| Scottish Dream Tours Presents A Scotland Autumn Spectacular featuring Festivals, Haunts, Spooks and Ghosts October 23rd - November 3rd, 2012 Small group tour limited to 12 people with Edinburgh and Edinburgh Castle, Mary King's Close, Perth and Huntingtower Castle, Pitlochry, Perthshire Amber Festival, Pitlochry Autumn Festival, Blair Castle, Queens View, Distillery Tour, Glamis Castle, Arbroath Abbey, Claypotts Castle, Falkland Palace, St. Andrews Castle and Cathedral, Melrose Abbey, Dryburgh Abbey, Glasgow, Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis, Glasgow Haunted City Tour and more! Small intimate tour of Edinburgh, Pitlochry, St. Andrews, Angus, Glasgow and Peebles . This tour is designed to accommodate only 10-12 people for a more personal experience and to allow you to get the most of your Scottish holiday. Keeping the tour size small gives us the opportunity to veer from the beaten track and to take advantage of accommodations, restaurants and sightseeing venues that would not be available to larger groups. We will stay in delightful city and country bed and breakfast accommodations and travel by minibus. Our goal is to show you the real Scots people and some of the wonderful sights to be seen all over this beautiful country. You will not be rushed from venue to venue and we spend as little time on the bus as possible. Tour includes all accommodation, full Scottish breakfast each morning. All lunches and dinners as listed in itinerary. Minibus travel including tour guide. Knowledgeable guide for all tourist venues. All sightseeing as indicated in itinerary including any entrance fees. All taxes and service charges. $4195US per person, double occupancy. $695US supplement per person single occupancy. $500 per person deposit to reserve your spot. |
| Day 1 - October 23rd, 2012 - Arrive Edinburgh. Time to get checked into your accommodation before taking some time to investigate Scotland's Capitol City aboard an Open Top Tour Bus with hop off and on service all around the city. Following the tour we will stop for Tea before some free time to take in the sights and sounds of the Royal Mile. Tonight we are out to a Welcoming Dinner in the city. After dinner Witchery Tour for anyone who would like to join us. Overnight Edinburgh. (L,D) Day 2 - Our day starts out with a Tour of Edinburgh Castle. The Castle is home to Scotland's Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny which was the coronation stone used in crowning the royalty of Scotland. Afternoon Tea at Bentley's in Juniper Green before some free time for shopping and some sightseeing. You may want to visit St. Giles Cathedral or the Palace of the Holyrood House were Mary Queen of Scots, Lord Darnley and Mary's private secretary are said to haunt this building. Dinner on your own before a Tour of Mary Kings Close, a part of deeply haunted and forgotten Edinburgh hidden beneath the city. After our tour we will meet in Greyfriars Kirk Graveyard home to the poltergeist "Bloody MacKenzie". Overnight Edinburgh. (B,L) Day 3 - Our first outing of the day will take us to Falkland Palace. The Royal Palace of Falkland was the country residence of Stuart Kings and Queens when they hunted deer and wild boar in the Fife forest. The grounds host the Oldest Tennis Court in the world. Mary Queen of Scots spent some of the happiest days of her tragic life here. . Lunch at Kind Kyttock's Tearoom in Falkland. Next we take in the remains of one of the largest cathedrals in Scotland, St. Andrew's Cathedral. We will also see St. Andrews Castle before exploring Scotland's Center for Golf. Dinner at the 500 year old Dreel Tavern followed by a pub hop for anyone interested. Overnight in Anstruther in a house haunted by the ship captain who built it. (B,L,D) Day 4 - We journey north today and take in what is believed to be the most haunted castle in Britain, Glamis Castle. The Castle is best known for it's connection with Shakespeare's Macbeth and also for being the childhood home of the late Queen Mother. This afternoon we visit Arbroath Abbey, a Tironesian monastery where the Declaration of Arbroath was signed which asserted Scotland's independence from England. Our last stop of the day is Claypotts Castle which is another of Scotland's many haunted castles. The castle is said to be haunted by a "White Lady" who is reputed to be the ghost of Marion Ogilvie, the mistress of Cardinal Beaton who was murdered in St Andrews. Following dinner we will join a Twisted Tales of St. Andrews Tour. Dinner and Overnight Anstruther. (B,D) Day 5, 6 and 7 - We will be in Pitlochry for 3 days during the Autumn Festival and the Perthshire Amble Festival. The festivals are complete with Ghost Tours, the Enchanted Forrest, Street performers, Story Telling and one of Scotland's own national treasures, Dougie Maclean. Dougie is one of Scotland's most successful, respected and popular musicians. Singer- Songwriter, Composer and 'magical' Performer, he is also a fine guitarist and fiddle player. We will not have the exact schedule until later in 2012 but the schedule is always full of wonderful things to do! Day 5 - This morning we make our way to the Highlands on the way to Perth and Scone Palace, the home of the Earls of Mansfield. Once the crowning place of Scottish Kings, Scone Palace occupies a unique position in Scotland's history. A breathtakingly beautiful place of power and mystery and the rightful home of the celebrated Stone of Scone, Scone Palace is regarded as a national treasure and is revered as the historic jewel in Scotland's crown. You will want to visit the Grounds and Gardens as well. This afternoon we visit Dunkeld Cathedral tranquilly residing on the banks of the River Tay. The church in Dunkeld has been around for over 1400 years – dating from the time when Celtic monks set up a base for mission where the River Braan joins the River Tay. Dinner and Overnight Pitlochry. (B,D) Day 6 - This morning we will have a little time to enjoy one of Highland's loveliest villages, Pitlochry. Queen Victoria was very taken with it and we will visit the Queen's View while here. The sight was popularized by Queen Victoria and is one of the most spectacular places in all of Scotland. We will Stop for Lunch before a visit to Castle Menzies, a spectacular sixteenth century castle, seat of the Chiefs of Clan Menzies for over 400 years and importantly situated, it was involved in the turbulent history of the Highlands and here Bonnie Prince Charlie rested on his way to Culloden in 1746. This evening we will take in more of the festival activities after you have found some dinner on your own. Overnight Pitlochry. (B,L) Day 7 - This morning we head north to Blair and visit Blair Castle. Bonnie Prince Charlie spent 2 days here in this over 700 year old rambling, turreted castle with over 32 rooms open to the public. With its roots in the 13th century, Blair Castle’s history extends over some 740 years, during which time it has welcomed countless generations of visitors. At the gateway to the Grampian Mountains on the route north to Inverness, the location was highly strategic. We are then back to Pitlochry for Afternoon Tea before we visit a local distillery for a wee dram and a tour. A nice drop of whisky always takes off the chill that a crisp autumn day in the Highlands can produce. Dinner and Overnight Pitlochry. (B,L.D) Day 8 - Happy Halloween! Today we are off to Scotland's largest city, Glasgow, where we take in Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis, a remarkable and extensive burial grounds and believed to be the most haunted area of the city. The Cathedral is one of the only complete cathedral's in Scotland having escaped the reformation. The crypt is the burial place of St. Mungo and has a haunted past of it's own. Following Dinner at the Cathedral House Hotel we will join a Glasgow Haunted City Tour culminating in Glasgow's City of the Dead Cemetery. Cathedral House is one of the most haunted buildings in Glasgow. Dinner and Overnight Glasgow. (B,D) Day 9 - After a leisurely full Scottish breakfast you will tour the city aboard an Open Top Tour Bus complete with tour guide. Highlights of the tour will be Glasgow's amazing architecture, University of Glasgow, George Square and The Glasgow Cathedral. Afternoon Tea at Bradford's Tearoom Sauchiehall Street, then you will be allowed some free time for shopping and to take in the sites of one of the United Kingdoms finest cities of Architecture. Overnight Glasgow. (B,L) Day 10 - Today we head to the Borders area and to Traquair House just outside of Peebles. Traquair House is where the Lady Louisa has been observed drifting around the grounds of the building. They say that Bonny Prince Charlie sometimes returns back to the castle. Dating back to 1107, Traquair was originally a hunting lodge for the Kings and Queens of Scotland. Later a refuge for Catholic priests in times of terror the Stuarts of Traquair supported Mary Queen of Scots and the Jacobite Cause without counting the cost. Then to Peebles where you will have some time to explore this delightful market town before dinner. This evening we have a private guided Ghost Tour of Old Peebles ending at the Cross Keys Hotel built in 1693 and the most haunted in Peebles. Dinner and Overnight Peebles. (B,L,D) Day 11 - As we are in Abbey Country we will take in a couple of the Borders Abbeys including Melrose, probably Scotland's most well know ruin. King Robert the Bruce's heart is buried in the abbey courtyard. Next is Dryburgh Abbey, which enjoys a mystical setting on the River Tweed. Sir Walter Scott is interned here. Our last visit of the day will be to Jedburgh Abbey. The Abbey was founded, initially as a priory, by King David I in 1138. His intention was partly to demonstrate to the English that the Scots could build on a grand scale so close to the oft disputed border between the two countries. In doing so he was tempting fate and the English: and both failed to resist the temptation many times over the following four centuries. Farewell Dinner in Peebles. Overnight Peebles. (B,D) Day 12 - Return to Edinburgh Airport for our journey home.(B) |
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