Scotland's Icons: Loch Ness, Glencoe & Highlands Odyssey

This tour was with Loch Ness Tours. I’ll start with the positives: The Scottish Highlands are beautiful. We spent ample time at each location. The bus was clean and well-maintained. Now, for the less than positive: It was very difficult to find the location of the meeting place. There was one small sign on the inside wall of an unlit archway (tour began early. Meeting time was before the sun rose.) It was dark near the office and we were confused. When we turned around, we saw a young man sitting on some steps inside a doorway smoking; he was actually one of the guides for the tour. It was clear that we were confused, and he offered no help until we asked. He was right behind us, he heard us. The departure was unorganized. The same guide moved us from spot to spot on the sidewalk and gave instructions that we couldn’t hear. Our tour guide (another person) began by telling us how educated he thought he was. He then spent the rest of the time trying to convince us of this with rambling dialogue. I, as well as many others removed our headphones after a while so we wouldn’t be subjected to it. I put the headphones back on several times, but still the same type of dialogue. Tours should be fun. He was boring and there was no humor. The bus ride on the way to the locations was terribly uncomfortable. I’m guessing, in order to stay on schedule, the driver had to drive fast around the many curves on the route. Perhaps they need to drop a stop or not offer that tour since it’s a fair distance from the city. The return drive was fine, so it was possible to drive that route so that it was comfortable. It was the worst tour I’ve ever taken. This company doesn’t seem to try to make this enjoyable for their customers. We took another tour the next day through Viator with another company that was wonderful. Would I take another tour with Loch Ness Tours? No way.

Scenery was beautiful. Bus was a little run down and whisper devices to hear tour guide didn't work very well.

Our tour was very nice to see a lot of Scotland highlands and Loch Ness. We got to pet the fluffy highland cows. It was also nice that they had multiple people that spoke different languages and we all had our own headphones to listen in our own languages. I will say our tour leader was sick. He snorted and coughed throughout the day as he spoke in our headphones. He actually almost blew out our ears with a few of his coughs. He also lost train of thought when telling stories, it made us lose interest in what he was saying most of the time. I wish it had been better.

Nice tour. Informative, organised and worth every penny!! The tour guide was so accomodating. Good job to the team.

It is a long 12 hours but it is worth the trip. Juan did his best to keep us informed on all we saw.

Terrific experience with plenty of time to cruise Loch Ness and explore the surrounding area, lots of sights around Glencoe and the highlands, and finally some time with the highland coos. Overall, very well done and enjoyable.

The itinerary was very good and the tour covers a lot of ground in a long (12 hours+) day. There is so much time spent on the bus itself that it is really not suitable for small children. There was one toddler on our tour and she made it clear that she was miserable. As were we when the parents had to change her diaper. The Italian speaking passengers seemed to enjoy their guide; our English-speaking guide was really not up for the job. Her stories were choppy and hard to follow. If you are looking for a tour that has a true Scottish feel and presents information clearly in English, this is not the one you want.

It’s the best way to cover some of the most important historical sites in one trip! Guide was excellent

This trip was absolutely amazing! I chose not to listen to the tour guide because I just wanted to see everything! Coach was comfortable and you get to see so much in one day. Glencoe and the three sisters were out of this world and the other parts of the highlands were spectacular! Only downside was it, was a bit confusing of what coach we were on but we made it in the end. Well worth the price would absolutely do it again despite it being a very long day. Was my whole reason for visiting Scotland and I wasn't disappointed.

This is a comprehensive day tour that takes you literally to the heights of Scotland (Highlands and Ben Nevis) and to the depths of it's Lochs (Ness) and all the quaint historical towns in between. The tour guides delivered information in both Italian and English via a headset, which was very informative and included specially selected music to help pass the time whilst sitting on the bus. The bus driver did a fantastic job considering he was driving in all types of conditions for over 12 hours. The option of taking a boat tour on Loch Ness is highly recommended. The commentary provided was both informative and entertaining and was well supported by visuals on strategically placed screens. The day finished with us having a chance to interact with Honey, the Highland "coo". How Scottish! A highly recommended tour for all ages.