Each private personalised tour is different and can include more or less stops, more or less time at places, as a private tour is tailormade, this was one of our recent Lochaber 1 day tours:

• Drive along the motorway on the M8, past Glasgow airport and Paisley during pre-dawn
• ·         Crossing the River Clyde on the Erskine Bridge
• ·         Catching some views of the River and Dumbarton Rock
• ·         Leaving the Lowlands behind, crossing the Highland Boundary line and entering the Loch Lomond & Trossachs nationalpark
• ·         Drive along Loch Lomond and along the Luss route (garden cottage, islands, Luss Highland games ground) and past the village hall, the smokery, the pilgrimage way, the church with the Viking stone and dropping you off
• ·         For a walk along Luss pier and the beach promenade with views of the islands and across to the eastern shores with the West Highland long distance way and Ben Lomond
• ·         Drive along the Loch Lomond northshore and climbing up along the West Highland route past Crianlarich to the gold mining village of Tyndrum, where we stop for a coffee at the Green Welly tourist shop
• ·         Leaving Highland Stirlingshire, Eastern Scotland and the nationalpark behind, climbing and crossing the watershed to Argyll and Western Scotland past Bridge of Orchy, Loch Tulla and up into the Rannoch Moor High plateau
• ·         Past the Glencoe ski resort and Buachaille Etive Mor and descending past some waterfalls into the valley of Glencoe
• ·         Three sisters of Glencoe stop
• ·         Drive through Glencoe village, along Loch Leven, crossing thespectacular Ballachulish bridge and driving to Corran
• ·         Catching the Corran ferry and crossing the Loch Leven sealoch from Nether Lochaber to Ardgour on the side of the 4 peninsulas (Morven, Sunart, Moidart & Ardnamurchan)
• ·         Scenic single track country drive with views of the fjord, ships, fish cages and Fort William and Ben Nevis shrouded in the cloud on the far side of the sealoch
• ·         Highland cow photostop
• ·         Fort William and Loch Leven photostop
• ·         Rural drive with many sheep back to the mainland and Glenfinnan
• ·         Glenfinnan stop, climb up the viewpoint for the railway viaduct (Scotrail, Jacobite steamtrain, nowadays also called the “Hogwarth express”; Loch Shiel and the Bonny Prince Charles monument) and a snack at the National Trust visitor centre and exhibition
• ·         Heading east again towards Fort William with the clouds on top of Ben Nevis starting to lift
• ·         Drive across the Caledonian canal / Neptune’s staircase
• ·         Drive past historic Inverlochy castle and the Jacobite steam train depot
• ·         Drive through Fort William, with views of the Ben Nevis distillery, the town centre, the “Od Fort William” and the old crannog
• ·         Heading south along Loch Linnhe across the Ballachulish bridge past Kentallen to Appin and Castle Stalker
• ·         Across the Loch Creran bridge, past Oban airport and crossing the Connell bridge over the Falls of Lora (Loch Etive tidal sea loch estuary)
• ·         Drive to Taynuilt with a family photostop at Loch Etive
• ·         Towards and along the inland Loch Awe, past St. Conan’s Kirk, Loch Awe station and the hotel to the Kilchurn castle viewpoint
• ·         Drive to Inverary with a village round tour and views of Inverary Castle/home of the Duke of Argyll and the clan chief of the Campbell clan
• ·         Drive along Loch Fyne
• ·         Climbing up and drive north of the Cowal peninsula and up and down Rest and be thankful into the Argyll forest park and to the next sealoch, Loch Long
• ·         Through Arrochar, below the Coppler and the Arrochar Alps up towards Tarbet and south along Loch Lomond back into the Lowlands and the Greater Glasgow area to the city centre and the south side

1 day tour price (private & small group tours of Scotland)

Personalised & private small group tours all over Scotland (100+ itineraries: ½ – 7 day tour options & discounted multi-day tours to choose from) – with a set daily tour price for our tour guide driver & 8 passenger seater mini-bus (due to the fixed same overall cost for up to 8 passengers, the cheapest per person price for a private small group tour is if 8, 7, 6 or 5 are travelling together to share the set fixed daily cost, which is the same total cost, no matter if there are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 passengers on a private mini-bus tour)

All of these private & personalised, small group tours of Scotland

are available on any available green calendar days for private tours

• Choose any private & personalised tailormade 1/2 day tour on any available green calendar day.
• Choose any private & personalised tailormade 1 day tour on any available green calendar day.
• Choose any private & personalised tailormade 2 day tour on any 2 consecutive available green calendar days. Any private 2 day tours will already show a 2.5% discount.
• Choose any private & personalised tailormade 3 day tour on any 3 consecutive available green calendar days. Any private 3 day tours will already show a 5% discount.
• Choose any private & personalised tailormade 4 day tour on any 4 consecutive available green calendar days. Any private 4 day tours will already include a 7.5% discount.
• Choose any private personalised & tailormade 5 day tour on any 5 consecutive available green calendar days. Any private 5 day tours will already include a 10% discount.
• Choose any private personalised & tailormade 6 day tour on any 6 consecutive available green calendar days. Any private 6 day tours is discounted by 12.5%.
• Choose any private personalised & tailormade 7 day tour on any 7 consecutive available green calendar days. Any private 7 day tour prices already show the 15% discount. 

Additionally from September to May there is a 12.5% student discount, which also applies to seniors over 65 and to children up to 17 travelling as part of a family group.

On a clear, sunny bright day with good visibility,

we also offer the option to take the gondola up to the Nevis Range Mountain Experience

near Aonach Mor (north of Ben Nevis)

Nevis Range view / Lochaber – Coast, sea Highlands & Islands – Unicorn Tours throughout Scotland

Information about private tours in general

Private & personalised tailormade tours to suit your group’s preferences

This is your very own private tour for you and your friends and family members of up to 8 people travelling on this tour together.

Before any private tour, we always check for your must-see stops, interests, hobbies, activities, preferences, priorities and any special requests you might have and we ask you about your preferred pace of travel so to tailor make and personalise the tour to suit your needs.

The route, the stops and the itinerary we give on our website for any private tour are for information and guidance only, as in the end it is you, who decides, what you wish to do, where you wish to stop and what you wish to do and see.

Any private tour itinerary can be shortened, extended or amended, if you wish to do so.

Flexibility on private tours

We also like to keep things flexible as our experience is that there are places, once you arrive and see them, you just fall in love with and wish to spend more time and longer.

whereas some other times we arrive at a place and they are different from what you had expected and you are ok to have a shorter stop and to move on quicker.

Flexibility is also good as on a beautiful gorgeous blue sunny day when all colours in nature and the landscapes are sparkling and you have clear and amazing far distant visibility and the scenery and places are at their best, you probably prefer to spend more time outdoors, while on a stormy, wet, dark, grey and cold day, you are likely to prefer more indoor venues during your stops.

Travelling at your own pace on private tours

Some guests are on a whirlwind tour with little time and wish to pack as much into a short time as possible and are ok with just short photo stops,

whereas other tour guests prefer to travel at a more leisurely pace to be able to explore and discover and soak it all in and leaving the tour with a memorable and lasting experience.

All of this is possible within the constraints of your chosen route, the distances involved

and during the winter season the shorter daylight hours we have.

Lunch breaks on private tours

Some guests put a lot of emphasis on a good quality lunch in a good atmospheric restaurant and we can prebook lunch venues,

whereas other guests are ok to just stop at a supermarket for a sandwich to eat on the go

or just need a short lunch stop for some light snack to eat.

Your tour options on any private tour are unlimited and endless

Same place, same route – but one one private tour, the private tour guests would want to visit the castle, while on another tour at the same place, they want a whisky tour instead and yet again same place on the next tour the private tour guests, want to just go for a walk on the beach there, while another time at the same place, they just want to go shopping, visit the museum or stop at the golf course – so same place, but on each private tour at this very same place, we visit different places and the itinerary, stops and experience is different. 

As this is a private & personalised tour to suit your interests, preferences, hobbies and activities, it is up to you and we can either offer our normal tour itinerary for the location with all the many local highlights and sights and be flexible depending on the season, the weather, the time we have and also be fully flexible during the tour (as some places, you will love and stay longer and at other places you come to, you might wish to just take a photo and then leave, so in the end you might on the day of the tour decide to stay longer or shorter at some of the places we visit or you might still decide to add in some additional stops and places you had not thought about before)  and also partially or fully adjust it to suit your interests and preferences or entirely turn it into a specialist interest tour “a whisky tour”, “a castle, cathedral, historic sights tours”, a “walking tour”, a “nature & wildlife tour”, a “golf tour”, an “activity tour”, etc. depending on what you request (also see our full range of  Activities, special interests & tour themes.)

If it says on the tour itinerary, the tour starts in A and ends in Z and on our journey from A to Z we are travelling and can be stopping at B, C, D, E, F…… X & Y,

it might be the same route on every such private tour, but with every private tour group and individuals, it could still be an entirely & very different tour after all,

as there are so many different special interests & tour themes

so that the main focus of some private tour groups could be

• architecture & charming towns & villages
• castles, history
• child-friendly stops
• churches, abbeys & religious sites
• dining & and having a great lunch eating out
• events based, such as visiting the Highland games while on the tour with us
• family history & genealogy
• gardens, flowers & parks
• golf, football or other sports’ venues
• literature, film or movie fictional based tour, i.e. visiting filming locations of Outlander, Harry Potter, Shetland crime series, Downtown Abbey. etc.
• nature & wildlife, seabirds, puffins or whale
• watching
• the scenery, the coast & beaches
• snow and wintry landscapes
• tourist steam train in conjunction with our tour
• walking
• waterfalls
• whisky distilleries, gin and breweries
• etc.

Pick ups & drop offs anywhere on private tours

As mentioned in the pick up section, on a private tour we can pick up from anywhere and drop off anywhere and offer staggered free pick ups and drop offs, which are dependent on the distance from our Alloa home base near Stirling. Our home base is 30 miles from Edinburgh, Glasgow & Perth in the heart of the Scottish Central belt:

•  for short & half day tours the free pick up/drop off zone is within 15 miles of our Alloa home base (which includes Stirling, Falkirk, Dunfermline & Gleneagles)
•  for 1 day tours the free pick up/drop off zone is within 35 miles of our Alloa home base (which additionally includes Edinburgh, Glasgow & Perth)
•  for 2, 3 & 4 day tours the free pick up/drop off zone is within 50 miles of our Alloa home base (which additionally includes Dundee, St. Andrews & the entire Scottish Central belt)
• for 5, 6 & 7 day tours the free pick up/drop off zone is within 75 miles of our Alloa home base

Additionally as stated we sometimes offer free pick ups for places on the route to our destination, even though they might exceed the free mileage zone, so for example for a West Coast tour and we need to head westbound anyway for the tour, we could be pick up at locations west free of charge, depending on the exact route and distances involved.

(During a few weeks every year we are also Shetland, Orkney, Hebridean Isles or regionally based

and the free pick ups will then be based from that local area, such as on the Shetland, Orkney or on some of the Hebridean Isles for example.)

Accommodation on multi-day tours is your choice

Some of our guests are budget travellers, whereas others are luxurious travellers, while others chose a mid-range 3* hotel.

We are happy to give you tips, links and info about your accommodation options for the towns and villages we are staying overnight, but in the end it is up to you, where you would like to stay, at which hotel or guesthouse and for which price.

However much or however little you wish to spend for your overnight accommodation is your choice.

On a private tour we will pick you up from any accommodation in the morning and in the evening drop you off at any accommodation of your choice for your overnight tour accommodation and and chosen location.

Pick up & drop off from anywhere in the Scottish Central belt (between Stirling/Perth/St. Andrews/Dundee & the Edinburgh, Greater Glasgow & Loch Lomond & the Trossachs & Fort William area)

Pick up / drop off points for private small group 1 Day Tours, from anywhere as it is your own private tour:

• within the Stirling/Uni area
• within the Forth Valley area
• from within the Scottish Central belt, Edinburgh & Glasgow included

+

• from places listed along or nearby the route and the stops of this particular 1 Day Tour

To enquire about this tour or book, please email contact@unicorntours.co.uk

This tour is for a private small group of up to 8 people.

We will personalise & tailor make this flexible tour itinerary to suit your preferences, interests & requirements.

This tour is available on any green calendar day

except during our Scottish Islands based tour days

for a few weeks each year.

Once you wish to book, we send you an invoice with a payment link and also allowing for a UK & international bank transfer.

Once you have paid, we send you your tour confirmation and will mark this day as “red” unavailable/booked out in our tours availability calendar

We can pick up from anywhere, but for a 1 day tour the free pick up zone is within 35 miles of our Alloa home base (which includes does Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth and anywhere in between, such Stirling, Falkirk, Dunfermline & Gleneagles)

Pick ups & drop offs anywhere on private tours

As mentioned in the pick up section, on a private tour we can pick up from anywhere and drop off anywhere and offer staggered free pick ups and drop offs, which are dependent on the distance from our Alloa home base near Stirling. Our home base is 30 miles from Edinburgh, Glasgow & Perth in the heart of the Scottish Central belt:

•  for short & half day tours the free pick up/drop off zone is within 15 miles of our Alloa home base (which includes Stirling, Falkirk, Dunfermline & Gleneagles)
•  for 1 day tours the free pick up/drop off zone is within 35 miles of our Alloa home base (which additionally includes Edinburgh, Glasgow & Perth)
•  for 2, 3 & 4 day tours the free pick up/drop off zone is within 50 miles of our Alloa home base (which additionally includes Dundee, St. Andrews & the entire Scottish Central belt)
• for 5, 6 & 7 day tours the free pick up/drop off zone is within 75 miles of our Alloa home base

Additionally as stated we sometimes offer free pick ups for places on the route to our destination, even though they might exceed the free mileage zone, so for example for a West Coast tour and we need to head westbound anyway for the tour, we could be pick up at locations west free of charge, depending on the exact route and distances involved.

(During a few weeks every year we are also Shetland, Orkney, Hebridean Isles or regionally based

and the free pick ups will then be based from that local area, such as on the Shetland, Orkney or on some of the Hebridean Isles for example.)