European Classic Cruise - Scotland

Guests are met at the Glenmoriston Townhouse Hotel in Inverness and transferred by private chauffeured minibus to Spirit of Scotland. A champagne welcome by the Captain and crew and perhaps an early evening stroll before our first dinner on board.

Your excursion today will take you to the mystical area of Glencoe, renowned for its geographical beauty and famed for one of the darkest days in Scottish history. Alternatively, you can enjoy some breath-taking panoramic views on a cable car ride to the summit of Aonach Mor mountain. If time permits you can visit the ruins of the 13th century, Old Inverlochy Castle, before embarking on your first cruise, through Moy Bridge, the last hand-operated bridge of its type on the Caledonian Canal. En route, you may visit the Clan Cameron Museum, before crossing Loch Lochy. As you approach our mooring at Laggan, a Highland Piper may be there to greet you with a stirring rendition of traditional Scottish music. Dinner on board.

This morning, you will take in some of the finest scenery Scotland has to offer as you drive to one of its best known and most photographed castles, Eilean Donan, which has been featured in movies such as “Highlander” and James Bond’s “The World Is Not Enough” and overlooks three sea lochs.
Our afternoon cruise today takes you across the very scenic Loch Oich, perhaps stopping en route for a spot of fishing and enjoying a walk, then onto a pretty mooring at Cullochy. Dinner on board.

This morning you will cruise to Fort Augustus and down the “flight” as the locals call it, to moor opposite the Benedictine Abbey at the entrance to Loch Ness. There is time to explore this pretty village, then after lunch on board, you can take a gentle drive through stunning scenery to see the falls of Foyers, set in a dramatic gorge leading to Loch Ness and made famous in a 1787 poem by Robbie Burns. This evening you will have dinner ashore at a local restaurant.

This morning you will enjoy a picturesque cruise across world-famous Loch Ness, with perhaps a chance of spotting “Nessie”, where en route you will visit Urquhart Castle, mooring right below its spectacular ruins, before continuing your cruise to moor at the hamlet of Dochgarroch. After lunch you can visit Cawdor Castle, forever immortalized in Shakespeare’s “Scottish Play”, Macbeth. The picturesque gardens have been listed as being amongst the top 100 in the UK. The castle contains a superb collection of tapestries, pictures and furnishings and is still in use as a home for the Dowager Countess of Cawdor who resides there for several months of the year. Then you can visit Culloden Moor, scene of the last major battle on British soil in 1746 and end your tour at the Clava Cairns, a pre-historic clan chieftain burial site dating back to 2000 B.C. Dinner on board.

This morning, your final cruise will take you through Tomnahurich swing bridge and through the locks to Muirtown, where there will be the opportunity to take a bicycle ride or walk to the sea lock with wonderful views over the Moray and Beauly Firths. After lunch, you can visit the Glen Ord distillery, founded in 1838 on the Black Isle by the Mackenzies of Ord. You will be given a fascinating description of the maturing and aging process of their whiskeys, each with its distinctive characteristics, followed by our special tasting of several single malts, including The Singleton.  Captain’s Farewell Dinner on board.

After breakfast, guests are transferred by private chauffeured minibus to their choice of location in Inverness.