Infinite Scotland

A private piper to motivate and kick-start an early morning hike in Royal Deeside ☀️ Doesn’t happen every day of the week!
This talented young man is playing at the today, but we were privileged to have him to ourselves with a backdrop of the River Dee and forests and mountains of the Cairngorms National Park last Tuesday. The guests were delighted with their surprise - after that, the hike through the beautiful heather and ancient woodlands with babbling brooks glittering in the sunshine… was a little secondary 😆

Well prepared ☔️! Lovely friends Cathy and Therrissa toured Scotland with us over 9 days this summer ☺️ It was one of many return trips for Cathy, but a first time tour of Scotland for Therrissa, so the brief was to find places of calm and tranquility away from the tourist hubbub whilst also visiting those key locations that draw so many to Scotland in the first place. Just the kind of itinerary that we love to plan!
Bronze Age burial cairns, boat trips and cute puffins, coastal walks in east and west, hidden churches, gardens blooming with colour, tea and cake in remote highland glens, sideways rain….. and yes, even some sunshine!
Thanks to both ladies for being such delightful travelling companions 😊

Wind swept and interesting! 😄 Probably the best description of our busy summer so far! This weekend we had a fabulous time looking after brilliant friends Susan and Connie, taking them to some of our favourite old haunts in Royal Deeside.
It was a return visit for Susan, who I’d guided two years ago with a different group, but this time she wanted to spend more time in the great outdoors - and both ladies also wanted to take advantage of the longer open season from to pop in to the Royal Family’s own holiday home whilst we were there 👑
What a time to visit, with the gardens ready for His Majesty’s visit, the heather in full bloom and blue skies to accompany the slightly breezy (and yes, a little showery!) conditions. Away from the castle, we didn’t see a soul ☺️
They are now “hitting” the Edinburgh Festival - quite a different experience 😅🎨

On board a Royal yacht, clipboard in hand, fabulous whisky distillery in the background, lovely guests behind the camera 📸… Happy Place 😄☀️

A fun and fabulous tour with these four friends back in early May 😁 Two of them had MacLeod ancestry so of course a trip “over the sea to Skye” was in order - but in four days we also managed to fit in some highland cows, cute lambs (and sheepdog puppies!), gorgeous vistas and hidden gems from across the country, a little hiking - and even a wee nip of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s favourite Drambuie 🥃 by a tumbling waterfall ☺️
Our favourite kind of a tour!

Off to the Isle of Skye tomorrow! First trip to Skye this year*, so we’ve been having fun looking back on some of our tours to “The Misty Isle” in 2023 ⛰️ ☀️
We had sunshine, laughter, beautiful scenery, happy guests, even a piper… And if you keep scrolling, you’ll find a couple of our favourites, Angie and Don, braving the rain and living out their dream regardless 😄 ☔️

*First of many?!

Take a seat! Fabulous views (and sunshine! ☀️) at Hopetoun House, ancestral home of the Hope family for over 300 years - and still lived in to this day.
Keep swiping to see what met us at the top of all… those… stairs… (it was worth it!) and a quick glimpse inside this wonderful mansion.
The family opens the house to the public over the summer - easily visited from Edinburgh, why don’t you include it in your next trip to Scotland?

Are you looking for a small group tour of Scotland that feels like a custom private trip with hidden gems, meaningful experiences and the time to breathe and take it all in? You’re in luck!
We specialise in bespoke private tours at Infinite Scotland, but every September we make an exception, working hand-in-hand with the lovely to deliver their annual small group* tours to Scotland. We apply exactly the same philosophy to their trips, visiting Scotland’s “must sees” as well as meeting local producers, exploring hidden gems, savouring amazing food and drink - and most importantly, taking our time to stop, gaze and even do a little exploring on our own.
Highlights include:
👉 Edinburgh
👉 Stirling Castle
👉 Blair Castle
👉 Highland Games
👉 St Andrews ancient ruins, university - and golf
👉 A unique private visit to a remote Highland hill farm
👉 “Meet the makers” coffee and chocolate tasting
👉 Ruined clan castles and prehistoric stone circles
👉 Time at leisure to explore award winning independent bookshops, distilleries, bakeries and hikes by Highland lochs and waterfalls.
👉 Or simply relax with a book in our cosy Highland home complete with hot tub!
If this sounds just what you are looking for in 2024, there are a handful of spaces remaining on both “all-comers” and “women only” trips in September.
Just drop us a line and we’ll be in touch!
*Small group of no more than 10 guests with a private guide and wonderful hosts.

As the sun goes down on another year… where will 2024 take you? 🥰

Wishing everyone a sparklingly happy Christmas from the entire extended family 🌟❄️🎄

Why would you want to come to Scotland in autumn anyway? Surely it’s just cold, dark and wet…. 🍂 🍁 🍃 ☀️
Just a few shots from the past few weeks on and off tour with our guests. Yes, we love this time of the year!

Castles, cairns, cottages - and a palace! The perfect way to round off Angie and Don’s epic 22 day Scottish adventure.
Can you name them all…? 🤓🏰
After three years in the planning, we think we managed to check everything off Angie’s “bucket list” - including being welcomed into a service in the church built by one of her ancestors! We still suspect (and hope) that she may be back for more in the years to come though ☺️
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A journey of epic proportions! Angie and Don are only half way through their 22 day adventure around Scotland, an itinerary that we had such fun creating with them 😊
They’ve mixed up time on their own and time with a private driver-guide, starting in Glasgow before heading up the rugged west coast and across to the beautiful Outer Hebridean islands (even Storm Agnes couldn’t stop us - though it was a wee bit blustery!). Now back on the mainland, the next 10 days are all about castles, Culloden, capital cities… and a certain monster 🦕😉
Creating custom tours around your bucket list (and throwing in a few little treats of our own!) is what we love best ❤️ It helps when the guests are awesome too!

Happy memories of the final few days with a fabulous group of ladies brought to us by ☀️ A perfect blend of off-the-beaten-track (sometimes literally 😉) experiences and Scotland’s finest food, drink and showy cities (thanks Edinburgh!)
A small selection:
📍Pitlochry Highland Games
📍Edinburgh with our wonderful guide, Ruth
📍Private sheep farm experience
📍Canoeing gently down the River Tay
📍Coffee roastery tour and chocolate tasting just for us ☺️
With thanks to our brilliant partners who we couldn’t do without: and of course James, Bonnie and the whole doggy-sheepy team.

What a fabulous week we have had with our lovely group from ! Incredible weather to enjoy history, heritage and hikes - not to mention the delicious local food and drink and wonderful sunsets across Loch Tay.
Photos from the first 3 days (and more to follow!):
📍St Andrews
📍Blair Castle
📍The Birks of Aberfeldy
📍Finlarig Castle
📍The Falls of Dochart Smokehouse
📍Loch Tay (from both ends!)

Our first As You Like It Tours group of the year arrives today 😀 We are super excited about the trip we have planned for them - lots of variety including coast 🌊 and mountains ⛰️ , castles 🏰 and Highland Games, and lots of wonderful food and drink from our brilliant local producers.
And of course our exclusive hill farm visit with James and Bonnie! Cuddles with dogs and lambs might just be one of the week’s highlights ❤️

This evening’s view over Portree harbour in the Isle of Skye ☺️ Sometimes we really do get to stay in the best places!
Want to include Skye in your next trip to Scotland? We love taking guests to our favourite spots to tell our favourite magical tales 📖 with a view ⛰️
(And with a private tour you can sneak away from the crowds too…… 😉)

What does a day on tour look like? Whatever you want it to look like!
Sometimes we like to take things slowly… Sometimes we can cover an awful lot of ground! Like last week, when over two days (ok, cheating a little 😉) we visited:
Eilean Donan Castle with impromptu piper
The atmospheric ruins of Armadale Castle on the Isle of Skye
Glenfinnan with its famous viaduct and one of our favourite views in Scotland, of Loch Shiel
Glencoe
Loch Lomond - in the sunshine and by boat!
And finally a little moment of contemplation in Glasgow Cathedral ☀️
Time for a little holiday now!

What does a day on tour look like? Whatever you want it to look like!
Sometimes we like to take things slowly… Sometimes we can cover an awful lot of ground! Like last week, when over two days (ok, cheating a little 😉) we visited:
Eilean Donan Castle with impromptu piper
The atmospheric ruins of Armadale Castle on the Isle of Skye
Glenfinnan ith its famous viaduct and one of our favourite views in Scotland, of Loch Shiel
Glencoe
Loch Lomond - in the sunshine and by boat!
And finally a little moment of contemplation in Glasgow Cathedral ☀️
Time for a little holiday now!

A fabulous tour tracing Scottish family heritage last week with some Lyons from the USA. With visits on and off “the beaten track”, none of us wanted it to end!

With thanks as always to Glamis Castle Grandtully Hotel by Ballintaggart Glen Lyon Coffee Glenlyon tea room & post office Falls Of Dochart Smokehouse Library of Innerpeffray Stirling Castle

Love this from our friends at Wee Adventures 😍 (move on Nessie 😂)

Amazing what you can find in the magical waters of Loch Tay 🧜‍♀️

We love being busy looking after all of our brilliant guests - but phew, sometimes it’s good to have a wee break too 😅
Here’s some pretty sea thrift 🌸 on a peaceful evening beach walk near Arisaig last week. Time to relax…..
Watch this space for updates of our season so far - and lots of happy faces and places to inspire your own tours!

Not a bad lunch spot! We love watching the world go by in Portree’s harbour - and today is no exception ☀️
Although it’s a lot chillier than it looks 🥶! Brief return of winter ❄️
Want to explore the Isle of Skye with us? We take you to all of the nooks and crannies that we know to explore spectacular landscapes, meet local artists, learn the local legends - and maybe even take a little bit of quality craftwork away with you too.
Just get in touch!

We celebrated some amazing Scottish cheeses and charcuterie a week ago with these delicious tasting plates from our local deli at Errichel House, Cottages, and Farm - with a little competitive spirit creeping into our tasting notes!
Errichel specialises in the very best food and drink that our wee country has to offer - we think we might even win in a blind tasting between the Scottish varieties and our European cousins 😜
Our favourites? Melt-in-the-mouth goats cheese from Lanarkshire and deep, rich smoked venison from just up the road in Perthshire. Yum!
Want to try some of our finest produce on your own tour of Scotland? Just get in touch!
Thank you Errichel!

Happy Easter everyone! 🌼🌸
And what a beautiful weekend we have had for it, Highland Perthshire looking amazing in the sunshine ☀️ especially this view from Errichel House, Cottages, and Farm when we visited them on Good Friday for some delicious cheese and charcuterie tasting platters… More on that next week!
For now, we hope you have had a peaceful and happy Easter, wherever you are in the world.

Tricky decisions when choosing your tipple of choice at ! All distilled locally, with flavours from around Scotland, including raspberry and gorse, you might just have to sample a few 😉
Thank you to Lynn for such a warm welcome when we popped in after our visit to today ☺️ and for my wee miniature to enjoy at home! Housed in traditional farm buildings in the old village of Glamis, with tasting rooms, high quality gifts - and of course the gin itself - The Gin Bothy is a perfect place to while away an afternoon.

What a treat to dine at The Grandtully Hotel by ❤️ with their wonderful and inventive chefs howing off Scotland’s amazing local produce again. Shellfish ravioli, melt-in-your-mouth lamb and smoked mussels (yum!) and taking Jaffa Cakes to a whole new level with Earl Grey ice cream and crunchy honeycomb 🍯
How lucky are we to have all of this on our doorstep?!

Celebrating with this throwback to our brilliant guide, Ruth, captivating a lovely bunch of ladies on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile ☺️
But does anyone recognise that building behind her? Named after John Knox, 16th century preacher, and infamous author of “The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women”…… Sorry John! 😉

Happy 🐮 A little re-post of some super friendly Orkney cows, just ambling along the coastline with us, enjoying the views ☺️
Thought we’d give the Highland cows a week off from “most pretty Scottish cow” posts 😉 (though we can almost always promise that we’ll find some of them on our tours too!)

A few of our favourite things in Scotland:
1. Fairytale castles
2. Mountains and space and friends and hiking (preferably all together)
3. Historic country house hotels
4. Homemade scones and jam (of course!)
Oh yes, and sunshine ☀️😀
Have you started planning your next trip yet? Get in touch to let us know what your favourite things are, and let us create your own personalised tour around them!
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