Scottish Tour Guide's Blog

This morning, group arrived Edinburgh Airport from where we proceeded as follows:

To Killin in central Scotland but en-route we made a brief stop at Kilmahog to view Hamish the Highland Cow and undertake some shopping.

Hamish, Highland Bull, Scotland

Next we arrived at Killin at the southern tip of Loch Tay. Here we spent a few hours watching the Highland Games which included Highland Dancing, Piping, Shot Putting, Hammer Throwing and the Callendar Pipe Band which marched the length of the town. Weather was very clement.

Callendar Pipe Band at Killin, Scotland

Killin Highland Games, Highland Perthshire, Scotland

Highland Dancing at Killin Higghland Games

Putting the Shot at Killin Highland Games, Scotland

Piping Competition at Killin Highland Games, Scotland

Next to the Crannog Centre at Kenmore on Loch Tay. This is a recreated loch dwelling of about 2500 years ago. The guide was very helpful and provided practical experiments of woodworking, fire making and other skills from the Crannog era.

Crannog Centre Tour Group, Scotland

Wood Turning at Crannog Centre, Scotland

Next to our lodgings for the night at Royal Hotel, Dunkeld.

Finally, after dinner we drove up to Pitlochry to view an Alan Ayckbourn play at the Festival  Theatre.

Theatre Group, Pitlochry, Scotland

Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Scotland

We finally returned to Dunkeld about 11.30pm after a long but fulfilling day.

Tomorrow, we head to Loch Ness.

Reenactment Medieval Lady at Doune Castle

This morning, I collected my tour group from Edinburgh New Town and then proceeded as follows:

• First, about one hour drive to central Scotland with aim of visiting Stirling Castle, one of Scotland’s top tourist attractions. However, we were thwarted in our objective by no lesser a person than H.M. the Queen who was scheduled to visit the castle during the afternoon resulting in a closure of the castle to visitors until after her visit had concluded. Like many other visitors we diverted to nearby Doune Castle which has a link with Stirling Castle in that Doune was a former Royal hunting lodge for the Scottish royal family which resided at Stirling during medieval times.

Doune Castle, Doune, Scotland

• Doune Castle is a very substantial and well preserved castle sitting on the banks of the River Teith. The structure dates from the 14th century and is of such robust construction that it rarely changed hands due to military action. The castle has belonged to the Earls of Moray since 1590 and since then has witnessed much military activity including the Jacobite uprisings. It was restored in 1883 and subsequently featured in the comedy film ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’. We enjoyed our visit.

Inside Doune Castle, Doune, Scotland

• Next we headed north through Crianlarich to Tyndrum and a lunch stop at the Green Welly.
• Next across the desolate Rannoch Moor to Glencoe, one of Scotland’s best scenic landscapes. Unfortunately the heavy rain allowed only a brief photo stop so we continued north tracking Loch Linnhe to Fort William.
• At Fort William we joined a tour of the Ben Nevis Distillery to learn the whisky making process through malting, mashing and fermentation to distillation and maturation. An interesting tour of this Japanese owned business.

Whisky Stills at Ben Nevis Distillery, Scotland

• Next we continued up the Great Glen to Fort Augustus where we had a brief view of Loch Ness, although we could not stop long due to the wet and windy weather conditions.

Caledonian Canal at Fort Augustus, Scotland

• After Fort Augustus, we returned along the Glen to Spean Bridge for some afternoon tea.
• Finally, we embarked on the long return trip to Edinburgh connecting with the A9 and then down past Pitlochry and Dunkeld and across the River Tay arriving back in Edinburgh at 9.00pm after a long but successful day.

Birnam Street Scene, Perthshire

This evening, the focus of my blog is the country town of Birnam which is located next door to Dunkeld in central Scotland.

This is a pleasant town being popular with both locals and visitors. The attractions/features include:

• Birnam Oak and Birnam Wood, as mentioned in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
• Beatrix Potter connection. She spent her childhood holidays here and gained inspiration for characters in her children’s books. There is a Beatrix Potter Garden.
• Birnam House Hotel. A large Victorian building with magnificent Baronial Hall which is used for musical entertainments and weddings.
• Golf at the nearby Dunkeld and Birnam Golf Club.
• A railway station.
• Nearby River Tay, Scotland’s longest river.
• Bird Watching at nearby Loch of the Lowes

Here is a view of the Golf Club

Birnam and Dunkeld Golf Club, Perthsire

Beatrix Potter Garden

Beatrix Potter Garden, Birnam, Scotland

Birnam House Hotel

Birnam House Hotel, Perthshire

Birnam Oak on banks of River Tay.

Birnam Oak, Birnam, Perthshire

Overall, Birnam’s central location and pleasant countryside makes the town a good base for touring the area.

Elsewhere today, I have been busy working on new and existing tours including a potential new ancestry themed tour of Scotland for 2012. Today, I have two tours in process which seem to be progressing well.