Majestic Skye Adventure: Scenic Isles, Lochs, Castles and Whisky Tastings
5.0
7 Ratings
Scottish Highlands
Embark on a majestic adventure through the scenic isles, lochs, castles, and whisky tastings of Skye. Explore the beautiful Sleat Peninsula, visit Eilean Donan Castle, and enjoy breathtaking views of Knoydart and Loch Nevis.
Duration: 10 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Loch Ness - Travelling the Great Glen alongside Loch Ness
  • Invermoriston - The translation of the River Moriston from its Gaelic roots into English as River of the waterfalls is a big clue that it might be worth stopping off here. Fortunately most people don’t speak Gaelic and drive right by, ensuring this beauty spot remains relatively quiet by local standards. The burn here tumbles haphazardly across bands of rock in a determined effort to reach nearby Loch Ness. These aren’t the highest waterfalls in the region by any means, but they’re a pleasant place for a short wander. Even the local Highland cows are friendly!
  • Five Sisters of Kintail - The hills to the north-east of Glen Shiel are known as the Five Sisters Of Kintail and form a high ridge some 5 miles long rising steeply from Glen Shiel to a maximum height of 3,501 feet. According to legend, the five sisters are the oldest of seven sisters, as the youngest two sisters fell in love with two Irish princes who washed ashore during a storm. Their father would only allow them to marry once the older sisters has also been married, and so the princes agreed to send their other five brothers once they had returned to Ireland with their new wives. Although the princes failed to appear, the five sisters continued to wait, eventually turning into mountains to extend their vigil into eternity.
  • Eilean Donan Castle - Eilean Donan is recognised as one of the most iconic images of Scotland. Situated on an island at the point where three great sea lochs meet, and surrounded by some majestic scenery.
    Although first inhabited around the 6th century, the first fortified castle was built in the mid 13th century and stood guard over the lands of Kintail. Since then, at least four different versions of the castle have been built and re-built as the feudal history of Scotland unfolded through the centuries.
    Partially destroyed in a Jacobite uprising in 1719, Eilean Donan lay in ruins for the best part of 200 years until Lieutenant Colonel John MacRae-Gilstrap bought the island in 1911 and proceeded to restore the castle to its former glory. After 20 years of toil and labour the castle was re-opened in 1932.

There are four generations of the MacRae family past, present and future who are still the Constables of Eilean Donan Castle today.

  • Skye Bridge - The Isle of Skye is connected to the mainland by a road bridge. Connecting the mainland village of Kyle of Lochalsh to the village of Kyleakin on Skye.
    Since December 2004 the bridge has been free to cross for all, but it was not always this way. When the bridge first opened in 1995 there was an expensive toll charging both ways to cross.
  • Armadale Castle, Gardens & Museum of the Isles - Armadale Castle, Gardens & Museum of the Isles sits at the heart of a 20,000-acre working Highland estate. The estate is owned and managed by a Scottish charitable trust dedicated to promoting and preserving it for future generations.
    Armadale Castle was once the seat of the Macdonalds of Sleat, part of the mighty Clan Donald. Now a ruin, it sits in a dramatic position overlooking the Sound of Sleat and surrounded by 40 acres of magnificent woodland gardens.

The ruined Castle is currently unstable so is fenced off for your safety – but you can still can still enjoy magnificent views framed by the romantic ruin. We are working on plans to stabilise the structure to enable full access.

The Castle ruins date from the early and mid-19th century. Adjoining the ruin is part of the original late 18th-century mansion house.

  • Isle of Oransay - The name ‘Eilean Iarmain’ is Gaelic for ‘Isle Ornsay’ and means ‘Ebb island or tidal island’. The lighthouse, the island and the hotel all share the name. Designed by David Stevenson the lighthouse was built in 1857 and is actually on a separate island. It was owned for a time by Gavin Maxwell.

More accessible, the pretty and utterly genuine Eilean Iarmain hotel was built in the early 1800s. With delightful views over the tidal island ‘Isle Ornsay’ to Knoydart, it is surrounded by converted stables buildings, steadings and stone built piers.

  • Sabhal Mòr Ostaig - Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is the National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture. Based in Sleat, Isle of Skye, we are the only centre of Higher and Further Education in the world that provides its learning programmes entirely through the medium of Gaelic in an immersed, language-rich environment.
  • Aird Old Church Gallery - The gallery is situated at the end of a single track road with breathtaking views across the Sound of Sleat to Ardnamurchan Point and the islands of Eigg and Rùm…
    Aird Old Church Gallery boasts a wide range of original watercolours and prints, each created by Peter McDermott.
    Peter’s original watercolours provide dramatic interpretations of the Scottish landscape, each telling a story about the Highland landscape and weather. We also have a large selection of limited edition Giclée prints taken from original watercolours.
  • Skye Ferry - Travel across the sea from Skye on the last turntable ferry in Scotland.

The Glenelg Ferry crosses the Kylerhea Narrows at the original crossing point between Skye and the Mainland.

The scenery is stunning, the wildlife entrancing (seals, otters, sea eagles, seabirds of all kinds), and we can stop off at the Lighthouse for coffee, biscuits and souvenirs of your journey.

What's Included
  • Private transportation
  • Complimentary bottled water
  • Assorted snacks included
  • Climate-controlled vehicle
What's Not Included
  • Eilean Donan Castle; Adult £11.00, Child £6.50 (under 5 free), Family £32.00
  • Armadale castle & Gardens; Adult £13.00, Child £7 (under 5 free), Family £35.00
Additional Information

Our excursion to Skye involves traversing through several awe-inspiring sceneries. We move along the Great Glen adjacent to Loch Ness, taking a northwest turn at Invermoriston, bypassing the Five Sisters of Kintail and then journeying down through the locale of The Battle of Glen Shiel towards Loch Duich. Here, we enjoy our initial view of the west coast. \n We carve out time for sightseeing at Eilean Donan Castle prior to crossing over the Skye Bridge. On Skye, we spend time sequestered from bustling crowds, wandering the captivating Sleat Peninsula known as ‘The Garden of Skye’. While at Isle Ornsay, we afford the leisure to discover the unique Gaelic craft and whisky shops, and gallery — we may revisit this place later for whisky sampling too! \n Proceeding southward, we come to Armadale Castle & Gardens, followed by the southernmost end of Skye, taking the most picturesque route on the island. The vistas overlooking Knoydart, Loch Nevis and The Isles of Eigg & Rhum are simply mesmerizing. If permitted, our return to mainland could be via the Glenelg ferry on the way back to Inverness.

  • Travel and transportation through our beautiful scenery is included in the total time duration of this tour
  • This tour is not available for cruise ship passengers at Invergordon Cruise Port
Location
Loch Ness
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(7 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
J7513vkmargarets
May 23, 2024
Seeing Scotland with a true fan is the best - There is nothing more enjoyable than visiting any place than with someone who truly loves to share where he truly loves to be. Bill Grant is a terrific tour guide: knowledgeable, kind, passionate about Scotland sites and history. He especially wants you to know and love it as he does. We do, Bill, we do! Thanks for stepping in and taking on our tour and treating us to a memorable day!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dan_l
Sep 25, 2023
A wonderful life altering experience. - This is a superb recommendation of Over the Sea to (Secrete) Skye tour. We spent 8 plus hours with Bill Grant, the owner and guide of this tour. Pros: -Excellent private tour. He drove and led my wife and I around Isle of Skye as well as other areas over an 8 hour period. -Knowledge of the history of Scotland was outstanding. Not only did we learn about the different landmarks of Isle of Skye, but we got to know much about the history of Scotland as it related to the different aspects of the Highlands and to each landmark. More importantly, Bill has a way with presenting such things in a fascinating way to keep one's attention. He also adjusted the level of discussion and topics of discussion to hold interest for both me and my wife. My wife had interests that were different from mine, and so Bill made the subtle adjustments in paying attention to each of our interests and made sure to devote time to each of our interests and questions. And did we have a lot of questions!!! Bill rattled off responses with intentional and thoughtfulness providing good content. - He is flexible. The tour starts in Inverness, and he guides the clients along the drive from Inverness into Isle of Skye. However, we were staying in Morvich, much further south. Bill drove all the way to our remote airbnb residence and started the tour from where we were staying. He rearranged the itinerary to fit our location. He also had to adjust for the weather because we had weather ranging from occasional sprinkles to drizzle to sheets of rain to open sunny skies. In all of these climate changes, Bill showed how the Highlands offered different beauties in each situation. It was surreal in a wonderful way. - We also had a flat tire on our car rental, and we asked Bill to drop by the grocery store at the end of the tour, so we could get some food to cook for dinner. He knew just the place to go to, and we got the supplies we needed. -Because of Bill we received an in-depth understanding of Scotland and exposure to the wondrous beauties of the Highlands. HIs command of the facts and making them fascinating kept us wanting to know more and see more as the tour progressed. -In addition, we also learned about contemporary Scottish culture as we discussed rugby, golf, current government structure, food, celebration of holidays, the language, and more. -We saw many of the popular landmarks, but then we also toured at out of the way areas where we stopped at a pub where I had a beer. Bill does not drink while driving, so he was fine with a glass of water. His goal was to have us have a bit of experience at a local pub, and it was fun. By the end of the day, I wanted to move to the Highlands myself. It is a truly special place. It's God's country, and Bill helped showed us this. He also was more than helpful in taking photos of my wife and I, and he took good ones! I unequivocally recommend Bill for private tours with the highest of recommendations. We have already added plans to bring our adult kids here to tour with him, but we know now to add other aspects of the Highlands. Bill has a few other tours that he does with Inverness and other areas of the Highlands. Cons: -I did not know that the Highlands was such a special place, and I would have arranged for at least a 2-day or 3-day tour of the Highlands with Bill. There is is so much to see. -The other con is that Bill made me realize how awful other tours I have had. He has set the bar very high now, and it will be difficult for us to find other private tours with quality and experience on par with his tour.
Review provided by Viator
K4188lhemmad
Aug 5, 2023
THE BEST TOUR/TOUR GUIDE - This tour is AMAZING and so is Bill! He was so flexible and catered the tour to what my family wanted while also ensuring we saw the highlights of the highlands! Bill is proud of/passionate about Scotland and is very knowledgeable and kind!!! I cannot recommend Grant driving tours enough!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
17jcaleb
Aug 5, 2023
Awesome tour!!! - This tour was breathtaking! The guide was very personable and even more knowledgeable about the country of Scotland. Highly recommend using Grant driving tours. If we ever return to Scotland, we will certainly use them again!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
H3570urnicolav
Aug 3, 2023
Review - Isle of Skye and it’s secrets tour - Bill Grant is a consummate tour guide with a great passion for and deep appreciation of the Scottish Highlands’ heritage (past and current), culture and natural environment. He demonstrated all of this and then some (!) when he recently led our group tour of Skye (and it’s secrets). From wonderful storytelling to expert coordination/navigation that takes account your personal needs, I’m certain that you”ll have no regrets in outsourcing your touring experience to Bill.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Williamda7049th
Aug 2, 2023
Money well spent - We used this service on two separate occasions while in Scotland. The first was to the Isle of Skye. What an incredible experience! The driver arrived on time, was extremely courteous and very informative. We stopped frequently for photos and even took some detours to lesser known areas at our request. I could not imagine a better experience. We will definitely use this service again. I highly recommend Mr. Grant. You will not regret it!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Drnflipit
Aug 2, 2023
Breathtaking Views, Amazing Food, and Lifelong Memories! - I genuinely cannot say enough good things about Bill and this amazing tour! Bill, as well as one of his partners, took our family of 8 on the Isle of Sky Tour. The whole day feels nothing short of a fever dream! During the tour, we got to see some of the most beautiful landscape and views I have ever seen. In addition, we got the opportunity to try some amazing food and even some authentic Scottish Whiskey! All of these experiences were only enhanced by Bill's seemingly endless stream of knowledge and plethora of amazing facts about the history and significance of what we got to see! Bill somehow also managed to inquire about our own lives and interests, making sure there was never a dull moment between each destination on Skye! He continually went out of his way to make sure that we were enjoying the tour and was extremely flexible, willing to change destinations where possible to custom fit the tour to our liking! The Isle of Skye tour is one that I will NEVER forget and always cherish, largely because of Bill! I cannot say enough good things about this tour or Bill!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Select Date and Tickets
up to 7 guests
1
Traveler
June 2024
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Today