Edinburgh, the Highlands and Islands Reviews

Loved the train travel, better than on long bus trips all the time. Our tour director took excellent care of us and was very attentive. Hotel in Fort Wiliam a bit average and out of town so couldn't walk to any shops. The itinerary was excellent but thought should have included a visit to the Battle of Cullodenen. A challenge with gluten free diet at ...read more Fort William. Such great scenery.

On the whole the trip was good, as a solo traveller I found sometimes I wasn't treated the same as a couple. The train Glasgow to Fort William I had a very small window and I was very upset as I felt I was in cattle class and treated as a second class citizen.

The accommodation. Apex Waterloo my room was nice. My window was facing an alleyway which ...read more probably couldn't be helped. Isles of Glencoe hotel was nice, the view from my window was not the nice view of the Loch only of a kids playground. Palace Hotel Inverness, well my room was very small with a single bed and not much room for my suitcase. The shower screen fell off the first time I used it (they did fix it) even though I paid extra single supplement. I thought this room was 3 star? Also I was facing the alleyway again, no nice view. At the Radisson Blue I had a lovely room but again facing the alleyway. I didn't have one nice view.

Otherwise the trip was good, Margaret was very nice and tried to keep everyone happy. The meals were all good. I thought a little more history would have been good. I felt as a sole person I wasn't given the same consideration with seating on the train and views from windows in rooms as couples.

On our first night there was a little confusion in that we were on a Great Rail Journeys tour rather than with Travelmarvel. That was soon sorted and we could not fault the organisation, even with a cancellation due to the weather. The alternative in that case was well received.

The highlight of the tour was the Scottish Dinner on the last night ...read more with piper, dancer and an excellent meal with the whole tour group really enjoying themselves. If you want to see autumn colours then this trip was a week too early as only a few trees had started to change. There was a good mix of nationalities which helped the cohesion of the group.

A few negatives. There was more coach travel than we expected and the coaches never seemed to have enough fresh air coming in even after we asked for the flow to be increased. Some of the coach sections would have been improved by playing of familiar Scottish tunes/songs to entertain the passengers.

This was a well organised trip through the Scottish Highlands commencing and finishing in Edinburgh. The departure date was 24 June and the weather was absolutely perfect all the way through. The highlands are absolutely amazing!

Highlights of the trip were travelling on the Jacobite Train from Fort William to Mallaig, meeting the Chief of the ...read more Clan McLeod at Duart Castle, eating haggis which I was very reluctant to do at first, and generally travelling by train through the most beautiful countryside in the UK. Although the group was large, we met some fabulous people and all cooperated with the guide's instructions. Grant our guide was very informative, but could have benefited from a head microphone.

It was great that all our luggage was taken care of each stop. Just left the bags outside our room in the hotel and it was collected and was waiting for us in our room at the next hotel.

Overall we enjoyed this tour. The weather was mixed but to be expected in early June. The hotels were very good and having back to back three night stays was great. Very good tour leader who helped us out by arranging for a personal item that my wife left behind to be forwarded to our post tour hotel. Whilst the trip from Glasgow to Fort William passed ...read more some beautiful scenery the conditions in our carriage were not great - seemed to be quite old and uncomfortable and no trolley service (this was the norm on all the Scotrail train services).

Included meals were all excellent. Post dinner entertainment again was mixed - loved the entertainment at the Isle of Glencoe but felt a bit uncomfortable with some of the comments by the piper at the farewell dinner and his request for us to email a copy of the photo we had taken of one of the younger female members in our group trying to blow a bag pipe. Pleasant surprise was the fact that for most of the hotel to hotel transfers, our bags were taken care of and we did not need to carry them much at all - it was designated as a non porterage tour and we expected to be pulling them ourselves. Castle visits were great but thought the Loch Ness cruise was disappointing - it was really just a shuttle service to Urquhart Castle.