A full day tour to the Scottish Highlands, with the “Hairy Coo Tours”

During my 3-day visit in Edinburgh last September, I decided to join a full-day tour to the famous Highlands. The choices for the tour were numerous. Since my time was limited and my budget was low, I decided to book the excursion to the south Highlands, by Hairy Coo Tours. This one was a free, full-day tour, based on visitors’ tips. Meaning, there is a person in charge, who drives the bus, escorts and guides throughout the excursion; after the end of the tour, the passengers give him a tip of any amount they wish. The offer was tempting and while I did not want to spend my whole day in a bus to the north Scotland for just a few hours, I immediately booked seats for me and my co-traveler online, getting our ticket via email.

During the tour, the bus stopped in various remarkable spots in the area, where we could spend our time on our own. The visits to the Wallace Monument and the Doune castle were optional and the entrance fee was paid on site. The rest of the visits were totally free. Our driver/guide was a very pleasant and cheerful Scottish guy, John R, who had a typical Scottish accent (sometimes hard to understand!!!). Even though the tour was well organized, it was a pleasant surprise that they gave free time to the visitors to follow their own schedule. Even during the lunch time, each one could select their own place to eat. Overall, the route to the Highlands was wonderful, with frequent stops in magnificent natural spots. Unfortunately, quite expected in such organized tours, the time available in each stop was rather limited as we had to keep up with the schedule.

Starting from a central location in the old town of Edinburgh, and after making a short stop to admire and photograph the Forth Bridges, we continued our trip to the northwest towards the national park Trossachs, stopping at the following sights:

The national Wallace Monument

The national Wallace monument is actually a 67m tower in honor of the national hero Sir William Wallace. The name sounds familiar to the “Braveheart” movie fans, with Mel Gibson starring as the Scottish rebel. Built on a hill, the tower offers breathtaking views to the valley and the Stirling castle from the top. The three exhibition galleries within the Monument can be visited together with the Crown (roof) at the top of the building. The visit to the monument was optional.

The Highlands’ cows at the Stirling Castle

The next short stop of the tour took place outside a meadow close to the Stirling castle, for pictures of the cute hairy Highland cows and the imposing castle on the hill.

Lakes, nature and waterfalls

On our way to Trossachs national park, we drove through a beautiful part of south Scotland, full of forests, rivers and cobblestone bridges. First stop, the one and only (according to locals) lake of Scotland, Menteith. We had some free time there to take photos of the amazing surroundings, from an easily accessible part of the lake (more details here) and then, off to Aberfoyle village for lunch. As mentioned above, we could spend our free time on our own and also choose our lunch place, without having the obligation to follow the group on pre-arranged reservations (as in other organized trips). We opted for an outdoor dining yard of a local inn, and their local dish of fresh salmon and boiled vegetables.

The village is small, having no special places of interest, besides the Scottish Wool Center (a place selling local products such as cashmere wool, whiskey, cakes, etc. and hosts domestic animals such as sheep, goats, ducks). We didn’t visit it; the bus was just parked besides the center, so we had the time to take some photos, on our way back from the center of the village. After visiting the Little Fawn waterfall, close to Aberfoyle village, for about half an hour (more on that post), we went on to the next stop, the wonderful Loch Katrine.

Loch Katrine, Hairy Coos and Doune Castle

Loch Katrine (photo above) is a narrow area of water located in the heart of the Trossachs national park. We stopped there for about 40’, enough time to have a short walk along the shores or drink a coffee at the cafeteria next to the jetty, with beautiful views to the amazing Scottish nature (more details on this post).

Afterwards, we headed towards a local farm, having the chance to feed the famous hairy cows of Highlands for a few minutes (check this out!) and ended up at the Doune castle, known as one of the filming locations of the “Games of Thrones” and other movies. Visiting the castle inside was optional.

That was our last stop of our full-day tour to the Scottish Highlands. We returned to the center of the old town of Edinburgh having enjoyed a great day with the Hairy Coo Tours, in an organized tour that I strongly recommend as a full-day leisure break to the Scottish countryside.