THISTLE BE YOUR NORTHERN DREAM YOU’LL NEVER WANT TO LEAVE

MORE THAN JUST A TOUR.
This is a very exciting Northern Highlands Adventure, carefully handcrafted with love, for you to enjoy the best of the beautiful North East coastline of the Scottish Highlands. .

PRIVATE HIGHLAND AND LOCAL EXPERT DRIVER-GUIDE.
At Thistle Tours we offer a unique touring experience in terms of being genuinely local to the area. Your Driver-Guide, very passionate local expert, will keep you all entertained and to drive you in safety, to make sure you have the magical experience you won’t forget

TRAVEL WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS.
You will be part of our Highland Clan on a very personal tour with a maximum of Seven Clansmen, which means that you can travel at your own pace with family & friends as a small group, you are sure to get a one-on-one personal attention, the high-quality service and relaxed travel experience.

TRAVEL IN COMFORT.
Thistle Tours have set a high standard over the last 18 years providing perfectly tailored high-quality touring service in our comfortable Mercedes V Class Minibus and Landrover Discovery HSE Luxury, specifically chosen for touring the Highlands and Scotland in safety, comfort and style. All our vehicles are well cleaned, air conditioned, and spacious enough to ensure an efficient and personal service as well as an enjoyable and memorable touring experience.

REVIEWED IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
Your Northern Highlands Journey with Thistle Tours will be rich in legacy and adventure, and it will be completely tailored for you by the people who know the Highlands best. We promise, you won’t find anyone more welcoming than our Highland people or anywhere richer than the places we open exclusively for you. That’s what our mantra, ‘Thistle Be a Dream You’ll Never Want to Leave‘ is all about, we will bring you the opportunity to explore undiscovered Isle of Skye and share the moments that will become part of your story forever, this is your story, write it any way you like, Thistle Tours make it easy to travel your way as we highly value all reviews & comments we receive from you, please see Thistle Tours travel reviewed in your own words here.

ENJOY ALL OF THE TOUR SPECIALS LISTED BELOW:
An exclusive opportunity to enjoy Dunrobin Castle Falconry Display, the amazing showcase of the ancient art of hunting with the birds of prey flying demonstration on the Castle lawn, which creates superb photographic opportunities. Your great chance to learn more about birds of prey as well as the ancient sport of Falconry.

TRAVEL SCOTLAND THE HIGHLAND STYLE WITH THISTLE TOURS

TOUR DATES AND OPERATION SEASON.
The Northern Trail is a small group tour, which runs all year around..
TOUR DURATION AND SPECIAL NOTE.
The Northern Trail is a Full Day Tour, and will last about 9hrs including lunch. For Shore Excursions guests TBA (to be arranged).
STARTING POINT AND TIME.
Northern Tour commences in Inverness from your accomodation around 08:30hrs. For Shore Excursions guests TBA (to be arranged).
FINISHING POINT AND TIME.
Northern Tour concludes in Inverness at your accomodation around 17:00hrs. For Shore Excursions guests TBA (to be arranged).
TOUR INCLUSIONS.
♦ Transportation in a 8-Seat Mercedes V Class c/w the PA System, or a 4-Seat Landrover Discovery HSE Luxury

♦ Private Highland Local Expert Driver-Guide

♦ Admission Fees to Dunrobin Castle & Gardens

♦ Complementary Bottled Water

TOUR EXCLUSIONS.
♦ Lunch
The Northern Trail does not include lunch in the tour price.

♦ Travel Insurance
Bruadar of the Isle of Skye Tour does not include Travel Insurance, however, this is an important part of your travel with us and must be in place to ensure that you are fully covered in the event that you need to cancel your tour due to unforeseen circumstances, for more information, please see our Terms and Conditions here.

TOURING CAPACITY AND TRANSPORTATION.
Enjoy your Northern Trail in our comfortable Mercedes V Class Minibus (7 passengers) and Landrover Discovery HSE Luxury (4 passengers), specifically chosen for touring the Highlands and Scotland in safety, comfort and style. All our vehicles are well cleaned, air conditioned, and spacious enough to ensure an efficient and personal service as well as an enjoyable and memorable touring experience.

TRAVELLER AGE RANGE.
We regret that we cannot accept young children under the age of 5 years old on our tours, excluding VIP tours where any age is acceptable.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
This Tour includes some outdoor itinerary, such as visiting Dunrobin Castle & Gardens, Càrn Liath Iron Age Broch, please bring outdoor clothing and footwear, suitable for this tour conditions and highly variable Highland weather. The tour doesn’t involve lengthy walks or require high levels of fitness, however, some tour locations may optionally involve walking up a short steep hill or stairs (e.g. in castles).

THE NORTHERN TRAIL

CÀRN LIATH (GREY CAIRN) IRON AGE BROCH. Start of the day, we travel along the North East Coast towards Golspie for our first stop at the Grey Cairn Broch, when you walk through 2100 years to the Iron Age times. Càrn Liath (Grey Cairn) Iron Age Broch of Golspie, a uniquely Scottish ancient monument, first excavated in the 19th century. Càrn Liath is a fine example of a solid-based broch tower, it stands at 3m tall today, but when complete it could have been at least three times that, so keep your mind open and your imagination switched on, the ancient Càrn Liath mean to be a large circular roundhouse, normally constructed with hollow drystone walls.

DUNROBIN CASTLE & GARDENS. Next, we travel further to discover the magnificent 14th Century fairytale Dunrobin Castle and experience its special atmosphere. Dunrobin Castle is the largest house in the Northern Highlands with 189 rooms, where some of the rooms are looking out onto the beautiful Gardens, which were inspired by those at French Versailles.

Explore Dunrobin picturesque Gardens with the stunning panoramic view across the Moray Firth to the distant Cairngorm mountains, and browse the Garden Museum with its unique private collection of Pictish symbols stones and cross-slabs.

DUNROBIN FALCONRY DISPLAY. During your castle visit, enjoy one of our Northern Trail specials, Dunrobin Falconry Display, the amazing showcase of the ancient art of hunting with the birds of prey. Wath this exclusive display of the ancient sport of Falconry with the birds of prey flying demonstration on the Castle lawn, which creates superb photographic opportunities for a spectacular show featuring Peregrine and Gyrfalcon as well as Harris hawks. Learn more about other local birds of prey as well as the ancient art of Falconry.

THE ROYAL BURGH OF DORNOCH & DORNOCH CATHEDRAL. After lunch we discover a hidden treasure, the beautiful town of Dornoch, nestled in a tranquil corner of the Northern Highlands. Tracing its roots back to ancient times, the charming Royal Burgh of Dornoch with its picturesque surroundings of rolling hills boasts an intriguing history that you can really feel as you wander its quaint streets. Explore the iconic Dornoch Cathedral, the most northerly Cathedral on the Highlands mainland. Established on original foundations from the 1200s, Dornoch Cathedral stands as a symbol of the town’s enduring legacy.

GLENMORANGIE DISTILLERY. We leave beautiful Dornoch to finish your travel in style and have a wee dram to relax at the end of the day, we stop to explore one of the Northern Highlands most picturesque distilleries, and discover the whisky world’s best kept secret with Glenmorangie or the ‘Valley of Tranquillity’, since in the Northern Highlands, why not enjoy your whisky tasting flight experience, sample and scent the fruity aromas, tightly woven into the long, rich history of its native land.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I MISS MY TOUR?
If you miss your tour, our cancellation policy applies. 100% charges are applicable in the event of a ‘no show’, and you will not be entitled to a refund or alternative.

WHAT IS YOUR CANCELLATION POLICY?
CANCELLATION POLICY:
Thistle Tours operates on the basis of a 14-day Cancellation Policy for any tours / shore excursions in the Highlands.

Cancelled bookings out with the 14-days of the planned tour will be fully refunded minus 10% admin fees, should the Guest cancel less than 14-days prior to the booking start date of the tour, a cancellation fee equal to the full tour booking rate will be charged.

In the event of a ‘no show’ the Guest will be charged 100% of the tour price.

The Guest will be fully refunded, if the tour is unable to be completed due to unforeseen circumstances e.g. weather, road closures etc / if the cruise liner has been unable to dock at the arranged port of collection.

A sympathetic attitude will be taken as a general rule and in some cases, at the discretion of the proprietor, refunds may be made out with the circumstances detailed above.

Cancellations by us (not Government imposed restrictions relating to Covid etc). If we have to cancel your tour for any reason other than Government imposed restrictions relating to Covid etc, we offer a 100% refund, or an alternative date agreed by the Guest. More details can be found here.

CAN THE ITINERARY CHANGE?
Your tour will always follow the itinerary as closely as possible, however, we reserve the right to alter our itineraries at any time, due to unforeseen circumstances e.g. weather, road closures etc. We will endeavour to provide a service as close to the itinerary as possible in these circumstances. If your tour is unable to be completed for any reason, we will ensure that all passengers are returned to their point of departure and will repay money to the guests based upon the amount of the tour that was completed. These figures will be calculated based upon the time of day that the tour was aborted.

DO YOU HAVE SOME FLEXIBILITY IN WHAT WE SEE AND HOW LONG WE STAY AT EACH SITE? IS IT POSSIBLE TO EITHER SKIP A SITE, OR PERHAPS ADD SOME TIME ONTO THE TOUR?
Yes, absolutely. All our tours have flexibility in what you see, and how long you stay at each site, we can certainly incorporate the places you would like to visit in the itinerary, and skip other sites. Please let us know, if there are some other particular places you would like to visit, and we would be happy to tailor this for you.

IS THIS A PRIVATE TOUR, IN WHICH OURPARTY TRAVELSIN THE ENTIRE VENICLE, EVEN IF WE DON’T HAVE SEVEN TRAVELING WITH US?
Yes, all our tours would come as small group private tours in our comfortable Mercedes V Class, or Landrover Discovery in which your party would travel with us at your own pace in the entire vehicle, even if you don’t have the maximum people in your party.The price is per vehicle and NOT per person.

IN YOUR SEVEN SEAT MINIBUS, ARE ANY OF THE SEATS FACING BACKWARDS, AND IF SO, HOW MANY?
All of our seven seats in the Minibus are facing forward for a better view.

DO YOU TAKE CHILDREN ON YOUR TOURS?
We regret that we cannot accept children under the age of 5 years old on our tours, excluding VIP tours, where any age is acceptable.

WHAT ABOUT TRAVEL INSURANCE?
We Do Not Provide Travel Insurance, andwe would strongly advise that you take out your own Travel Insurance before you travel with us.It is up to you to ensure that you are fully covered in the event that you needto cancel your tour, or leave the tour early, due to unforeseen circumstances.

WHAT’S THE WEATHER LIKE AND WHAT CLOTHING WILL BE SUITABLE FOR THE TOUR?
The Highland’s climate is actually quite moderate and very changeable, although on occasions it can get really hot or really cold. As the old Highland saying goes, ‘there’s no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes!’
All of our tours include some outdoor itinerary, please bring outdoor clothing and footwear (including umbrellas), suitable for the tour conditions and highly variable Highland weather.

WHAT IS YOUR TOURS FITNESS AND MOBILITY CONDITIONS?
All our tours donot involve lengthy walks or require high levels of fitness, however, some tour locations may optionally involve walking up a short steep hill or stairs (e.g. in castles).

WHAT HAPPENS IF SOMEONE IS VERY NEGATIVE ON THE TOUR?
Our aim is to ensure that everyone on the tourhave a fantastic experience in the Highlands. We would love everyone to have fun,to learn about Scotland and the Highland history, to enjoy stunning scenery on the journey. For most people coming on our tours it is the holiday of a lifetime and a very special experience. If some of the guests begin to dominate conversation with negative or depressing topics, then we will have no alternative other than to privately ask them to stop. We never intend to upset guests, however, it is our responsibility to ensure that everyone can enjoy the experience they have paid for.