Freedom Tours & Travel

Program Leaders:
Gregg Finley, PhD, University of New Brunswick.
Lynda Finley, MScN, University of Edinburgh.

TOUR ITINERARY:

• Day 1: Friday April 27: Saint John to Edinburgh & Glasgow.

We depart Saint John airport at 17:25 (Atlantic time) for Montreal, then fly overnight to London, and to  Edinburgh

• Day 2: Saturday April 28: Glasgow.

Arrive Edinburgh at 13:40 local time. Your guide for the next 8 days will meet you at the airport for transfer by coach to Glasgow, with a panoramic tour of the city on the way to your hotel.

Hotel: 3-star Erskine Bridge Hotel, with dinner and Scottish breakfast included.

• Day 3: Sunday April 29: Glasgow to Oban.

Depart your hotel for a full day of travel northwest through storied Argyll, in the direction of the Highlands and Inner Hebrides. We will pass Loch Lomond on our way to Kilmartin Glen, one of the most important prehistoric sites in Scotland. Here you will see clusters of ancient monuments within a six-mile radius of the village of Kilmartin. There are hundreds of Neolithic and early Celtic artifacts in situ, which may be examined up close: standing stones, a ‘henge’ monument, a collection of stone burial cairns and more. We will view the ancient Scots fortress of Dalriada, a kingdom that once stretched over western Scotland and across the sea to Northern Ireland. Entrance to the Kilmartin House Museum is included in your tour. It is a world-class interpretation center for local archaeology and landscape, including the “Valley of Ghosts” audiovisual. There is also a shop, and an award winning café, where you can obtain refreshment before driving to your hotel in the Argyll area, where you will stay for 2 nights.

Hotel: 3-star Royal Hotel, or similar, with dinner and Scottish breakfast each day.

• Day 4: Monday April 30: Oban to Iona and return.

After breakfast, we leave the hotel by coach for the ferry from Oban to Craignure on the Isle of Mull. We will drive through stunning Highland scenery to Fionnport, to catch another ferry – this one to Iona. Once on the Isle of Iona, we walk in the footsteps of St Columba and explore the birthplace of Scottish Christianity. Iona was the heartbeat of Celtic monasteries for four centuries, from the time St Columba established a mission centre there in 563 AD. Today the island is known as a “thin place”, it is a place of peace, tranquility and haunting beauty. Following a guided tour of the restored Benedictine Abbey, used today by the Iona Community, you will have time to explore the entire island and see several Celtic high crosses, the old nunnery, the graveyard of the Kings, where some 60 kings of Norway, Ireland, France and Scotland are buried. In the 8^th century many of the monks of Iona were slaughtered on one of the island’s beaches by Viking raiders. After a full day you will return to your hotel for dinner and a restful night.

• Day 5: Tuesday May 01: Oban to Mallaig.

Following breakfast we will travel through the Highlands to Glen Coe, considered one of the most spectacular and inspiring places in Scotland, and part of the National Scenic Area. This region is sometimes called The Great Glen, a major geological faultline running diagonally across the Highlands and serving as the defining feature of northern Scotland. It includes Ben Nevis which, at 4,406 feet, is the highest mountain in the British Isles. In the town of Kinlochleven you will have an opportunity to take a steep walk up to the Grey Mare’s Tail waterfall, and a further climb up to an old Lodge, now a hotel. This hill-walk, approximately a 2-hour round trip, begins with the awesome sight of the Grey Mare’s Tail. But there are more stunning views to follow: more cascades, a serene loch and delightful landscapes that capture the several moods of the Scottish Highlands.  If there is time, there will be a stop in Fort William on the way to your hotel in Mallaig.

Hotel: 3-star Cruachan Hotel or similar, with dinner and Scottish breakfast included.

• Day 6: Wednesday May 02: Mallaig to the Isle of Skye.

Depart your hotel after breakfast for the ferry from Mallaig to Armadale and a day on the Isle of Skye. Legend has it that this island was named after the Old Norse word for cloud (“skuy”), which in Gaelic became “Eilean a Cheo” (“Island of Mist”). Today Skye remains one of the most important centres for Scottish Gaelic culture and language. The scenic island is home to the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland, namely Dunvegan, home to the Chiefs of Clan Macleod for 800 years. We will visit selected sites around the Isle of Skye, including a tour of the famed Talisker distillery, before heading for our hotel, to relax before dinner.

Hotel: 3-star Dunollie Hotel or similar, with dinner and Scottish breakfast included.

• Day 7: Thursday May 03: Skye to Inverness.

Your nourishing breakfast will be followed by departure from the hotel and a drive across the Skye Bridge to the mainland at Kyle of Lochalsh, on your way to a tour of Eilean Donan Castle. This is an archetypal, much photographed castle that was ruined during an 18^th century Jacobite uprising, then restored to become the headquarters of the Clan MacRae. It sits at the meeting point of three lochs, connected to land by a causeway. Following your tour of the castle your coach will take you to Fort Augustus at the end of Loch Ness, and then along the shore of the loch on the way to Inverness, for a rest and then dinner at your hotel. (There is an optional cruise on Loch Ness, not included in the price.)

Hotel: 3-star Windsor Hotel or similar, in Nairn, near Inverness, with dinner and Scottish breakfast included.

• Day 8: Friday May 04: Inverness to Edinburgh.

We leave after breakfast for Inverness, the ‘capital of the Highlands’, and make our way to nearby Culloden Moor. Here, on April 16^th 1746, 1200 men of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Highland army were slaughtered by the Duke of Cumberland’s Royal troops, sent north by George II, King of England. We will tour the battle site and learn why the Battle of Culloden became a grim turning point in Scottish history. A nearby exhibition centre enables you to follow the battlefield tactics and feel the horror of the event in a 360° immersive film. The walking tour of the moor evokes the struggle and sacrifice of the troops from both sides, with poignant stone markers where various clan members died. Later, to revive our spirits, we drive south past the Cairngorms and over the Grampian Mountains to Pitlochry, for a tour of the Edradour Distillery, established in 1825. It claims to be the smallest distillery in Scotland and takes its name from the burn that flows through it. After the distillery we proceed to Edinburgh, where you will spend the next 2 nights.

Hotel: 3-star Premier Inn Haymarket or similar, with dinner and Scottish breakfast included.

• Day 9: Saturday May 05: Edinburgh.

Following breakfast you leave your hotel for a half-day coach tour of the city of Edinburgh, one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, sometimes called “the Athens of the North”. You will visit Edinburgh Castle, the most famous of Scottish castles, with a complex building history dating back to the 12^th century St Margaret’s Hall. You will see the Great Hall erected by James IV in 1510, the Half Moon Battery, the Crown Jewels of Scotland, the Stone of Destiny, the famous 15^th century Mons Meg gun and the National War Museum of Scotland. Other significant sights are the Royal Mile and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where the current Queen Elizabeth stays when in Edinburgh. Then we return to the hotel to relax before a farewell dinner. (Optional Scottish 4-course evening dinner and 2 hour show with traditional music and dance, not included in the price.)

• Day 10: Sunday May 06: Farewell.

Enjoy a final full Scottish breakfast in your hotel before leaving for transfer by coach to Edinburgh airport. Departure from the hotel will be at approximately 8 a.m., but might need to change if there is a change in airline schedule. Your flight home will be via Heathrow and Montreal, to arrive in Saint John at 23.25 the same day.

Recommended Optional events: (can be arranged at time of booking).

1. Cruise on Loch Ness - $20 per person
2. Scottish Evening Dinner & Show - $48 per person
   Includes 4 course dinner plus 2 hour show with traditional music and dance

Price Per person, based on double occupancy:   CA $3,699.00

Single supplement – CA $330.00

Tour Includes:

• Roundtrip air from Saint John, NB, including current air taxes of $580.52

• 7 nights lodging at 3-star hotels – per itinerary

• Full Scottish breakfast daily, and 8 dinners at hotels

• Deluxe motorcoach transport throughout itinerary

• Full time tour escort/guide

• All entrances as per itinerary

Not included:

• Travel insurance - Highly recommended, can be arranged by Freedom Tours & Travel

• Optional tours, meals, drinks with meals, tips, porterage, entrances that are not specified in itinerary.

• $50 of the booking deposit will be retained for a cancellation more than 70 days prior to departure.
• Cancellation in writing must be received by Freedom Tours & Travel more than 70 days prior to departure, for appropriate refund.
• The prices quoted are in Canadian dollars and are based on fixed costs and currency exchange rates at the time of publication, and expected to be in effect at the time of departure. The price does not include airfare except where noted. Freedom Tours & Travel reserves the right to adjust prices in response to currency exchange rate fluctuations. Once full payment is received the price is guaranteed.