Tour summary & highlights
While every private tour is different, flexible, tailormade, personalised and depends on the interests/preferences/priorities of the group’s individuals and the weather and time of year, this is a recent 4 day tour, (so not a 2 day tour) which focused on Aberdeenshire and the Northeast:
Day 1
Edinburgh – 3 Forth bridges photostop – Falkland (Inverness in the Outlander series) – St. Andrews golf course, beach, town & Uni – Tay bridge – Dundee waterfront – Glamis castle photostop & lunch – Eastern Cairngorms nationalpark: Glenshee & Royal Deeside (Braemar Highland Games gathering place, Balmoral castle floral tributes, Ballater market square & the bridge over the River Dee) – Banchory & the Falls of Feugh – Dunnottar castle & clifftop views – Aberdeen
Day 2
Aberdeen – Union Street – beach boulevard – Footdee – Port of Aberdeen, Old Aberdeen – Kings College – St. Machar’s cathedral – Seaton park – Bridge of Balgownie, Newburgh – beach, dunes, seals & golfcourse, Pennan, coastal drive & lunch at the Knowes restaurant in Macduff. Whisky – Glen Grant whisky tour & photostop at the Speyside cooperage & Glenfiddich distillery. Balvenie castle & drive back to Aberdeen
Day 3
Aberdeen – Walk around Castle Fraser & its gardens – Northern Cairngorms, including the Lecht skiresort & Tomintoul Western Cairngorms, Granton on Spey, Carrbridge & Aviemore with stone circle – Clava Cairns & Culloden – Inverness & a River Ness island walk – the Caledonian canal & Loch Ness – the Black Isle peninsula, Belladrum, Beauly market square & abbey, Chanonry point lighthouse & beach, Cromarty & viewpoint – Clootie well & via the Kessock bridge back to Inverness.
Day 4
Inverness – past the Western Cairngorms nationalpark & the Kincraig wildlife park and the sheepdog farm – past the Newtonmore Highland life & “black house Outlander village”, past the MacPherson clan centre & the Dalwhinnie distillery & Blair Atholl castle – River Garry forest walk from Killiecrankie to the Garry bridge – Victorian Pitlochry & the Atholl Palace hotel – Loch Faskally (Enchanted forest) footbridge photostop below the motorway bridge – off the beaten track route along Loch Tummel & on for a photostop at Kenmore, Loch Tay – scenic drive along the north shore of Loch Tay – Killin & the Falls of Dochart bridge walk & the MacNab burial island – drive through Glen Ogle & down into the Trossachs – view of Loch Earn – stop at Balquhidder church & Rob Roy’s grave – Loch Voil view & forest drive to Strathyre – Loch Lubnaig & the falls of Leny – Kilmahog – Callander – Aberfoyle & lunchstop at the Woolen Mill – Southern shores at Loch Lomond at the Ross Priory – Glasgow: Westend, Botanic Gardens, Oran Mhor church, Byers Road, views of Kelvinhall, Glasgow University & the Kelvingrove museum & art gallery – Clydeside, including views of the SECC, Hydro, Armadillo, Finnieston crane, the rotunda, the squinty bridge, Kingston bridge & murals – Central Glasgow, including the financial district, Nelson Mandela place, Buchanan Street, Queen Street station, George square & the Glasgow City Chambers – Merchant city, including Ingram Street & its murals – Eastend, including the tolbooth, St. Mungo’s cathedral & the Necropolis – summarising our tour experiences on our drive to your Edinburgh hotel
Tour itinerary
Aberdeenshire has so much to offer
- from whisky, mountains, castle, coastline, historic towns, harbours and so much more
- as this is a private, tailor-made tour it will be very much personalised to suit your own needs
a sample recent tour, where we spent 2 days in the Northeast/Aberdeenshire:
Along the Speyside whisky trail we pass the Ballindalloch, Tormore, Aberlour & the John Dewar’s of Craigallachie distilleries.
We drive past the Speyside cooperage and the disused Keith & Dufftown railway line before stopping at the Glenfiddich distillery.
We take a photostop at Balvenie castle and after a scenic drive, we stop at Tesco’s in Huntly.
We stop at the East Aquhorties stone circle before heading to the hotel in Aberdeen.
Aberdeen to Aberdeen
After a short city tour along Union Street and Castlegate, we head to Aberdeen’s beach boulevard for a walk around Footdee and on to Aberdeen harbour.
In Old Aberdeen we visit Kings’ College, Seaton Park and Bridge of Balgownie.
We head to the Brewdog brewery on Ellon before visiting the cliffs at Bullers of Buchan and Cruden Bay beach.
We visit Crathes castle and gardens, have a photostop at Drum castle before heading back to our hotel in Aberdeen.
Aberdeen to Aberdeen
We visit the ruins of the Old Parish church in Kincardine and at Aboyne start our journey into Royal Deeside along the south Dee River route.
We visit Ballater and the old railway museum.
We drive into the mountains for a walk towards Loch Muick, before visiting the Royal Lochnagar distillery.
We go for a walk around the grounds of Balmoral castle, across the River See and on to the closed church at Crathie.
Past the Farquharson clan castle and centre we take a photo at Braemar castle.
Through the village we head to the games park as the venue for the Royal Braemar Highland gathering.
We stop at the Roman Catholic church, before heading to the Mar Lodge national nature reserve of the Linn of Quoich and Linn of Dee waterfall gorge.
We head north into Highland Aberdeenshire to open grounds above the treeline and after Strathdon along the River Don, we stop at Glenbuchat castle, drive past Kildrummy castle and to the Donview forest trail, the Bennachie forestry visitor centre before stopping at the Brandsbutt Pictish stone before heading back to the Aberdeen hotel from the country route.
Aberdeen to Edinburgh
We leave Aberdeen behind to the tune of “The Northern lights of Old Aberdeen” – have a walk around the picturesque harbour of Stonehaven
We walk down to the cliffs overlooking Dunnottar castle.
We head south along the coast towards Montrose, where we go for a late breakfast at the Costa cafe.
At Brechin we visit the Cathedral & the Round tower grounds.
At Aberlemno we visit the Parish church with the Sculptured Pictish Aberlemno stone and cross.
We have a tour of Glamis castle before heading through Dundee past the V&A and Discovery Point across the Tay bridge to the Fife peninsula, where we visit Falkland “filming location of the Inverness guesthouse in the Outlander series”.
After crossing the old Forth bridge with its great views we visit Hopetoun House “home of the Duke of Sandringham in the Outlander story” before heading to Midhope castle, which featured as “Lallybroch in Outlander”.
After a quick walk through historic South Queensferrry we head to our Edinburgh hotel to say good-bye and end our 8 day tour.
Private tour price for the 8 passenger seater mini-bus & driver/tourguide, i.e. the tour price for a private group of min. 1 and max 8 passengers
2 day tour prices – Unicorn Tours
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
| 5, 6, 7 days | 4 days | 3 days |
| 2 days | Scottish destinations/Tour extensions & add ons | 1 day |
| Activities, special interests & tour themes | Walking tours | ½ & short day 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.
Extra costs & ferry info (if applicable)
Tour links
Some of your private tour options in the Northeast (Dundee – Angus – Aberdeenshire – Moray Coast & Eastern Cairngorms/Royal Deeside) region:
- SD#9 – Perth and/or Dundee via scenic backroads – Short day tour
- 1D#12 – Eastcoast – Angus & Aberdeenshire (optional Dunnottar castle) – 1 day tour
- 1D#88 – Speyside – the Moray coast, beaches, the whisky trail, history & mountains – 1 day add on – to your multi-day tour (in the Cairngorms, Aberdeenshire or Northern Highlands & Inverness regions)
- 1D#91 – Royal Deeside – Eastern Cairngorms nationalpark – 1 day tour – or add on tour to your Aberdeenshire/Cairngorms/Inverness multi-day tour
- 2D#2 – Northeastern trails – Castles, whisky, coast (beaches & cliffs) & the Cairngorm mountains – 2 day tour
- 2D#6 – Favour-easts -St. Andrews, Dunnottar castle, Royal Deeside & more – 2 day tour
- 2D#28 – Gannet seabird colony & the dramatic Northeast coast experience- 2 day tour
Tour options
Information about tour options for a private tour 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 discuss with you and 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.
Free time & activities
Tour pick up/start, drop off/end & joining options near to & along our tour route
– private 2 day tour pick ups & drop offs anywhere south of Inverness, incl. Aberdeenshire & Moray
Pick up / drop off points for private small group 2 Days 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 within the Dundee, St. Andrews & Perth area
+
- from places listed along or nearby the route and the stops of this particular 2 Days Tour
Tour booking
To enquire about this tour or to book please email contact@unicorntours.co.uk
As this will be your very own tailormade, personalised, flexible private small group tour, we will discuss:
- Your preferred travel dates
- Your preferred route
- Based on your preferred route, we will give a choice of overnight locations to stay
- Once you have chosen your preferred overnight location, we would like to know about your preferred type of accommodation, any special requests or a price range and your preferred roomtypes
- Based on your choice, for example hotel with * ** *** **** ***** star rating, guesthouse/B&B, self-catering or budget hostel accommodation, etc. for each overnight location, we can then give you suggestions and also check the room availability for each night
Accommodation
- Unicorn Tours is happy to assist you with your questions regarding your accommodation & accommodation booking
- The general rule is that you should then book your accommodation yourself, let us know where you are staying during which night, as it is there that we will drop you off at the end of the tour day and pick you up on the beginning of the next tour day
- The choice of your accommodation, how much or how little you wish to spend for your overnight accommodation is unconnected and separate from your tour with Unicorn Tours throughout the daytime – for the same day and tour, we have picked up guests from 5* hotels and guests from budget hostels, but the tour experience during the daytime with Unicorn Tours remains the same.
- When ferries or any other additional costs are involved, we also want to make sure, you are happy with those
Once the tour details, including
- tour itinerary & special requests
- pick up/drop off locations & timings
- tour duration, passenger numbers and price
- etc.
- have been discussed and agreed
- and you are happy to proceed with the booking
- we send you an invoice which allows for payment by Paypal / card or by BACS bank transfer
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 2 day tour the free pick up zone is within 50 miles from our Alloa home base (which includes does Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth, Dundee, St. Andrews & places throughout the entire Scottish Central belt 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.)
Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email contact@unicorntours.co.uk to discuss further
2D#2 – Northeastern trails – Castles, whisky, coast (beaches & cliffs) & the Cairngorm mountains – 2 day tour
Northeast, coast, castle & whisky trail
2 day tour to explore
for your private, flexible tailor-made small group sample itinerary 2D#2
Northeast, coast, castle & whisky trail – 2 days to explore
As this is your own private small group tour, the itinerary is very flexible and along the way, we can add additional nearby stops and depending on the weather it is also possible to swap the route of day 1 and day 2 around. So the route for day 1 and day 2 is a sample itinerary and can be amended if you prefer.
Day 1sample itinerary 1D#12Angus & Aberdeenshire East CoastCoastal, towns and beach & cliff walks, Lunan bay, Ferryden &, Dunnottar castle Optional visit of Aberdeen North of Aberdeen we will include some of these highlights:
· Castle trail· Peterhead – Scotland’s largest fishing port· Scottish museum of lighthouses in Fraserburgh· Aberdeenshire farming museum· Coastal towns of Crovie, Pennan & Gardenstown |
Accommodation in AberdeenshireAccommodation options(a) You choose the type / price-category of your accommodation For every location/area our guests have the choice to either stay at a hotel, B&B or hostel, it is up to you how much you wish to spend for the night and it makes no difference to the tour, whether we pick you up from an upmarket or budget place (b) You choose the location of your accommodation Aberdeenshire is a very large and diverse region. Whatever YOUR preferences, nature, wildlife, walking, history, castles, culture, architecture, great museums, whisky, gardens, etc. – you choose to stay: · In Aberdeen, the city centre · Inland, including near to Royal Deeside & the NE Cairngorm nationalpark or close to the Castle trail or further east along the Speyside whisky trail. · Near to the coast in one of the many historic towns close to the many beaches, cliffs, coastal walks or one of the many small historic Once we know your preferences we can give you some ideas and suggestions and send you some links.
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Day 2 optionsreturn back via Royal Deeside
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Perth
Dundee
Dundee and Angus
Broughty Ferry
Monifieth
Carnoustie
Arbroath
Lunan Bay
Montrose
Aberlemno Pictish Standing Stones
St. Cyrus
Stonehaven
Aberdeen
Old Aberdeen
Aberdeen beaches
Royal Deeside
Ballater
Balmoral Castle
Braemar
Glenshee
Blairgowrie / East Perthshire
or continue on the Aberdeenshire coastal trail
Balmedie Beach
Newburgh/River Ythan & beach
Slains Castle
Bullers of Buchan
Peterhead
Fraserburgh
Rosehearty
Pennan, Crovie, Gardenstown
Pennan
Crovie
Gardenstown
Macduff
Banff and MacDuff
Banff
Buckie
Spey Bay
Lossiemouth
Elgin
Malt Whisky Trail
- including: MacAllan, Glenfiddich, Glen Grant, Glenlivet, Strathisla, Glen Moray, Dallas Dhu & many more plus the Speyside Cooperage
Sueno’s Stone
Findhorn Bay
Castle Trail
depending on route request, time, group, weather, places near Inverness, such as Channonry Point (dolphins), Culloden Moor or Clava Cairns could possibly be included: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clava_cairn
Depending on the weather, we might discuss and decide to reverse the route and first drive the day 2 and then day 1 route (so as to maximise sunshine and minimise rain).
Also on very rainy days, we may have less outdoor sightseeing and if the group so wishes, we may visit a whisky distillery, castle, museum, etc. indoors.
Also check out our similar, but shorter 1 day tour 1D#12 East Coast towns and beaches, Lunan bay, Dunnottar castle, Aberdeen, Royal Deeside, Glenshee, etc.