About Us
My name is Shannon McDonald Tate and along with Mario Torres we have been conducting tours of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England for over 25 years. I am now in my 25th year and Mario in his 19th year with our own tour business proudly offering only our own hand crafted tour itineraries to our clients. We truly love showing off Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, Tuscany, Greece and now Andalucia Spain, Portugal, Southern France and Germany to others in hopes that they will love our favorite places as much as we do. We have worked hard to make sure that we continue to offer the same small group sizes that we started with. Our plan is to continue to offer small group tours with our own itineraries and led by ourselves personally for as long as we continue to do business. We can't think of a better way to visit the places that we love so much and enjoy going back to again and again. By designing, arranging and conducting each tour personally we know that you are going to get the best experience available and we are responsible for that from start to finish.
Although I was born in the States, I have long been proud of my Scottish, Irish and Welsh ancestry, but I had no idea how truly Scottish we were raised until I started spending so much time in Scotland. My grandfather's name was Angus McDonald and what I thought was always a peculiarity about my grandfather proved to be his many Scottish habits, customs and way of speaking. After spending so much time in Scotland, Ireland and Wales it only seemed natural to eventually start offering tours to our homeland. People often ask me about the nature of tea and tearooms within our tours. We enjoyed afternoon tea each day when we returned home from school and this love eventually resulted in us owning and operating a Wee Scottish Tearoom for several years. As tea is so much a part of life in Scotland is was only logical to include it as part of our meals with our tours. I now spend more time living in Scotland than anywhere else and have for the past several years.
The McDonald family hails from the Isle of Skye and my father's family, the Tates, came from the little burgh of Kelso in the Scottish Borders. My great grandmother Mary Mahoney was born and raised in County Cork, Ireland and our Jones heritage comes from North Wales. There are many parts of England that we have come to love as well and we offer these places in tours as we are able. We are so excited to be able to share our love of these countries with others as they were meant to be seen. In a small group with lots of time to explore and staying in small cozy accommodations and partaking of meals in lovely little eateries. When Mario Torres joined Scottish Dream Tours 17 years ago, we started to offer tours to Italy to take in Mario's ancestry as well. In 2024 we will be offering a tour to the Andalucia Area of Spain to reflect more of Mario's ancestry. We have recently added tours to Greece, South France, New Zealand, Switzerland and a Germany Christmas Tour. We have covered several thousands of miles across the British Isles and Ireland other parts of Europe and can think of no better way to make a living than to share our love of these countries with others.
Our scheduled tours are small intimate tours limited to 8 -12 people in order to provide a more personal experience. Keeping the number lower allows us to take advantage of many accommodations, eateries and sightseeing venues that would not be available to larger groups. It also allows us to veer off of the beaten path and get a true feel of the country and its inhabitants. As a British Tourist Authority Destination Specialists, we can make your United Kingdom adventure a once in a lifetime holiday no matter the location. Our connection with The National Tourist Office for Scotland as a Preferred ScotsMaster and ScotsAgents gives us the insight to help you have the best Scottish holiday possible. We are also members of The Shamrock Club as Preferred Agent Ireland Specialists through Tourism Ireland and Wales Destination Specialists through the Wales Tourist Board. We are also members of the Specialty Travel Agents Association and American Society of Travel Advisors. I also hold a Masterclass Certification in the History and Etiquette of Afternoon Tea.
Shannon McDonald Tate
Mario M Torres
Scottish Dream Tours