Stirling Castle & Whisky: Elite Small-Group Edinburgh Tour

What an enjoyable day! Stirling Castle was so interesting, we could have spent longer there. But then we would have missed the Coos and the lovely walk by the Loch with an amazing view at the top. (Don't skip this walk, even of there's a light rain - it is definitely a highlight!) And of course, the whiskey tour and tasting at Glencoyne was a perfect capper at the end of the day. Angela was a wonderful host and guide. Highly recommended!

Fantastic tour, worth every penny! On 16 August 2025, we took Tour 2 – Sterling Castle, Highland Lochs & Whisky. Our guide and driver, Roddy, gave us a warm welcome at the agreed meeting point. The first stop, Sterling Castle, was more than impressive and well worth the trip. We then continued on to see the Highland cattle, Loch Lomond and finally the whisky distillery. It was a very successful and informative tour. Our special thanks go to ‘our’ guide Roddy – he made the day a very special one for us! If we visit Edinburgh again, we will definitely book another tour with ‘Heart of Scotland Tours’. Anne, Biggi, Katharina, Josef and Heri Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Had a fantastic day! Perfect group size, lovely stops, nice bus, and fantastic guide. Will definitely go on another tour whenever I get back to Edinburgh.

This was a fun and very informative tour. Angela was pleasant, well versed in the local history and really made the day fun for all involved. Great job. We’d make one recommendation to extend the time at Stirling Castle and forfeit the stop to see the cows.

A great day trip with a small group of 14 and an excellent host, Roddy. I must admit, I thought the distillery was the purpose of the tour, but loved the castle and the hairy coos AND enjoyed a light refreshment after a beautiful day. The Mercedes red van was comfortable and we didn’t spend much time inside, as we had breaks and places to visit! Stirling castle might just be my favorite castle; it had special exhibits for armistice day and we got to experience a full military processional parade, say hello to the mayor of Stirling as well as touch and see special military items from the national museum, not to mention the tapestries, Unicorns and incredible history. The kelpies and the coos were magical touches from our delightful tour guide. Roddy was welcoming, entertaining, and kind. You can’t go wrong with Roddy.

Roddy went above and beyond as our tour guide. We highly recommend this tour and Roddy as a guide. I offhandedly mentioned I had proposed to my girlfriend a couple days prior and by the end of the tour he surprised us with a congratulations card that he had everyone in our tour group sign. Incredibly thoughtful and down to earth. As for the tour, it had amazing sights and great stops. I feel like we got more than we paid for. - Connor & Emily

We took this day tour with Keith, who is an excellent guide. This was a very small group--only five of us on the tour, which made for some good interaction with each other and with Keith. Keith's tour began with interesting historical tidbits even before we left Edinburgh. For example passing through a roundabout on the way out of the city, he shared Charles Dickens' inspiration for the name Ebenezer Scrooge in an Edinburgh kirkyard from the grave of Ebenezer Scroggie, whose tombstone marks him as a "meal man," or trader in grains, which Dickens recorded as "mean man." The tour gave us a glimpse of the Kelpies on the way to Stirling Castle. After leaving the castle, Keith drove over to give us a look at the Wallace Monument before heading to lunch in Aberfoyle. Along the way there were Highland coos, magnificent scenery, and lots of interesting information from Keith. Sadly, Loch Lomond was closed to tourist traffic that day. The weather had been sunny for a few weeks in May, and both locals and tourist buses were overwhelming the Loch, causing police to limit traffic. Keith did an excellent job of improvising, taking us instead along the Duke's Pass, a road linking Aberfoyle with Loch Katrine. Though we didn't get to see Lock Lomond, the Duke's Pass took us past three different lochs--Loch Achray, Lochan Reoidhte and Loch Drunkie--before ultimately bringing us to Loch Katrine, which boasts that is is the birthplace of Scottish tourism, a site popularized in the 19th Century by Sir Walter Scott's "The Lady of the Lake." We ended the day at Glengoyne Distillery with an excellent distillery tour.

Fabulous pace... lots of great sites to visit. The tour director Calum was very knowledgeable and an amazing storyteller! My entire family enjoyed this trip!

Fantastic tour with a very knowledgeable and entertaining guide. I booked this trip for my second day in Scotland during a 2-week stay and it gave me a wonderful overview of the landscape and history. The whole experience was professional without being stuffy - this isn't a big corporate tour but a well-run local operation. We started off at Stirling Castle and I opted to follow the castle's tour guide, which didn't leave a lot of time to explore myself (the castle tour was great, but maybe just poke around on your own if you want to really see it). Then we saw some Highland Cows for a few minutes and then headed to the beautiful Loch Lomond and did a little hike around the paths and up the hill to a beautiful view of everything. We ended at the Glengoyne Distillery and got a full history and tour of their whisky making and a lovely tasting. An all around fun day. Also, I was super-early to the pickup location and ended up chatting with another Heart of Scotland tour guide who was doing a bus to Hadrian's Wall, and she was as delightful as our tour guide was.

This was the perfect day trip. Our hike around Loch Lomond was refreshing. Sterling castle was fascinating