Essential Scotland.

Welcome to Edinburgh, Scotland's historic capital!

This afternoon, please arrive at the hotel in Edinburgh before 1pm to be on time to join us on the first stop of our exciting week - a visit to the Royal Yacht Britannia! For over 40 years, Britannia was Her Majesty The Queen’s floating palace. Follow in the footsteps of royalty to discover the heart and soul of this most special of Royal residences. Explore Britannia’s five decks with your included audio guide, visiting the elegant State Apartments to the gleaming Engine Room. See where Prince William and Prince Harry spent their summer holidays and discover where kings and queens, world leaders and celebrities were wined and dined; from Frank Sinatra and Liz Taylor to Nelson Mandela and Sir Winston Churchill.

We will return to the hotel where the rest of the evening is at leisure.

This morning, we depart after breakfast to discover Edinburgh's royal side. We head for a visit and guided tour of Edinburgh Castle. Perched high on an extinct volcano, it overlooks the city and part of the Old and New Towns' World Heritage Site. It was the scene of some of Scotland's most intriguing history and houses the Honours (Crown Jewels) of Scotland, the Stone of Destiny, the famous 15th century gun Mons Meg, the One O' Clock Gun and the National War Museum of Scotland.

From here we will head down the Royal Mile for a visit and tour of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the Monarchy in Scotland. We will explore the Palace's close associations with some of Scotland’s most well-known historic figures such as Mary, Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie.

After leaving Edinburgh we will drive into Perthshire, which will be our base for the next 3 nights. Dinner will be together this evening in the hotel.

Today, we will visit nearby Stirling, for a tour of its majestic castle. Stirling Castle is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. It sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill and has witnessed many significant moments in Scottish history. Once home to kings and queens, it has seen many baptisms, coronations and extravagant celebrations, but also imprisonment, murder and intrigue, some of which has only been discovered in recent decades.

We will then have some free time relaxing and browsing the shops and cafes of Stirling, the youngest city in Scotland - it only gained city rights in 2002 at the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Dinner will be together in the hotel this evening.

After breakfast, we head to visit and tour Scone Palace. The crowning place of Scottish kings, Macbeth, Robert the Bruce and Charles II were once crowned here. We will see where the Stone of Scone, known as the Stone of Destiny, once stood and which now resides in Edinburgh Castle. We can also admire the needlework skills of Mary, Queen of Scots' bedhangings that she worked on while in prison on Loch Leven. The Palace is also surrounded by beautiful gardens and woodlands.

After a lunch break, we will head back to our hotel but not before we stop to learn and taste one of Scotland's most well known exports - whisky. We'll enjoy a 'wee dram' at The Famous Grouse Experience. The Famous Grouse is Scotland's oldest working whisky distillery, established in 1775 and one of the most famous brands. Here, we will see how this single malt is produced and enjoy a tasting of their produce before a chance to purchase some as a souvenir. Afterwards, its back to the hotel where we will have dinner together this evening.

We will leave Perthshire this morning and depart for the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. Located in the Trossachs National Park, the loch is probably best known from the song, but its stunning highland scenery is its real selling point. On a 1-hour relaxing cruise whilst enjoying a cup of tea or coffee, we can admire the stunning setting.

We will make a lunch stop before continuing to Inverarary. Here we will have a visit and tour of Inverary Castle and Gardens, located on the shores of Loch Fyne. It is the ancestral home of the Duke of Argyll and features include the Armoury Hall, State Dining Room and Tapestry Drawing Room. The journey to our hotel will then take us through the famous village of Glencoe, and through some of the best scenery that Scotland has to offer, before dropping down into the Fort William area and our hotel. Dinner will be together in the hotel this evening.

After breakfast, we depart for Fort William. Located at the foot of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles, here we will board the Jacobite Steam train - aka the Hogwarts Express! - for a once in a lifetime railway journey!

Our 2-2.5 hour journey will take us through some of the Britain's most impressive scenery. We will cross the 21-arched Glenfinnan viaduct, a stunning location made famous around the world in the Harry Potter films, which overlooks the Jacobite monument.

A stop at Glenfinnan station will give you time to stretch your legs before weaving through the spectacular countryside and continuing to our final destination, the port of Mallaig. Here there will be time to get a spot of lunch before boarding our coach for the drive to Inverness, driving along the shores of Loch Ness - remember to look out for Nessie!

After time to freshen up, we will depart for an evening of Scottish entertaiment and a Scottish-themed dinner, before returning to our hotel with great memories of a thoroughly traditional Scottish day!

The morning is at leisure for you to relax in the hotel, before our late morning departure for the journey south back to Edinburgh.

On the way we will drive via Aviemore and the impressive Cairngorms National Park. We will make a stop at the picturesque town of Pitlochry, where there are plenty of quaint shops to wander around for those last minute gifts as well as bars and cafes. From here we will continue to our hotel in Edinburgh. For our last night we will enjoy a Farewell Dinner together.

Today we say a fond farewell to Scotland. Transfers have been arranged to Edinburgh Airport.