Review: My One Day Tour of Scotland

     What's cool when you're a international student is that you get the possibility to discover a whole new country. Although I am most of the time busy with classes, readings and study work, it is also important to take some time off and just enjoy the new place you live in.

This is why a couple months ago, while I had a friend coming to Glasgow, I decided to do a little coach tour with Discover Scotland Tours and I wanted to share my experience with you!

Since I couldn't afford the time to leave Glasgow for 2 or 3 days, I went for a day trip to visit Loch Lomond and the Stirling Castle.

One of our views - Loch Lommond

     1. First step: get into the van

Our tour departed at 9am. You need to check in 15mn prior to this time on George Street, where the mini-van is parked and where your driver welcomes you. What I enjoyed with this tour is that since the trip is in a mini-van, we were only a small group (8 I think, the maximum is 15) and that makes the experience more intimate. You actually feel less like a tourist!

Our tour on a map

     2. First destination: Luss

We started our trip by heading to Luss, a well-known to-do-location in Loch Lomond. On the road, our really nice driver gave us plenty of stories, explanations and information which made the trip really short and interesting! As I never had done this kind of tour, I was just expecting the driver to...drive us to the different viewpoints, but actually he was a real guide! He had stories from the origins of the streets names in Glasgow to how geese replaced dogs to guard a distillery we drove by on our way!

Luss

      3. Lunch in Callander

After few stops to admire the view, we had a quick lunch break in Callander, a really small nice city where we ended in a little restaurant!

Highland cows are not against some bread to eat! 

     4. Doune Castle vs Stirling Castle

The next step of the trip is up to you: you can either visit the Doune Castle or a whisky distillery nearby. My friends and I chose the Doune Castle, but honestly it was a bit of a disappointment (I'd recommend the distillery instead). The castle is known to be the footage place of many shows: Highlanders, Monty Python's... but it is quite small, nothing outstanding.

Nevertheless, after this we were heading to our final destination, the Stirling Castle. This one, on the other hand, is way more impressive! Indeed, there's so much to do: wandering in the castle, visit the museum inside, have fun with kids activities (we all are kids, right?!), admire the landscape, sit at the King's throne... You won't have too much time to do it all!

Alternatively, you can just explore and discover the city if you're not the castle kind! 

Stirling Castle

     5. Time to return

After all these beautiful sceneries, it was already time to head back to Glasgow! Our sympathetic driver got us on George Square and around 6h30 PM that was the end of our trip!

It was really a nice experience and I'd say we got to see lots of stuff for the little time we had. Indeed, a one day trip is really short to visit but for those having only this kind of time I'd very much recommend it, it is still worth it. What I take from this tour is a ton of pictures, memories and anecdotes!

If you're interested in doing this tour, you can find it on Discover Scotland Tours

Have you already done this kind of tour to discover the wonders of Scotland?