The castle by morning, the vaults by night, Glencoe by the weekend.
Which Loch Ness day leaves time to stand at the water. Whether the vaults tour frightens anyone or is mostly cold stone. What the Jacobite steam train costs and how early it goes. Reviews of the tours you can book from Edinburgh.
Loch Ness, the Half Moon Battery, South Bridge vaults, the Cuillin.
Four bookings most Edinburgh trips are planned around: one long Highland day, the castle with a guide, an hour under the Old Town, and three nights out on Skye.
01Twelve hours, three glensLoch Ness, Glencoe & the Scottish Highlands TourGlencoe, Loch Ness and a stop to meet the Highland cattle, back over the Forth by nightfall. The most-booked day out of the city.
02The castle, explainedEdinburgh Castle: Guided Walking Tour with Entry TicketA guide walks you past the queue and up to the Crown Room and the One O’Clock Gun. Entry ticket included.
03After darkHaunted Vaults and Graveyard Walking Tour in EdinburghDown into the chambers under South Bridge, then out to a walled kirkyard. An hour that books out on Festival nights.
04Three nights away3-Day Isle of Skye and The Highlands TourGlencoe on the way, Eilean Donan at the crossing, two nights on Skye. The trip that takes the train-and-car problem off your hands.
Loch Ness in a day, or Skye over three. Choosing your Highland trip from Edinburgh.
Every Highland tour leaves from the Old Town and crosses the Forth before breakfast. The real choice is how far you go and how many nights you give it.
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · Loch Ness, Glencoe & Scottish Highlands Tour · from $61
Loch Ness in one long dayAbout twelve hours, Glencoe on the way up, an optional boat on the loch.
Glencoe and Rannoch MoorThe glen with the Three Sisters, often paired with Loch Ness.
The Glenfinnan ViaductTwenty-one arches, the Jacobite steam train and Fort William.
Skye over three daysThe Storr, the Quiraing and Eilean Donan, with beds booked for you.
Loch Lomond, closer inThe Trossachs and Stirling for a shorter day.
All 137 Highland tours from Edinburgh →
The South Bridge vaults, Greyfriars Kirkyard and the closes off the Royal Mile.
Edinburgh built a city on top of a city, and the lower one is still down there. Book a vaults tour for the stone chambers, a graveyard walk for the Covenanters, or the Harry Potter trail for the cafes and headstones that turned up in the books.
The days out of Edinburgh that most travellers book.
Every tour from Edinburgh →Highland coaches, the castle, the vaults: the ones that fill first, and what each one gets right.
1
Loch Ness, Glencoe & Scottish Highlands Tour
Spend a full day on the road from Edinburgh to Glencoe, Loch Ness and Pitlochry, with a live English-speaking guide, regular stops and big Highland views. Choose your coach option at booking: Loch Ness cruise, Deanston Distillery, or a shorter cruise with Urquhart Castle. Bring lunch, and expect plenty of time on the bus.
From · $61
Read our review →
2
The World Famous Underground Ghost Tour
from $26
3
Underground Vaults Walking Tour in Edinburgh Old Town
from $33
4
Loch Ness & Highlands Small-Group Tour from Edinburgh with Cruise
from $84
5
Edinburgh Castle Guided Walking Tour in English
from $52
6
Glenfinnan Viaduct, Glencoe & Fort William
from $62
7
The Chocolatarium Chocolate Tour Experience in Edinburgh
from $44
8
Original Harry Potter Locations Tour in Edinburgh : Guided Tour
from $19
Fife fishing harbours, Stirling’s rock, the Kelpies, Rosslyn’s carved pillars.
Not every good day out of Edinburgh needs twelve hours on a coach. Six within ninety minutes of Waverley, each one back in time for dinner.
Four Edinburgh bookings that will not wait for you to land.
Most of the city can be arranged over breakfast. These four run on timed entry, a single steam train and a short supply of beds, and August takes the rest.
- 01Edinburgh Castle: Guided Walking Tour with Entry TicketEntry runs on timed slots. In August the Tattoo stands take over the Esplanade and the morning slots go weeks ahead.
- 02Magical Highlands Tour with Jacobite TrainThe steam train over the viaduct runs roughly April to October, with a second afternoon service only in high summer. Seats go months before the season starts.
- 033-Day Isle of Skye and The Highlands TourSkye has few beds for the number of visitors in summer, so the tours that include rooms fill first.
- 04Underground Vaults Walking Tour in Edinburgh Old TownSmall groups and a fixed number of evening slots. During the Festival the late tours sell out days before.
A dram on the Royal Mile, then Stirling and Alnwick by road.
Scotch is taught at the top of the Royal Mile in a room lined with three thousand bottles. The castles start an hour west at Stirling and run south over the border to Alnwick, where the broomstick lessons were filmed.
Every whisky tasting →
Edinburgh, Stirling, Glencoe, Glenfinnan, Skye, then home by Loch Ness.
Edinburgh
Sea fog off the Forth, rain by lunch, dark by four in December.
Edinburgh weather turns inside an hour, and the haar can hide the castle from Princes Street. The answer is the city’s indoor half: vaults, distillery rooms, tasting tables and the castle’s own halls.
What a day out of Edinburgh costs.
Every tour on the site, sorted by price. A lot of the best of the Old Town costs less than a round at a Grassmarket pub.
Vaults and ghost walks, Harry Potter trails, whisky introductions and the Forth cruises.
The long Highland coach days, the castle with a guide, Stirling and the Kelpies.
Three days on Skye, the Jacobite steam train, private guides and food tours.
By place: the city, the glens and the islands
Newly reviewed, from Castle Rock to the coast.
More fresh reviews, Leith to Loch Ness →
3 Hour Private Tour of Stirling Old Town and Stirling Castle
Read our review →
Stirling Castle and the Secrets of the Old Town Private Tour
Read our review →
Private Tour of the Highlands, Glencoe and Castles from Stirling
Read our review →
St. Andrews Scenic Stroll: A Private Walking Exploration
Read our review →
