kingshouse Hotel. Unfortunately the deer weren't there this time, but we did get great views of the magnificent Glencoe mountains. From there we headed most of the way down Glen Etive to enjoy the awesome scenery, and to scramble along the rocks and rock pools along the River Etive (oh, and to take the compulsory "Skyfall" photo at the famous James Bond movie spot). Next stop was a short hike along then old drovers trail in Glencoe to the gorgeous viewpoint at the Ralston Cairn, overlooking the Three Sisters mountains and the west of the glen. After a quick detour to the Clachaig Inn, and a short stop at St John's Church in Ballachulish to see the bluebells (which weren't there), our next stop was a nice walk along the shore to see Castle Stalker, an old 15th century castle built on a small island near the shore, and made famous from the final scenes of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. If all that wasn't enough for the one day, we next popped in to see the awesome and somewhat unique St Conan's Kirk, and then hiked out to the ruins of 15th century Kilchurn Castle before heading over to Tyndrum for some splendid fish and chips (and burgers) at the Real Food Cafe. Back on the road again we tried to visit the Falls of Falloch, but sadly the access road was closed. But we did manage to finish the day on a high note with a short hike down to the bottom of the Devil's Pulpit in Finnich Glen, a deep, steep, and eerily otherworldly place made famous as the Liar's Spring in the TV series, Outlander. By now it was starting to get quite late, so we headed back to Edinburgh, but not before a quick detour to South Queensferry to see the 3 Forth Bridges in all their magnificent splendour.

If this kind of trip is the sort of thing for you, please get in touch and I'll see what I can arrange

Paul

05/03/2026

Hello and welcome back to Paul & Eileen's Scottish Tours. It's been a while since we last posted (or toured), but I'm happy to say that we're now back in business and looking forward to what promises to be a fantastic 2026 season.

We're just back from our first tour of the new year with Kirsty, Olivia, and Benjamin and I thought I'd share some of our photos with you. While the tour was fairly short, we did manage to visit Glencoe, Eilean Donan Castle, Portree, Mealt Falls, The Quiraing, Plockton, Fort Augustus, Oban, St Conan's Kirk, and a few more stops along the way. And as you can see, the weather was very kind too (well mostly).

So if you're interested in joining us on a wee adventure in the wonderful wilds of Scotland, or want a bit of help crafting your own adventure, please drop us an email or send us a message and we'd be delighted to help in any way we can.

Slainte 🥃

05/03/2026