Monthly view of Scottish Islands & off the beaten track tours

(with a per person price – operating on days shown in blue on the tours availability calendar)

• October to early November – golden autumn colours, especially dramatic in Perthshire’s Big Tree country with its Enchanted Forest light show
• October to February – best chance to see the Aurora Borealis/the Northern lights
• October – April – great availability for accommodation – at your preferred hotel, guesthouse or hostel – with usually a lower off- season rate
• October to April – highest student discount rates apply
• November to mid-February – Sunrises around 8am and sunsets around 4pm – easy to include on our tours
• November to February – lowest seasonal fares for our short day light hours tours
• November to March – best tour availability with Coast, sea Highlands & Islands – Unicorn Tours throughout Scotland, incl. last minute availability (i.e. tomorrow you are off, tomorrow is glorious sunshine, with those wintry incredibly great light conditions, clear crisp views & snow-covered hills – you just want to get out on a tour tomorrow – you contact us and book next day’s private tour for a green available day with us on the night before)
• November to March – a great time to explore, discover & experience the real Scotland without the tourist crowds, even on the otherwise overcrowded/very touristy Isle of Skye, Loch Ness & in Edinburgh
• November – March – great availability for the Clyde coast ferries to the Isle of Arran, Bute, Cumbrae & the Cowal peninsula – especially to the Isle of Arran (Scotland in miniature) which is a mandatory advance vehicle booking ferry service. The great news is that during off season, Coast, sea Highlands & Islands – Unicorn Tours throughout Scotland is able to book our minibus onto the Isle of Arran ferry at short notice for our private tours. Arran, even during the winter is the perfect 1 day tour destination, as around every bend and corner you have new stunning coastal views and the scenery is so varied, that Arran is truly Scotland in miniature, so even in the winter we offer a full 6 hours on the island island circuit plus the ferry. If you don’t mind an early start and 1.5 hour drive in the dark to the ferry, we also offer Arran sunrise tours, where you arrive just around sunrise and if you don’t mind a late return and drive back in the dark, we also offer Arran sunset tours, where we will depart just around sunset.
• December – December – festive Christmas events, decorations & Hogmanay celebrations
• December to March – highest chance of stunning snow-covered mountain peaks on our tours
• January – Celtic Connections music festival & Burns night events on 25th January
• January to February – highest likelihood to have snow during our tours
• late February to late April – there could still be lots of beautiful snow on the mountain tops, but with every passing week the length of daylight races ahead from still relatively short wintry late February daylight hours speeding ahead to already very long summery late April daylight hours – so March is truly the month when our 2 day and multi-day tours kick off, as with 12 hours & more daylight and it is only getting dark later in the evening, you can fit so much more into an action-packed touring day, while you are away wanting to explore places on a tour
• April to June – nature’s reawaking, longer days, flowers & fresh green leaves & shoots everywhere, lambing season, late spring can be Scotland’s driest & sunniest season
• mid-April to mid-July – seabird breeding colonies, seabird-watching (incl. puffins) along the many dramatic seacliffs along Scotland’s coastline
• May & June – even though there are beautiful flowers from March to October – May & June are when most flowers are at their best, in their floom bloom, the best time to visit Scotland’s 100s of glorious gardens, incl. along the gulf-stream Westcoast & castles
• mid-June to mid-August – coastal Machair flowers just inland from the golden beaches of the Outer Hebrides are at their best & the diverse plant life supports rich insect life
• May to July – longest daylight hours, incl. simmer dim on Shetland with up to 19 hours of daylight
• May to September – Highland games every weekend at different locations throughout Scotland
• mid-July to mid-September – purple blooming heather in full bloom across the braes and on the hills
• August – Edinburgh festival, fringe & tattoo
• Events, festivals & concerts – What’s on in Scotland
• Scottish Events, Festivals & Concerts – What’s On | VisitScotland