Great tour made better by terrific back roads staff.

The Scotland Journey was simply excellent. Well balanced between arranged and organised and free time.
Structured geographically and by time to explore as much as possible, with an amazing depth of local knowledge to give insights impossible for a self catering traveller. And, with a bus size to be comfortable but getting down the small back roads. Highly recommended.

This was a wonderful tour, made especially so by our excellent tour leader, Clara, who's knowledge of the areas visited, kindness and sense of humour was second to none. Our driver, Abby, was also excellent and added her own Scottish charm to the journey.
The small size of the comfortable bus we travelled in made it possible to get to very beautiful and interesting areas of Scotland the large buses would not have access to.
Our happy little group of eight Australians really did travel the picturesque "back roads".
This tour was an amazing and thoroughly enjoyable experience.

This tour was better than I had ever expected. We visited some extraordinary locations with rich history and incredible landscapes. Our guide Clara was exceptional with her knowledge of the areas and caring, bubbly and warm personality. She went out of her way to make our tour very special. Abbey our driver was amazing the way she navigated the narrow roads. She is a true asset to your company. I would definitely consider another Backroads trip in the near future. Thank you Backroads!

Wonderful warm humerous guide.
Great fun small group.
Most accommodation was very good, and ones with lounges allow for socializing.

The guide and driver were terrific as were the other guests. For me, there was just too much sitting in the van. I fully realize that in order to see the specific sights that were scheduled, long drives were necessary. This type of trip would not be my preference the next time.

The tour covered all areas stated in the booklet. The tour leader, Peter Charlesworth, is extremely knowledgeable about the geography and history of the locations visited and did further research if he could not supply an answer the first time.He went out of his way to assist me on a couple of occasions when I had difficulties such as locating an ATM machine. The accommodation and meals were a good standard. Perhaps a little more time, say 30-60 minutes, could be allowed for some short walks at several of the more scenic locations , in exchange for time in tourist shops and whisky distilleries. The bus drivers were very competent and the coaches were clean.

Loved this tour. The Tour Guide knew a great deal of Scottish history and was very entertaining as well as knowledgeable. The driver did an excellent job of managing the difficult road conditions. The scenery was magnificent, even when it was raining the mist on the mountains added to the mystery and beauty. The hotels were very comfortable, a few minor irritations, such as one did not have a power point in front of a mirror. The organised extra tours were always interesting and well planned.

Had the most wonderful time with back roads Scotland
We were a bit apprehensive about the trip but was amazing had the best group of people from America New Zealand & Australia we all just click as we were there for the same reason to enjoy this beautiful country & take in the scenery & history ❤️❤️ would recommend back roads 100%

My Scottish Journey with Backroads Tours was excellent ! Travelling with a small group with a fabulous tour guide and driver made for a truly memorable holiday. Not rushed, a flexible itinerary taking into account inclement weather at times and much humour, fun and laughter bought together a group of 13 strangers and turned us all into good friends. Highly recommend !!

An amazing tour seeing so much and we so loved being on the back roads, the scenery was incredible we couldn’t get enough of just looking & soaking it in. Our guide, Mike and driver, Paul were outstanding and couldn’t have looked after us better, both a credit to Back Roads Tours. We will certainly look at Back Roads tours if we decide to do another bus tour sometime.

The guide and bus drivers were very good. The itinerary was comprehensive without being too rushed. Very enjoyable.

Thoroughly recommend Back Roads. Got to see and do so much more than if travelling on with a large group on a larger bus. Only 14 in our group (made up of 12 Aussies and 2 Americans). Great guide - Charlie Ryder - absolutely brilliant and each day introduced us to various Scottish food and drink treats - went above and beyond. Amazing scenery, great bus drivers, loved the accommodation (except Kingsmill - preferred the smaller quaint hotels which have more character and atmosphere).
Only complaint would be Malmaisson in Edinburgh does not store baggage. You have to take it to Waverley station. A lot of people travelling usually have a roll on case for onboard the aircraft which is too big to take on the bus. Luckily we had space.

Not up to expectations. Start of the tour we had bags organised to be left at motel as we were adhering to luggage restrictions on the bus. Advised the night before motel wouldn’t store them even though we were staying there afterwards. Apparently back roads aware of this situation as had happened before. Didn’t matter as we had a large bus for three days and unable to do any back roads as advertised. The guide did not like questions from us about the day, made you feel small and stupid in front of the others. The scenery was lovely.

Backroads is exactly what it was, G. Was a great tour guide very knowledgeable along with Mike our driver they worked together to see the backroads of the Scottish Journey throwing in a few hidden gems too. Highly recommended

Excellent guides, group size, accommodation and.places visited

Beautiful country, great tour guide and great driver. The people on the tour were all awesome, a good group makes for a stellar trip. Everything went smoothly, and we got to see many interesting sights. Wonderful experience all around.

We did a Backroads tour of Scotland (Edinburgh to Cairngorms Region via St Andrews) and our guide Peter C was amazing. Communication was first rate and our travelling companions were great people to experience Scotland with. Small numbers which was just what we wanted. Accommodation was excellent, some newer than others but each with their own charm and the staff at each location were very helpful. Would definitely book with Backroads again.

I joined this tour to obtain a comprehensive overview of Scotland - Back Roads fully met my goals and expectations. Great tour guide and driver; a range of diverse and interesting visits; good accommodation and meals; great small group social interaction.

LOTS OF FUN. CLARA WAS A FOUNTAIN OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SCOTLAND. SHE WAS ALSO ENTERTAINING WITH MUSIC AND FOLK LORE, KEEPING THE SPIRITS HIGH AND UPBEAT!

ABBY WAS AMAZING DRIVER. I ALWAYS FELT SAFE, AS SHE NAVIGATED THE NARROW ONE LAND ROADS.

BOTH CLARA & ABBEY WERE KIND, THOUGHTFUL AND CONSIERATE.

This trip was a joyous adventure start to finish, We had an incredible guide who studied every trip and had surprises woven throughout the day. Staying at hotels for two nights gives one time to decompress, Our guide took note of any guest needing extra care throughout the trip. This is the second trip with this company and I could not recommend it more.

Fantastic guide Clara Pelica;
Tour was excellent , varied, and comfortable

This was our first Blue Roads/Back Roads tour and we couldn't have been more pleased! The organization, the hotels, our guide (Clara Pelica was FABULOUS!!) and drivers were all great! Clara made us all feel like family and were taken care of as such! The 18 person minibus was great - clean, comfortable and spacious. We're not researching for our next trip! Thank you!

G was a great tour leader and Paul was a terrific driver. We enjoyed the entire trip and everyone in the group got on really well. We were most fortunate with the weather throughout.

My partner and I both enjoyed our tour. It certainly covered a great deal of Scotland and it was particularly good that we had two night stays at each location. Our guide, Ed Ashe, was particularly knowledgable and he and our driver were very helpful. Our driver managed the bus extremely well in some tight places. My only suggestion would be that the tour missed the Glencoe area which is particularly stunning.

Fabulous trip. Our guide Warwick’s knowledge of Scotland’s history, culture and landscape was very informative and enjoyable.

The tour guide was not really interested in immersing the group in the culture of Scotland. Read most of the historical information which was meaningless with-out stopping to see aspects of it. Didn't eat or socialise with us. Regularly stopped at villages/towns told us where the toilets were, coffee etc and then disappeared for an hour or two to get back on the bus. Didn't lead us around various sites - said she had done it before and would leave us to it! A long way to go looking at gift shops! At some of the historical sites we had to link in with our tour guides from different tour companies. Very disappointing as we had the best tour guide for the battlefields tour.
The scenery in Scotland was spectacular. 3 British tourists gave us a lot of information about the agricultural pursuits - thankfully. While the accommodation in the cities/towns was okay they sure could upgrade their mattresses considering the accommodation nightly price. Isle of Sky seemed to a problem with providing a meal for 14 people at once as they needed to know what we wanted to eat 24 hours ahead. Really!
Thank goodness we had an excellent bus driver.

Great tour
Fantastic driver in Abby and Lesley our guide

We had a great trip Alex & Rosy

A good trip. Excellent guide and drivers. Genuine back roads experience with good accomodation

Clara and Abby were awesome

First time booking with Back Roads and part of the reason was the small bus tour. Unpleasantly surprised when a big bus turned up and we spent three days on it. We were also aware of the luggage sizes and had planned to leave our second cabin bags with Malmaison in Edinburgh. The night before we were due to leave we were told that Malmaison did not store luggage for Back Roads tours. This came as quite a shock as we have stored luggage for weeks at a time when using other tour companies. We were fortunate in that there were able to fit in the large bus and eventually into the smaller bus. On the night we were to meet in Edinburgh, we were unaware of a place to meet. The Back roads information we had was that tour pick up was 18:00 at Malmaison. More detail could have been provided. The day we left Tobermorey we had a ferry to catch and left early before breakfast. We were all given “breakfast” in a paper bag, consisting of a bottle of water, croissant, jam, yoghurt, a piece of fruit and a bag of chilli chips. Everyone has the same. I guess the chips were the flavour that did not sell well. Many people don’t eat yoghurt as well. This could have been handled much better and for the price of the tour I am disappointed with that breakfast. Breakfast was
being laid out before we left so I’m sure something else could have been arranged. Even an energy bar, which had been on the breakfast table the previous morning would have been more suitable plus a juice/coffee or tea in a disposable cup. I will not be recommending Back Roads.

Couldn't be happier with our Backroads tour through Scotland Highlands and Islands.Im sure that if we attempted to cover as many miles as we did with our group into the absolutely scenic and off the beaten tracks Clara and our driver's took us I would have missed out on the whole Scottish experience.Just the wealth of knowledge and passion shown by Clara was above and beyond.THANKS AGAIN FOR A UNFORGETTABLE BACKROADS ADVENTURE and to all Clara's little Chickadees you all made this the best time.(The weather certainly helped)

I really enjoyed this experience.
My Travel agent encouraged me to go for this tour because smaller coaches can go to places where the big tourist buses cannot.
And so, it proved to be.
We visited remote places of beauty, interest, and history, and learned of special moments from Scotland's past that would have just been overlooked by the 'big hitting bus companies' simply because they could not get to them.
We were agile enough to get into the big touristy sites as well, usually in front of the other buses.
We were a group of 16 paying guests, one Tour leader, Lesley Anne Rose, one Driver (from day 2), Abbey, just the best driver ever, and we all became friends.
If you want to learn about Scotland, just do it this way.

Excellent tour, guide and driver.

Well worth doing. So much to see and learn along the way.

well thought out itinerary. beautiful small hotels. our tour guide was very knowledgeable and knew many great spots to stop for viewing/scenery. we saw a lot more than had we been on our own. a great way to see Scotland from a relaxing seat instead of driving yourself

Excellent route, places visited, tour guide Lesley Anne Rose and driver Abby Bruce. Weather was amazing too! Hotels mostly good but Duisdale on Skye far too expensive dinner menu with no bar menu type alternatives and no other restaurants or pubs within walking distance.

I had no idea what to expect but the description sounded good. I was very pleased with the tour guide and driver, mini coach that allowed us to take small scenic routes (although the seats aren't designed for human spines; fortunately I had a travel cushion I was able to use to make it comfortable) and limited the group size. The other travelers were friendly, fun, and polite--everyone was always on time for the bus, dinner, etc., which was so appreciated. The pace was pretty hectic but I did get a wonderful overview of the country from east coast fishing villages to the highlands, to the western isles. Each day involved breakfast at the hotel, then setting off for the day, often stopping somewhere to pick up sandwiches for lunch that we would later eat in a scenic spot. The tour was mostly scenic drives and stops for photo opportunities, plus a few activities (such as tour castle, open air museum, battlefield, whisky tasting). The tour guide was very knowledgable about the history, geography, culture, economy, and people of Scotland and added a lot of context everywhere we went. He kept us on schedule without making us feel overly rushed. Hotels were very nice, as were the breakfasts and dinners they provided. I would have loved an opportunity to get in the ocean. I would also have loved more opportunity to sample classic Scottish foods. I did my best when on my own but would have welcomed this either in the hotel meals or at scheduled stops for lunch or snacks.

Wonderful, entertaining, educational, comprehensive tour of Scotland!
Our Tour Leader Giovanni, his trainee Susan and driver Mike made the trip memorable and provided exceptional service.
Would highly recommend!

I left a detailed review at the end of the tour.
Well organised, flexible tour leader.
Super coach driver with immaculate bus.

I thoroughly enjoyed this tour. Our guide was very informative and our bus driver was even better. We were lucky that we had only 11 on our tour so plenty of room on our small bus. Our accomodation was excellent and all in handy locations in the towns we visited. The meals that were included on our tour were tasty and enjoyed by everyone. We had a couple of long days on the bus but did have plenty of rest stops along the way. In all was a fantastic trip helped along by a good guide, driver and great travel companions.

Great tour - amazing tour leader and wonderful locations.

This was our first visit to Scotland. We absolutely loved it and felt we saw a good variety of places. Stunning scenery amazing castles. Our guide was so informative, organised and mindful of our wishes and needs. Her local knowledge meant she could always make recommendations for eating, shopping and coffee breaks. Some days We maximised our time by picking up a sandwich or something when we stopped for morning coffee. That way we could spend more time enjoying the rugged scenery

Great tour guide (Mike) and driver (David).
Loads of information delivered with humour.
We really did a lot of back roads which was a very different way of seeing Scotland. Without the local information we would have missed so much.

Our tour guide Lesley Anne was phenomenal! The tour took us on many backroad adventures of the beautiful Scotland! What a great time! 💚

First the pros -
The tour guide, Leslie, was very knowledgeable on Scotland and very friendly.
The bus drivers, drove carefully and safely.
The hotels were generally comfortable, and the food was quite good.
The country was beautiful and scenic, the Scots were very friendly.
Now the cons -
The 18-seater bus for 18 people was far too small, some taller/larger people had to keep their legs stretched out into the aisle all the time.
The smaller people still felt very cramped in the aircraft type seats.
The tour bus, being so small, had no toilet, so we had to rely on stopping regularly for toilet breaks.
The travel time in the bus each day was too long, some of the sites we visited had no interest to the majority of the group.
I did not like the regimental start times, stop here times, get going times.
Now the very bad cons -
The luggage. We were told we could have certain size ports which we did, and the weight would not be a concern.
When it came time to load the bus (back compartment) the tour guide told people to half their luggage as it was not going to all fit. Not acceptable. 18 paying customers have 18 recommended size ports all deserved to have a place on the bus for their luggage. The cargo space under the bus was not used, if this was used then no-one would need to halve their luggage. More then a few of us Australians were not use to cold weather and need the extra warm clothing. Which would of course take up extra room in our luggage.
Suggestions -
If you are to have 18 people, get a 24-seater, 20 people get a 26-seater, this will allow for people to move around a little while travelling and spread out a little.
Tow a trailer behind for the luggage.
Utiilise a proper coach with a toilet, and bigger seats.
If you're a backpacker with one knapsack, then this might suit you.
For people who wish to visit a country at leisure with a little bit more input, this is not your tour.
I definitely would not recommend this tour.

We LOVED this tour!! Our guide Lesley Ann was the best! She understood our group dynamic and provided a magical mix of folklore, history and road knowledge throughout the trip. 5 out of 5!

Excellent site seeing and enjoyed the country life.
The weather was great most of the time.
Towards the end of tour was cold over the last few days.
Enjoyed learning about the history and and taken some Excellent photos too.

Wonderful tour with a knowledgeable leader and excellent driver.

Our Scottish Journey tour was first scheduled for fall of 2020. Then again in fall of 2022. We - my husband and I along with 7 of our relatives - finally went October of 2024. Our group all agreed the trip the best we could have hoped for! The hotels were all top notch with king sized beds, bottled water, wifi, and good breakfasts. We had 2 excellent drivers, Ian and David, who were accommodating, knowledgable, friendly and, most importantly, safe. But the make or break feature was Lesley Anne, our intrepid tour guide. She was the best! She did everything she could do to make our trip informational and comfortable - in a word - perfect. She was flexible enough to make a few changes when she thought it was best. She was knowledgable and entertaining. She included not only facts about the sights, but other things as well - local customs, music, the clans, restaurant recommendations, shopping hints, and the people. The scenery was indescribably beautiful and although I took hundreds of pictures, I'm not sure any will do justice. Because we traveled in a smaller mini-bus, we could traverse the roads less traveled, many of them barely wide enough for 2 cars to pass. The people we met along the way were unfailingly friendly. Lesley Anne included regular comfort and coffee breaks along the way and took care of us like a big sister. Most of our stops were 2 nights which was just right.

We chose October 1 -10 for our trip because it was the perfect time for the weather to still be decent, which it was, and for the crowds to abate. It was a good decision. However, my advice is to bring more warm clothes than you think you need! I brought 1 raincoat with a hood (good decision) and a light winter coat. I should have brought a warmer coat. I bought a hat there. I wished I had taken gloves, a warm scarf, and my UGGS. Although I took some nicer pants and tops, I didn't take any dressy clothes, and I didn't need them. Don't forget a super long charging cord for your phone if you want to have it by your bedside during the night. Although I might have a couple of suggestions for improvements at the hotels, they are minor. We flew into London and spent a couple of days there before taking the train to Edinburgh. We stayed in Edinburgh for 2 days after the trip - our tour didn't spend time there and it's a delightful city, especially if you stay on or close to the Royal Mile. Then we flew back to London and stayed in an airport hotel before our trip home the next day. I would say our trip was a 10!!

Great tour the best tour leader and driver

- Lesley Anne is an excellent guide.
- Tour itinerary was as advertised with a few surprise bonus stops included.
- Food and lodging included were first class.
- daily pace was good. I would suggest a little less time at some coffee/comfort stops to allow more time at stops with greater content.

A really interesting and well run tour. Interesting choice of stops, some slightly off program and all the more interesting because of it. Leslie a lovely host, very knowledgeable and well prepared with notes. Anne a careful and cautious driver and a delightful addition to the tour group.
Hotels and dinners well up to standard.

Perfect weather made a huge impact but the itinerary was good and Warwick our guide excellect, striking the right balance with commentary & silence for us to absorb the stunning scenery. Lunch stops in a couple of places could have been reduced enabling earlier arrival at hotels, or slightly later starts, but on the whole it was well constructed. Compared with other touring companies i believe tour documentation was poor- baggage tags would have assisted guides & hotel staff in some instances; name badges help in the early days of meeting a group of strangers &, bearing in mind the cost of the package, proper printed material was expected - not pages downloaded from the internet & stapled together. All in all a memorable experience .

Its a truly wonderful introduction to a place I've always wanted to see. The group was just the right inclusive size,and to top it of Leslie gave us a brilliant overview of this beautiful land,its history and the proud people of Scotland .Would not hesitate to recommend this Backroads tour.And will certainly look at doing other tours with Backroads. Very professional, with the aim of giving you a truly memorable experience. Thank you so much

Very happy with the tour and the tour guide

The trip was fabulous. However, as a solo traveler the only issue I had was that you get the short-end of the stick with hotel room assignment. Even though as a solo-traveler you pay a supplement to bring Blue-Roads profit up to that of a couple traveling, you do not get the same quality of hotel rooms. Often the solo traveler is put in the smallest attic room. In paying the supplement I expect to get equal treatment and consideration on accomodations. Don't charge me the supplement and then short suit me on accommodations.

Spent far too much time stopping at “ tourists “ spots would have preferred more time off the beaten track.

The highlands is a beautiful area, your took us to most of them. Tour ran seamlessly. The bus can be a bit on the small side at times but it is a small price to pay to get into where we went that a small bus gave us access to.

It was our first 'group' tour, and we could not have been more pleased. The booking process and follow-up was great. The tour guide and driver were wonderful-knowledgeable, engaging, and fun to be around. The scenery in Scotland was stunning and the sites visited were perfect. Be prepared for a lot of walking in some areas and some hotels did require going up and down steps. So when it says that you will be walking and not have mobility issues, it is very true. Prepare for unexpected surprises along the way. Definitely a 5-star adventure.

This was an experience of a lifetime made especially noteworthy with our tour guide, Edward (Ted) Ashe's, depth of historical knowledge articulated throughout the 10 day journey.

The exquisite Highland views and historical Scottish sites visited were only possible due to Ted's keeping with the "Backroads Tours" company name.

Video link:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/PQY7ArEf52zpkYUt7

The drivers were road and terrain savvy with marvelous skill and personality.

Belinda and I are already planning a Northern France tour predicated on Ted's schedule.

Very good tour, managed to see amazing sights and history

Excellent tour leader & itinerary. Bus was too small for 18 guests. Spent a little too long in a couple of daytime stops.

Truly ‘backroads’, I enjoyed the quiet picturesque out of the way places.it was well paced with enough down time. The tour guide Lesley Ann and the drivers, especially Abby were exceptional. Accommodation was varied, food was of a very high standard.

The Tour was everything we hoped it would be and more. Our Guide, G, was knowledgeable, personable, and entertaining with the group. The driver, Paul, much the same. We saw the beauty of Scotland with many off the map hidden surprises. It was truly amazing. Would do this tour again in the future, no doubt

Well thought out tour itinerary. Tour guide (Lesley Rose) was respectful, knowledgeable and very willing to find out answers if she did not know the answer. Accommodation needs to be looked at, some of the places were mean with food, getting to and from rooms was difficult, lighting was poor

Loved the whole experience

The two days of rain hampered our tour a bit, but you can't blame the tour for that!

Guide was very knowledgeable and helpful

Firstly, we would like to thank 'G' Davison for being such a fabulous tour guide. He was the perfect guide. He not only gave us an indepth view of Scottish history but he was also happy to personally socialise with us and give us a more personal view of what it's like living in Scotland.
I would like to thank Backroads for choosing such great food venues. We thoroughly enjoyed all our meals.
We were also happy with our accommodation. However, I do have a suggestion regarding our accommodation on the Isle of Mull. Instead of organising accommodation for a basic room in the hotel, perhaps the overall price of the Backroads trip could be increased to allow for an upgrade at this particular hotel. Unfortunately all of our rooms were located about 600 or so metres from the main reception, lounge and dining facilities. This not only meant a long walk every time we used these facilities but after a long day travelling, the last thing everyone wanted to do was spend half an hour getting to our rooms. The hotel has lovely rooms with water views closer to reception. I am sure they would be more expensive but I do believe this would allow for a much more enjoyable stay for all members of the tour group. Our tour guide was sympathetic to our complaints and I am sure everyone would enjoy the last nights of their tour on Backroads if they were spent in one of the upgraded rooms.
Lastly, we were disappointed that our accommodation was changed from Duisdale House where we were looking forward to staying. Instead we stayed in Toravaig House on the Isle of Skye. Apart from not having the lovely views that Duisdale House offers, the rooms in the hotel were extremely small and the dining area where we all ate was much too small to accommodate the size of our group. The lounge area where we had drinks was too small with not enough seating to accommodate everyone. I am not sure why we didn't stay at Duisdale House as no explanation was given.
Overall, we enjoyed our tour with Backroads, however, this will be our first and last trip on a Backroads tour. We really enjoyed the intimacy of the small group but the tour bus was much too small for my husband. The only seats that he could sit in and be comfortable was the front seat or in the middle of the back seat. We were very fortunate that the group were happy to accommodate him but he still felt extremely embarrassed that he had to request these seats on the coach. I do hope you consider my suggestions regarding the accommodation, as I am sure this would make the The Scottish Journey with Backroads a much more enjoyable experience. Regards Julie & Trevor Stretton

The Scottish tour was a wonderful experience of history, culture and scenery.
Tour guide was happy, helpful, informative and presented with a great sense of humour. The driver was friendly, above all she drove safely and knew exactly where she was going. The accommodation was excellent and there was such good food provided.

We loved our Scottish Journey. The locations and hotels were excellent as was our tour leader,Gee. One of the best that we have experienced.

A great tour with real summer weather for the mainland part and a "Scottish" summer on Skye and Mull. Rain.
Not discouraged or disappointed though.
Top marks.

Excellent guide and itinerary

An informative journey, scenery was amazing and the tour guide was very knowledgable.
Communication could have been better.
We felt very rushed a lot of the time.

Very informative and a fun group to be part of.

Guide Edward Ashe was excellent and was very knowledgeable.
We enjoyed the variety of hotels. Although their location in some areas was excellent occasionally the bathtub did not have adequate ‘hand hiolds’ to get into or out of the bathtub.
Some hotels needed updating from dark deco to something a little lighter.

Great tour, well organised. Friendly people and fantastic experiences. I really liked the places covered in the tour, especially the Isles of Skye, Mull and Iona.

Our Tour Guide was Gee Davidson.
Gee was so helpful to us, he simply could not be of more assistance.
We experienced a wonderful tour of Scotland through Gee's eyes.
His love of Scotland is infectious and will stay with me forever.
The accommodation at The Lodge at the Loch was good, but the people running it, should not be operating a hospitality venue.
I had to beg for one slice of gluten free toast for breakfast, was told by Jean there was none left and then given a crust!
That sort of meanness does not give a lasting good impression.

Lovely countryside. Excellent guide and fabulous bus driver, Abby. Good group with 20 Max. Could have done with more leg room on bus.

Loved the trip, loved the itinerary, loved the friendship with new people that we had never met before and possibly have forged a new long lasting connection.

The tour gave a very good overview of Scotland. The tour and guide had an excellent knowledge of the areas we visited.
On the whole the accommodation was good and having 2 nights in each place worked well.

Enjoyed visiting Scotland. Liked the smaller group on the Back Roads tour. Friendly helpful tour leader in Mike

A great tour with excellent tour guide and drivers. We went the backroads for sure! They do their best to create a memorable journey.

Scotland up close and personal.

It was a bit above my pay grade, but I guess it was value for money

Wonderful Tour, excellent tour guide. Very knowledgeable . Accommodation good. Driver friendly and a safe driver.

Perfect tour for me as a solo traveller. The small group was friendly, very knowledgeable guide and a very good driver. The small bus was able to travel roads that a large bus would have had difficulty with, the small bus was easily able to pull over on narrow roads for photo stops. Enjoyed having 2 nights in the same place, for the entire journey. Very good accommodation. The trip met my expectations and would recommend it to others.

Great tour. Very good accommodation, Driver great on such tiny roads. Mike very personable. I would have Really liked to go to at least ONE whiskey distillery. I think this should be a must on a Scottish trip, more than looking at TV film site. ( outlanders)!! . Culloden info fantastic. The castles, gardens, ruins, abbey, Skye and Mull. All fascinating. Many thanks. NZ tourist.

A great itinerary and a great guide. My fourth trip to Scotland. I saw places I hadn’t been and learned a great deal from Laura.

I would have liked a 1 page summary, on the first night, of the places that we were about to see.
Bus seats were cramped for a long legged person.
The towns and stops that we visited were well chosen.
The hotels were generally good; the room on Mull was a bit small.
The dancers and the piper were a bonus.
Mike, our guide, was just superb. He has a very good with history and related well to the group. He was prideful and humorous.

Overall a pleasant experience, Mike was an amiable host, a mixture of places that gave variety and something for everyone. Plenty of beautiful scenery and photo ops.
On balance, a couple hotels would not have been our choice and an accommodation review could be of benefit as an opportunity for improvement. Some days, found the driving too much.

Outstanding guide, safe driver, perfect size group, well planned with diversity historical experiences, some city opportunities but most importantly true back roads adventures. Appreciated having two nights in one place with daytime excursions.

Fantastic, tour guide Tom so knowledgeable and funny, driver Tony very warm , friendly and a an amazing driver.

Scotland back roads tour are spectacular, the scenery is outstanding . The bus was always clean and comfortable, bit more leg room for tall people would be nice. Accommodation was always lovely with some outstanding.

Highly recommend Back Roads tours UK.
We enjoyed it so much booked three more for France next year. 🥰

Fabulous tour guide, very caring and considerate and excellent driver of our comfortable bus. Enjoyed the beauty of our Scottish tour and very blessed with glorious weather. We would recommend it. We did however miss the fact that our guide was not a Scottish local. We would have loved a bit more local banter and folklore.

We enjoyed our tour. The tour guide Tom was wonderful being a Scottish born and bred person who had a lot of knowledge and insights along the way and shared in a fun and engaging manner. Our bus driver Tony, also Scottish born and bred, was amazing, especially on those one lane back roads. The hotels we stayed at were very comfortable and the food was very good. The sight seeing was incredible and we felt we got a good chunk of the Scottish landscape. The people on the bus were loads of fun and we had a nice time getting to know them and share our experiences together. I would highly recommend this tour.

The variety of places we visited over the ten days of our tour were excellent.
Our tour leader Laura Mezey was full of interesting information on a wide range of subjects. She looked after our group with great care, catering for individual needs and requests. She showed a genuine spirit of friendship to each and every one of us. Our driver John was confident, careful and a real character full of good cheer and funny stories.
I was impressed with every aspect of the tour, I throughly enjoyed the accommodation and meals.

Great thorough tour of Scotland. Our guide and driver were great and very professional. Loved the small group of people rather than a big bus load.

Very informative tour with knowledgeable tour people discussing geographical history and how it has lead to today’s way of life and future of the Scotland highlands. Discussing climate effect over the centuries and what it could do to the sustainability of Scotland in years to come. The back roads tour on the outskirts of Scotland showed how these clans formed and help support , contribute and build the major cities and governing bodies through all centuries of existence in Scotland

Firstly. Our bus arrived and it was to small to carry all our luggage. My wife and I had to halve our luggage from two bags to one despite all luggage being within specified size. Two other couples had to do likewise. The trip was going nowhere unless we did this. Not a great start. Secondly. Our tour guide was Italian, not Scottish. This certainly took some of the authenticity out of the trip. A great disappointment to many on board. He was at times hard to understand and had what I would call a reasonable knowledge of the area. The food on the trip was good, not great but good. On the nights dinner was not included at times it was hard to source decent food due to the location of the motels.
Accommodation was good. The actual content of the trip was very good, however our guide just seemed to have many on the trip "offside" with his poor attempts at being funny. He also zeroed in on myself and one other participant. Me for footwear on one occasion he felt was unsuitable, and. the other for a genuine mistake over timings. I know this sounds like its getting personal but it was most disappointing to have him constantly "batting on" about these things. He could not let it go.
Overall a good trip. Not great but good. The lack of size of our transport left a sour taste in my mouth. Not a great start to a trip. And an Italian guide. I will leave that to you to decide. I found it a great disappointment that Back Roads could not find a Scottish guide. It's not that I would not recommend Back Roads as the content of the trip was very good.

Great trip knowledgeable tour guide with passion about his country, accommodation pretty good could be improved, we stayed in a place called loch lodge it was a bit isolated so on second night of food, you could only bring something back to eat in your room, it needed work to bring the standard up also.
The one thing I would have liked to see was balmoral castle, but we only drove to gates to take a picture, I mean the queen died at balmoral castle who doesn’t want to see it, very dissatisfied.
The rest was great. I think more needs to be done about the luggage situation it was a nightmare everyone had too much there was not enough room but the driver managed to squeeze it all in at a push.

Fabulous trip. Tom was a very knowledgeable guide and John our driver was very supportive. Our experience was very enjoyable with so much humour.

I found the Scottish Tour guide Tom McIver extremely knowledgeable with all the historical facts and stories relating to the various locations. I also believe the Backroads places that were chosen were very much a favourite destination for me.

An excellent tour full of variety.
Great tour leader. The pace was good, meals & accommodation also V good.
Don't really have any recommendations for change.

Would be better if we had a Scottish tour leader and fewer people on the coach- maybe 16? For more flexibility in seating.
Need to adhere to luggage specifications- sizes of cases so luggage does not become a problem each day.

Just what we wanted to see the Scottish Highlands and Isles and well paced. The first hotel Malmaison in Edinburgh was a disappointment being overpriced, dark and dirty looking with poor customer service. Apart from that the accommodation was very good. The bus was a tight squeeze due to some very large people on the tour we had to accommodate for. Luggage size should be more strictly monitored as many were oversized and very difficult for the driver and leader to fit in.

Beautiful scenery. Lots of wonderful experiences. Loved it.

Scotland was a scenic country to visit. We were constantly enthralled by the scenery. We stayed at some lovely hotels and ate very well. We had a variety of experiences to get a taste of Scotland

Excellent! Informative tour guide who was organised, proactive, dealing with all little issues that arose with calmness. A variety of sights to see: Castles, Lochs, Islands, Religious sites. Iona was the highlight for me. A variety of accomodations, all very comfortable. Excellent dinners at these places. Richard our tour guide was very , very good. Approachable and with a sense of humour. Would recommend A Scottish Journey to anyone. June 2024 Michael ( Australia )

We had an amazing trip in this tour. So many incredible sights and taking the backroads gave us stunning scenic drives.

Our guide and driver were very professional and I always felt safe with Tony behind the wheel.

Giovanni had excellent knowledge of the places we visited and was very considerate with ensuring our group was well taken care of (including comfort stops).

Personally, the minibus was a little uncomfortable and I would have liked the days to finish a little earlier. (I am in my 70’s and like an afternoon rest - stairs are a little difficult for me but I did manage them).

I would definitely recommend this tour to get a thorough experience of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

Loved Scotland great guide in Fiona. Many hotels too removed from town. To much free time in small villages with not much to do apart from shops. If weather bad not good experience
Do nt think need to do 2 islands if bad weather would be horrible

This tour exceeded my expectations. G.our tour guide, Mike the extra man and Ian our bus driver were just fantastic. Always willing to help and go the extra mile. The content was excellent and well planned, they also included Balmoral Castle when they found out it was open on the day we were in the area, in consultation with the passengers they alter the routes and included sights that they thought would be of interest to all on board. This came about because they had the genuine interest of their country and wanted to pass their knowledge and love of what they do onto us. G also went beyond his roll when one of the passengers lost her passport, he phoned all previous hotel about the passport, organized rail tickets to London along with the accommodation in London when getting the replacement passport, and looking after luggage until she could return at the end of the tour. We were so fortunate to have him as our tour guide.
Thank you for a great holiday and I will be looking at other tours you offer.

What shall I write… it was an excellent trip with a great group and fantastic Tourguides (incl. „Co“-Guide; G, Mike and Ian (bus driver)). On my first trip to Scotland I learned a lot about history and saw beautiful landscape and bridges, castles and isle! I became a really good „overview“ and more. That I had been part of this journey, with interesting and funny chats between all of our group and guides was an extra highlight. The meals and accommodations were terrific as well. Thanks a lot!

I enjoyed the Back Roads tour, being off the highways, seeing the countryside was special. Crathes Castle and Balmoral Castle were highlights for me. Unfortunately I had to leave the tour in Inverness as I lost my passport and had to go to London to get an emergency passport. The tour director G. Davidson was very helpful and supportive at for me a very stressful time. Made sure I had accommodation and saw me onto the London train. I can't thank him enough. Elaine Drews.

Great itinerary, beautiful spring weather & scenery. Good guides , driver & company on board. Accommodation good & all up, value for money

Good value for money and well organised

See previous comments why do want more of the same?

The small interment group and friendly gride and driver

N/A. Travel agent purchase, ask him.

Loved how we went Backroads to hidden gems …How we learnt about the history of Scotland as we travelled this Journey

Excellent route, beautiful scenery, a great tour leader, alot of interesting history, comfort hotels and coach.

A Scottish Journey was an excellent way to visit Scotland. We covered a lot of Scotland and many historic sites.

For an expensive tour that promised quality all the way, several aspects were disappointing.
The Tour Guide did her best, but some meals were inedible, there were problems with hotel room allocation and some promised experiences could not be delivered ‘ because it was out of season’. If key places close at the end of September, Back Roads shouldn’t take money for tours in October.

The tour was excellent, we've not been on a tour before so we were unsure of what to expect, but from start to finish, we had a great time. Mike (guide) and Andrew (driver) were brilliant, they became part of the tour family, so much so that at the end there were tears and hugs all around. Mike added his own personal Scottish touch (including humour) making it feel that it was a tour of his own back yard. Andrew's driving skills were exceptional, smooth and extremely safe. His friendly nature is an attribute.

All my wife and myself wanted in a tour plus more.

The tour covered many of the wonderful and historical areas in Scotland. Very happy

The cost of the trip was higher than a couple others we looked at.

Purchase transaction was fine

Good price for such a great trip.

As outlined in customer experience feedback

Lots of fun, great scenery and a variety of experiences. The local guides at places we visited were well-informed and passionate, which helped make this trip memorable.

The tour covered everything we wanted to do and see

Purchasing the tour was easy. One of the hotels we stayed in though needs to improve their service.

Great enjoyable very interesting

Well organised & a good variety of locations. Tour guide was informative & knowledgeable

Excellent value for money

Tour covered everything and more that I wanted to experience just wonderful

We loved the places we visited, our driver Abbey and Mike our tour guide, were great people.

The purchase experience was fine and technically the logistics were fine. While the tour description states "Savour time exploring the magnificent Cairngorms National Park", we never went into the park because the ground was wet and several participants had canes. Personally, we would have liked to have done more hiking and spent fewer hours on our own in small towns - albeit quaint not justifying the amount of time spent.

The tour itinerary was good, taking across a diverse range of scenic places and places of historic significance.
Downside was the quality of meal offerings.
Lovely accommodation, except where showers were over bath without benefit of grab handles

Professional guide and driver. Hotels mixed. Meals generally awful.. Food seemed to be trying to meet a budget not a quality standard. I would rather have no meals included if this is the prevailing standard. Consideration of access , especially in bathrooms must be addressed.

Excellent tour guide, safe driver and a great group of people made this tour most enjoyable. We would love to do another tour with Tony and Russell.
Loved all the places we went to, some hotels were better than others but all in all a fantastic tour that I can highly recommend

Guide and driver excellent

Too much driving each day

The tour leader was excellent . He managed people very well and this is a difficult task especially 24hrs . He had a fascinating knowledge of history geography and customs to add as well as his own Scottish background .

To be forwarded with accompanying e-mail.

The tour guide we had treated us like a group of school kids on a school excursion. Some of the motels we stayed were very isolated and left us nowhere to go or an alternative to eat or to mix with the locals. We had to pre order many of our meals and purchase our lunches, leave them on the bus for 2-4 hrs because we were told there was nowhere to buy our lunch at the destination we were going, only to get there and have options available. Eating lunch at a cemetery with the option of sitting on wet grass or graves was disrespectful as far as I’m concerned. Two days of just driving around to fill in the time. I would not recommend this tour unless major changes are made to it.

The highlight of our tour was our tour leader, Paul. His knowledge of the Highlands, his background in photography, and his talent in storytelling, and his performances of caber tossing and the ode to haggis all made the trip memorable. At the same time, he attended to every detail to keep things running smoothly, and constantly consulted with our driver, Abby, whose superb skill in negotiating both city streets and narrow winding backroads had us all agog. They both quickly established a close rapport with the group. The minibus was a bit cramped for 20 (18 guests), but it was able to take us to sites larger bus tours had to miss. The accommodations were all good, though often cramped. I am already recommending this tour friends.

We saw so many sights. Truly got the feel of Scotland and the wonderful people!

Again the tour and tour guide were great but the choice of hotels and meals was poor. Certainly not 4 star.

The knee room on the bus seats was a bit tight. The scenic back roads that Giovani chose and Andrew's amazing driving made long drives almost magical

Well worth the money spent.

Great pace and loved having two nights in each hotel. Much more relaxed way of travelling. The small bus enabled travel off the main roads and we had access to beautiful vistas

Recognizing that the tourist industry worldwide is still recovering from COVID, the hotels were clearly trying to provide good service but with limited staff & that required everyone being patient.
Having to provide meal choices so far in advance to accommodate the hotels was somewhat frustrating & confusing.

See previous comments as above

Very well organized, friendly staff

Good experiences over a wide range of Scotland

good value for money, coming from overseas it was a good way to travel the area without the bother of hiring cars and having to organise all the accommodation.

i had a great time, i thought the agent that i dealt with could have been more hands on. i purchased over the phone all information was emailed to me.
i also by another agent purchased another tour with trafalgar best of Israel they called me into there office and gave me all documents and itinerary. maybe i am too old fasion

Pitched at the right price point for length of tour.

We could have had more meals included. Cultural experiences.

I’ve waited a long time to visit Scotland. It was worth the wait.

Great tour guides, accommodation was adequate, bus comfortable, loved the whole back roads experience of Scotland.

Excellent guide and itinerary. Food and hotels average

Overall very good. Food could be better.

Felt price paid was very good with respect to choice of hotels, guides, comfort of mini-van and our driver was excellent.

Great trip could of been better

Good value. We enjoyed all accommodations (and on some tours they can be a bit dodgy) and all provided meals. Particularly on hotels, they were all different, and that added to the charm of the trip (much better than them all being similar). Professional driver and guides - and you particularly notice that when you don't have them. This tour had them.

The tour did not disappoint
The landscape,history and charming towns were memorable and the leadership from Giovanni Braida made each day interesting.stressfree,fun and very relaxing
Iwould travel on a tour with him again and with Ian the most competent driver on Back Roads and back of Back Roads at times
A fabulous tour of the Scottish Highlands and Islands

Great locations, excellent driver and guide working together as a team.

Confusing instructions as to the identity o=f the company. We booked through Adeo and were referred to Back Roads only to find that Back Roads was not the correct name. It was blue roads.

The itinerary was very good and enabled us to see the best of the best of Scotland in the Highland region and the isles off the West Coast.

See previous remarks regarding.

I enjoyed the trip. We stayed nice places and had wonderful meals. The bus tour showed us most of the beautiful country.

Expensive, compared to other tours of similar length I've taken. Can't understand why, on the Isle of Skye, our accommodation was the Duisdale Hotel which is a long way from either of the two "towns" on Skye. Had we stayed closer to one of the towns, we could have explored the area during our free time. This wasn't feasible from the Duisdale. The breakfast service at that hotel was disorganised and chaotic - even on the second morning, after negative feedback had been provided to them about the breakfast on the first morning.

Group was small - a good size (16); tour leader knowledgeable and careful to accommodate all needs; accommodation mostly interesting and in good locations, especially on the islands. Having 2 days in each location worked very well.

Would pay a little more to have rooms on ground floor.

Great variety of sights, hotels and back roads.

Time allocated at some activities/venues too long and others too short.