History Tours in Scotland
It is a curious feeling standing in the middle of a ring of huge stones erected some 4500 years ago
or looking at the Clava Cairns built 2500 years ago
or crawling into Maeshowe in Orkney to see this 4000 plus year old tomb with Viking graffitti put scored into the stones some 1200 years ago. You just feel the atmosphere of this ancient land!
Everywhere you go in Scotland you will find centuries old buildings and places of interest. Keeps, Castles, palaces, abbeys, chapels, Pictish carvings and so on. Visit Cawdor Castle where the current Thane of Cawdor lives or Scone Palace where Scottish monarchs were crowned, or Stirling Castle fought over by the English and Scots in 1297 (Wallace) and 1314 (Bruce), or Arbroath where the famous Declaration was written in 1320:-
Yet if he (King Robert the Bruce) should ......agree to make us or our kingdom subject to the King of England or the English, we should exert ourselves at once to drive him out as our enemy and a subverter of his own rights and ours, and make some other man who was well able to defend us our King; for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom -- for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.
This was the first time a nation had suggested that a King could only reign with the consent of the people - a prototype of the "conractual" monarchies of Europe .
For a Potted history of Scotland click here
We can arrange tours to cover many places and the following is a selection of destinations:-
Stirling Castle, William Wallace ( Braveheart) monument, a presentation on the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 and on the Robert the Bruce battle in 1314. Visit the Great Hall and sit in the King's and Queen's seats under the regal Coat of Arms.
Mary Queen of Scots birthplace at Linlithgow Palace and her favouritre Hunting Lodge at Falkland Palace.
St Andrews Castle with its mine and counter mine and its cathedral.
Edinburgh Castle with the Honours of Scotland and the Stone of Scone.
Rosslyn Chapel. This amazing chapel with its intricate stone carvings was founded in 1446 by Sir William St Clair, third and last St Clair Prince of Orkney and is famous for its associations with the Knights Templar and the Da Vinci Code.
Pictish carved stone at Fowlis Wester, Highland Sheiling or summer grazing place in Perthshire
Edinburgh and Falkirk Roman Naval base near Edinburgh or Antonine's Wall built by the Romans in AD142.
Viking places in Caithness, Sutherland, Orkney and Shetland
St Columba's Abbey on Iona.
Orkney Islands - Skara Brae 5000 year old settlers house, the Ring of Brodgar and Maeshowe, an ancient tomb with Viking graffitti on Orkney.
Urquhart Castle on the shores of Loch Ness. Great views over Loch Ness.
Eilan Donnan Scotland's most romantic castle perched on rocks at the opening of Loch Shiel.
Melrose Abbey the first Cistercian abbey in Scotland, founded in 1136 by King David I
Soutra Aisle. From the 12th to the 17th century midway between Edinburgh and the magnificent Border abbeys, stood a mediaeval hospital - the House Of The Holy Trinity - a refuge for travellers and the needy on the Royal Road.
Blair Castle. The ancestral home of the Duke of Atholl set in beautiful Perthshire countryside.
Scone Palace. The ancestral home of the Earl of Mansfield and hereditary coronation place of the Scottish Kings.
Floors Castle. The ancestral home of the Duke of Roxburgh, beautifully furnished and still the Duke's home.
And many other places.
Scotland Tours and Golf
- agree where you wish to go and what you wish to see.
- check access and cost of entry.
- prepare a detailed itinerary for your visit.
- provide a total cost based on the itinerary for your agreement.
- provide a route map.
- arrange accommodation to your requirements.
- arrange meals as required.
- arrange transport either self drive or with a driver to suit the party.
- and if possible we welcome you to Scotland off the Plane or Train .