Guided Tours of Scotland

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Guided Tours of Scotland

Ask me for a no- obligation quote or itinerary proposal. Greg Kain.

I am a self-employed driver guide, with over 16 years experience of providing private multi-day road trips & day tours in Scotland for small groups, families, couples and solo travellers. Since 2009, I have built up Guided Tours of Scotland to become one of the best and most established private tour companies in Scotland. All tours are conducted personally which ensures that customer service levels are maintained to the highest standard.

25/06/2025

A few photos of last weekend's trip to St Kilda, via Harris / Lewis. The St Kilda archipelago is the most westerly in Scotland, way out in the Atlantic Ocean, 45 nautical miles from the nearest inhabited land. It has the most 'edge of the World' feel to it of anywhere I have ever been, and for many of the earliest settlers here, dating back at least 5,000 years, it would have been the edge of their known World. The St Kildans were a hardy bunch, living off fish, kelp, sea birds and their eggs, and not much else. It is said that the men developed talon like toes from climbing up and down the steep cliffs, the highest in the UK, whilst hunting for eggs. It is perhaps no surprise that the last inhabitants abandoned St Kilda, and their quite unique way of life, in 1930, leaving behind what can only be described as Scotland's 'lost' ancient civilisation. The islands are a double UNESCO World Heritage Site, the only one in Scotland and one of only 39 in the World. They are also home to endemic species of animals and birds, including the St Kilda Mouse, the St Kilda Wren and Soay Sheep, found nowhere else in the wild on Earth.

14/06/2025

Photos from my recent tour of Orkney, Caithness, Sutherland, Wester Ross, Skye, Loch Ness and the Cairngorms National Park. Orkney is an amazing destination in June, when there is an incredible luminescence during the 20 hours or so of daylight each day, not to mention the impressive array of architectural highlights, spanning several millennia, right across the whole archipelago. The journey to get to Orkney and back is not too shabby either! Heading south from the ferry at Scrabster, through the North West Highlands is my favourite part of the trip and it's always worth taking the time to explore the region's nooks and crannies en route.

02/06/2025

Photos from my recent Outer Hebrides and NW Highlands island hopping road trip. It's a magical part of the World at any time of year but especially so in the spring sunshine.

"Are you from the Isle of Lewis
Or is it the hills of Harris?
Are you from the North of Uist
Or is it the Isle of Skye?
Are you from the Isle of Barra, Eigg, Muck, Rhum or Canna?
Are you from the rocky waters of the Hebrides?
Oh, this is my island
Oh, this is my island
From the Port of Nis right through the Minch until the end of time
Oh, this is my island
Oh, this is my island
We feed the sheep and cut the peats until the day we die."

12/05/2025

A few photos from my recent tour of South West Ireland.

Dublin > Kildare > Cashel > Kinsale > Clonakilty > Skibbereen > Kenmare > Sneem > Derrynane > Portmagee > Valentina Island > St Finnian's Bay > Kenmare > Killarney National Park > Annascaul > Di**le > Slea Head > Murreagh > Brandon's Creek > Di**le > Limerick.

An amazing part of the World. Almost as nice as the West Coast of Scotland! 😉

30/04/2025

A Scot in Ireland: Part 3. The Rock of Cashel, aka St Patrick's Rock, is one of Ireland's most iconic historical sites. Legend has it that St Patrick was kidnapped from his home in the West of Scotland by Irish raiders in the 5th century, and taken back to the Emerald Isle as a slave. He was sold to a land owner in Connaught and put to work as a shepherd. After several years he was able to escape and make his way home, but once there a voice in his head called him back to Ireland to do God's work, converting pagans to Christianity. One such conversion was of Aenghus, King of Munster, in 450 AD. During the baptism, Patrick inadvertently stabbed Aenghus through the foot with the point of his crozier, and only realised what he had done when blood began to spurt everywhere. "Why did you not cry out with the pain" asked Patrick to a confused Aenghus, who replied that he thought being stabbed in the foot was part of the baptism!

Cashel is one of the many Irish words for a castle. If you don't believe me, try saying it in a Sean Connery voice! But there hasn't actually been a castle on St Patrick's Rock for nearly 1,000 years. In 1101 the King of Munster, Muirchertach Ua Briain, gifted the site to the church and it became the most important ecclesiastical centre in Ireland. It wasn't entirely an act of altruism as it kept him on a good footing with the church (see what I did there) and prevented his rivals from ever being able to attack Cashel and use the site for a fort.

Lying at the foot of St Patrick's Rock is H**e Abbey (no laughing at the back...). In 1270, Archbishop of Cashel David Mac Cerbaill, evicted the Benedictine monks, after he had a dream that they were going to kill him. He may not have been totally paranoid however as it was rumoured that he had been responsible for the murder of two visiting monks. The Cistercian monks who took their place at H**e must have had stiff necks from looking over their shoulders.

29/04/2025

A Scot in Ireland: Part 2. Colonel William Hill Walker, a descendant of Johnnie Walker, the founder of the famous whisky distillers in Kilmarnock, bought the Tully Estate in County Kildare at the end of the 19th century, and built the Tully stud farm. During his soldiering career, the colonel became interested in Eastern mysticism, Buddhism and astrology, and he applied these dogmas to choosing the foals that he would go on to train for racing, with great success. Between 1904 and 1914 he bred seven Classics winners, winning the Derby, 2000 Guineas, St Leger, Ascot Gold Cup, 1000 Guineas and the Oaks. Walker's interest in Buddhist philosophy also inspired him to commission a Japanese Garden to be built on the estate, the first of its kind in Europe. At the beginning of WW1 the British Government requisitioned the Tully Stud to provide horses for the war effort, this situation continued until 1945, when the military handed back the stud farm in a terrible state. With closure imminent, owing to the costs of repairing the farm, the Irish Government stepped in with a £3m investment, in today's money, to save the stud for the nation, and the Irish National Stud was born. Since 1946 the stud farm has produced hundreds of winners and breeding lines which span the globe.

17/02/2025

I still have some late availability this winter with 15% discount available for tours taken in February and 10% for tours in March. With the days getting longer it's the perfect time for a Scottish winter break. All of my tours since Autumn have been blessed with fantastic weather. Here's a few photos from those tours.

19/01/2025

If you've ever left a whisky bar feeling guilt, regret or shame about the amount of money you have just spent on the Uisge Beatha, then you might feel better about it after checking out this bar bill from Bertie's Bar in the Fife Arms Hotel, Braemar. For the avoidance of doubt this has nothing to do with me or any of my clients!

12/01/2025

After the festive season it was nice to get back in the saddle with a four day castles and whisky tour, through Stirlingshire, Glen Coe and Argyll. Despite sub-zero temperatures, the Michelin Cross Climate tyres on my van performed superbly on the snow and ice that we encountered, and we had plenty of beautiful winter sunshine. With three well established whisky distilleries, and another two in the pipeline, Campbeltown's second coming as a Mecca for whisky enthusiasts is well and truly under way. The superb whisky at Springbank and Glen Scotia, as well as Oban distillery en route, warmed up my clients, and the scenery in Mid-Argyll and on the Mull of Kintyre peninsula is not too shabby either!

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Opening Hours

Monday	09:00 - 20:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 20:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 20:00
Thursday	09:00 - 20:00
Friday	09:00 - 20:00
Saturday	09:00 - 20:00
Sunday	09:00 - 20:00

Telephone

+447791579573

Website

http://www.guidedtoursofscotland.com/

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Our Story

Since its conception in 2009, Guided Tours of Scotland has become one of the best established private tour companies in Scotland. I now operate an 8 passenger executive class minivan and I have added a luggage trailer for groups with a large amount of baggage /sports equipment . I conduct all tours personally which ensures that customer service levels are maintained to the highest standard and I provide tailor made itineraries from day trips from Edinburgh and Glasgow to multi-day road trip itineraries across Scotland, as well as England, Ireland and Wales. It gives me a great deal of job satisfaction to be touring with clients who have booked me twice, three times + and, as of 2019, six times! Begin a tour with me as a customer and leave as friend.

Greg Kain, November 2019.