Try Highland bagpiping in a hands-on Edinburgh masterclass with Roddy the Piper or another expert musician. Practise fingerwork and ornamentation on a chanter before having a go on the full instrument.

Come together as a miniature pipe band to play a tune in unison and record a group video. The session reveals the coordination behind a sound woven into Scottish ceremony, celebration and community life.

Meet your Travel Director and small group over dinner at a local Edinburgh restaurant. Share Scottish flavours and conversation in a relaxed setting designed to bring fellow travellers together.

This hosted meal offers an introduction to the capital beyond its landmarks: a chance to hear different perspectives, get to know your companions and settle into the convivial rhythm of a small-group journey.

Pause to photograph Eilean Donan Castle in its waterside Highland setting. When conditions are still, the castle and surrounding hills can appear reflected in the water.

The landmark stands near the meeting of three sea lochs, a position that gives its outline particular drama. This is a photography stop rather than a visit inside the castle, offering time to appreciate the setting from outside.

Share a Highland dinner in the Glencoe area, gathering with your fellow travellers over dishes made with market-fresh Scottish ingredients. The hosted evening makes regional food and hospitality the focus.

Conversation around the table gives the meal its small-group character, while the Highland setting provides a sense of place. It is an occasion to savour local flavours rather than simply a scheduled dinner stop.

• 6 Dinner (D)
• 8 Breakfast (B)
• 1 Afternoon Tea (AT)

• Edinburgh: Step up to Scotland’s stirring musical tradition in a hands-on masterclass with Roddy the Piper or one of his expert musicians. Practise fingerwork and ornamentation on a practice chanter, then have a go on the Highland bagpipes. Finish by coming together as a mini pipe band, recording a group video as you play a tune in unison.

• Hand sanitizer is freely available on board for you to use throughout the day.

Insight Vacations

• Business class coach with extended leg room
• Top-rated dining, from farm-to-table to local restaurants
• Premium regional accommodation

Experience The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo on departures that include the event during its limited August season. Watch massed performers, pipers and drummers fill the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle with music and precision movement.

Set against the castle’s imposing walls, the performance draws on Scottish military music and ceremonial tradition. The sound of pipes rising into the night gives this seasonal spectacle an atmosphere distinct from a conventional theatre show.

Explore Edinburgh with a Local Expert, travelling through the Old Town and along Princes Street to see the Palace of Holyroodhouse and Scott Monument. Admire the ordered Georgian facades of the 18th-century New Town and make your way up the Royal Mile.

Visit Edinburgh Castle to see Scotland’s Crown Jewels and Mons Meg, its formidable medieval cannon. The fortress’s position above the city brings Edinburgh’s royal, military and literary histories into view.

Explore the coastal town of St Andrews, with its historic university streets and links to the game of golf. Pass the Old Course, whose long association with the sport has made it one of the world’s most recognisable fairways.

Use your time in town to wander towards West Sands Beach, the broad shoreline featured in the opening sequence of Chariots of Fire. Sea air, old stone buildings and open links give St Andrews its distinctive character.

Enjoy traditional afternoon tea at Atholl Palace in Pitlochry, a Victorian Baronial retreat built more than 130 years ago. Take your seat in the banqueting room for sandwiches, scones, Scottish shortbread and tablet.

The setting gives this meal the feel of a hosted occasion rather than a routine stop. Scottish tablet’s rich, crumbly sweetness adds a local note to a tea tradition associated with the Victorian era in which the palace was built.

Explore Inverness with your Travel Director and see the River Ness and Inverness Castle while learning about the Highland city’s history. Its riverside setting offers a quieter perspective on a place often called the capital of the Highlands.

Look for the contrast between the city’s built landmarks and the surrounding Highland scenery. The introduction provides a sense of Inverness as both a historic centre and a gateway to the landscapes of northern Scotland.

Visit Culloden Battlefield and its Visitor Centre to examine the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising in 1746. Discover how a battle lasting roughly an hour brought a decisive defeat to the Jacobite forces.

The interpretation places the fighting within its wider political and human context, including the profound changes that followed for Highland communities. Culloden is a place for reflection as much as historical discovery.

Travel along the shores of Loch Ness, taking in its dark waters and steep-sided Highland setting as your Travel Director shares stories associated with Scotland’s most famous loch.

Hear about the legendary creature said to live beneath the surface while looking across the broad expanse of water yourself. The experience pairs a landscape shaped by the Great Glen with the folklore that has made Loch Ness known far beyond Scotland.

Choose a visit to Wick Heritage Museum to explore the history of this once-thriving fishing port. Discover artefacts collected and displayed by the Wick Society, which works to preserve the town’s stories for future generations.

The museum’s community-led approach brings the working lives of Wick’s residents into focus. This is one of two included experiences offered in Wick; choosing it supports local heritage preservation.

Choose a whisky tasting at Old Pulteney Distillery in Wick and share a wee dram with a master distiller. Learn about the craft behind this coastal-style Scotch whisky while tasting its character for yourself.

Wick’s maritime setting gives the distillery a strong sense of place, connecting the spirit to the town on Scotland’s northern coast. This tasting is one of two included experiences offered in Wick.

Explore the Orkney Islands with your Travel Director, visiting the Italian Chapel, created by Italian prisoners of war, and Kirkwall, where Norse heritage remains part of the islands’ story.

Visit Skara Brae, a remarkably preserved Neolithic settlement dating back around 5,000 years, and walk among the standing stones of the Ring of Brodgar. Together, these places reveal layers of island life spanning prehistoric communities, Norse culture and the Second World War.

Discover the Isle of Skye’s rugged landscapes, with quiet lochs, open slopes and views towards the jagged Cuillin Hills. Travel towards Broadford while hearing the story of Flora MacDonald and Bonnie Prince Charlie.

The island’s scenery gives a vivid setting to that chapter of Jacobite history. Mountain silhouettes and changing Highland light make this an experience centred on both landscape and the stories attached to it.

Visit the World War II Commando Memorial near Fort William, where bronze figures stand against a wide Highland panorama. Take in views towards Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain, rising above the glen.

The memorial honours the commandos who trained in this region during the war. Its exposed hillside location lends the visit a reflective quality, linking a specific piece of military history to the landscape in which that training took place.

Walk through Glencoe with your Travel Director, taking in the village’s setting near Loch Leven and the mountain ridges that frame the glen. Hear the stories that give this landscape its powerful place in Scottish memory.

Among them is the 1692 massacre of members of Clan MacDonald. The gentle introduction offers a way to understand Glencoe as more than a scenic Highland valley: its beauty and difficult history are closely entwined.

Join a ranger in the Valley of Glencoe to learn about protecting its fragile Highland ecosystem and work to reintroduce lost native species. Gain insight into the conservation research carried out in this dramatic landscape.

The reserve supports habitats for alpine flowers, mosses, mountain hares, red deer and birds such as golden eagles. This hosted experience connects the scenery with the practical work needed to sustain its biodiversity.

Spend time on the shores of Loch Lomond, looking across wooded islands and the surrounding hills. Wander a lakeside path or pause beside the water to take in the changing light.

Often called the “Queen of Scottish Lochs,” Loch Lomond has inspired writers including Sir Walter Scott. Its sheltered stretches and broad mountain views offer a gentler Highland atmosphere to explore on foot.

Discover Glasgow on an orientation drive led by your Travel Director. See its broad streets and grand public buildings, including George Square, with its monuments and civic architecture.

Pass St Mungo’s Cathedral, whose medieval origins contrast with the bold Victorian character visible elsewhere in the city. The drive introduces Glasgow’s layers of history and helps you recognise the landmarks at the heart of Scotland’s largest city.

Choose to cruise Loch Lomond for a view of its wooded islands, shoreline and Highland backdrop from the water. The boat offers a different perspective on the scale and stillness of this celebrated Scottish loch.

Watch the hills and lakeside scenery shift as you travel across the water. This experience is optional, at additional cost and bookable on tour; time on the loch shore is included for travellers who do not choose the cruise.