HAGGIS ADVENTURES: COAST TO COAST TOUR REVIEW
Spending a whole week travelling around Scotland is one of the most incredible trips that I have ever taken. Scotland is filled with beautiful scenery, great lochs, picturesque Scottish highlands and cute highlands cows. I booked the Haggis Adventures Coast to Coast Tour through Tour Radar. The site is really easy to use and gives you so many tour options. I also booked my Shamrocker Adventures All Ireland Rocker Tour.
If you are planning on going to Scotland, I recommend that you go on tour with Haggis Adventures. If you are interested in booking a tour through Tour Radar, click here to get 5% off.
WHY CHOOSE HAGGIS ADVENTURES?
Haggis Adventures are fantastic tours for people who want to see all around Scotland with a group of like-minded people. Haggis Adventures offer tours from day trips to 10-day tours. There is so much to see in Scotland, Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands, Orkney Islands, Glencoe and I went on the Jacobite Steam Train (Hogwarts Express)!!! The Scottish tour guide makes the tour even better, with historical info, fun facts and laughter. The tours guides organise group dinners and activities, which is fantastic for solo travellers.
WHO IS THE GUIDE?
Haggis tour guides are Scottish born guides! They only recruit the best Scottish born legendary guides. This means that you will get a tour guide who loves Scotland and wants to share it with you! They are very passionate and make the tour as fun as it can be!! My guide Duncan was an amazing guide, he made the tour really fun. Playing a mix of Scottish and other music, providing us with interesting facts and handy tips about Scotland.
He organised a bagpiper from the band to walk us to the ceilidh dancing in Oban!! It was such an amazing surprise and we all loved it walking down the street behind a guy playing the bagpipes!! Having a great guide can make a tour even better then you expected and more memorable!
WHAT IS INCLUDED?
The tour includes all accommodation at Scottish hostels (but not included in the price on the website, it is an extra fee that you can pay at hostels or pre-pay bundle). All transport around Scotland with a local Haggis guide, plus ferry transfers to the Orkney Islands. The tour also includes a free day at Loch Ness! You can choose to explore or pay for one of the optional activities, bike riding, canoeing, rib boat ride on Loch Ness.
There are also optional activities that are not included in the price, Jacobite Steam Train (Hogwarts Express), Highland Whiskey Distillery Tour, Tomb of the Eagles, Skara Brae Stone Age Village, Entrance to the Italian Chapel and a Cruise on Loch Ness. When extra stops are made, they are not included in the price (normally only a few pounds extra).
WHO WILL YOU TRAVEL WITH?
Haggis Adventures tours are for people of any age! The majority of the tourists are aged between 18-35. Each tour consists of small groups of around 20-25 people. Haggis Adventures offer tours from day trips to 10-day tours, therefore different tours connect together.
I started with a group going to Loch Ness and some of them got a different bus back to Edinburgh the next morning. I joined up with the people who have already started their 10-day tour. I met so many people and had a really great time travelling through Ireland and Northern Ireland.
HOW WILL YOU TRAVEL?
Haggis Adventures use their own trademark yellow Mercedes-Benz buses. However, due to high demand during summer, we had a blue Mercedes-Benz bus. The buses have air conditioning and the yellow buses have wild & sexy written on the side!!
All transport is included in the tour, this includes the bus and the ferry to the Orkney islands. The bus goes on the ferry and you will continue on the bus in Orkney. There is so much to see in Scotland, so the bus is always stopping at different locations. You won't be on the bus for more than a few hours a day. Scotland is a small country and there are no long distances to cover.
WHERE WILL YOU STAY?
Haggis Adventures provide accommodation at local hostels. Accommodation is not included in the initial price, but you can choose the pre-pay bundle or pay as you go! I bought the pre-pay bundle and I thought it was the best decision and takes the stress out of having to pay later.
The hostels that I stayed in were really nice and clean! You share the room with other people, but most likely it's with the other people on tour. All the hostels have bunk beds. The rooms are normally either a 4-bed or 6-bed room, but just depends on the hostel. The hostels that Haggis Adventures tours stay in are:
Orcades Hostel - Kirkwall, Orkney
The Coast to Coast Tour is a great length as you get to see all of Scotland! The tour includes 6 nights of accommodation at the hostels above. Staying 3 nights in Loch Ness, 2 nights in Orkney and 1 night in Oban. Each hostel has something different and new things to see. Kirkwall is a seaside town in the Orkney islands, it has cute restaurants and an amazing church.
Morag’s lodge has a bar and trivia night, I think it was the best hostel because it had a fantastic social aspect! They hold a trivia and games night with fun drinking games and a tartan toga party. But don't worry if that's not your scene, you can chill out in your room or in the other common areas in the hostel.
WHAT WILL YOU EAT?
Meals are not included in the tour price, but you can also pay for it on arrival at some hostels. Most of the day will be spent on and off the bus, it is a good idea to pack some snacks. The bus that I was on had a small fridge, which came in handy! There is a stop for lunch every day and there are lots of local restaurants to choose from.
Dinner is not included in the price, but this gives you the option to try Scottish food. I ate chicken stuffed with haggis for dinner at Morag's Lodge, it was surprisingly yummy! Most nights we ate together or we cooked food when cooking facilities were available.
WHAT WILL YOU DO?
Scotland is filled with beautiful scenery, great lochs, picturesque Scottish highlands and cute highlands cows. I saw so much in the week that I was in Scotland! There is a lot packed into the tour, every day gives you something new and more amazing experiences. The tour starts in Edinburgh and straight away we all hoped on the bus to Loch Ness, with a day full of activities.
We stopped at a cute town called Dunkeld, got a distillery tour at the Tomatin Whiskey Distillery, ate lunch in a town called Aviemore (where I found out that they put crisps on the side of burgers, instead of chips!!), learnt about the history of the Jacobites at Culloden Battlefield, saw Clava Cairn and took a cruise on Loch Ness.
We stayed in Loch Ness for the first night at Morag's Lodge, it is a really cute town! (the 4th and 5th night was also spent in Loch Ness, with a free day to pick your own activities). We all ate dinner together and had a fun night of trivia, games and a tartan toga party.
The next two days were spent on the Orkney islands. We got a ferry across and landed on the northern islands of Scotland! These 2 nights were spent at the Orcades Hostel in Kirkwall, Orkney. There are Neolithic historical sites to see on the Orkney Islands We got to see Skara Brae Stone Age Village and Skaill House, Tomb of the Eagles, Italian Chapel, Ring of Brodgar, Standing Stones of Stenness, St. Magnus Chapel, Kitcheners Memorial walk and went to the Orkney Brewery and tasted some beer.
On the way back from Orkney we stopped at Dunrobin Castle! It looks like the castle is from a Disney movie! We got to walk around the grounds and through the castle. We sat down to watch a bird show and they brought out an owl and an eagle that flew over our heads and the animal handler showed us how great these animals are!
I went on the Jacobite Steam Train (Hogwarts Express). I recommend going on the steam train!, however, others on my tour stayed on the bus and watched the train go past on the Glenfinnan Viaduct. Glencoe has amazing scenic views of Scotland's Highlands, it is breathtaking to see it in real life. I saw something amazing every day in Scotland!
The last night of the tour was spent at the Backpackers Plus in Oban. We went out as a tour to the Ceilidh House to do some traditional Scottish ceilidh dancing. Our tour guide organised a bagpiper from the band to walk us to the ceilidh dancing in Oban!! It was such an amazing surprise and we all loved it walking down the street behind a guy playing the bagpipes!! Having a great guide can make a tour even better then you expected and more memorable!
As we made out back to Edinburgh, we stopped at the National Wallace Monument in Sterling. It has breathtaking views of Sterling! I saw my first Highland Cow up close at Kilchurn Castle! They are so cute! and they have the best hair/fringe a cow could have!
WOULD I RECOMMEND IT?
Yes, 100% I would recommend Haggis Adventures Tours!!! The tour was amazing and I saw so many new places and met some really great people. It's the perfect mix between exploring the stunning landscapes and the beauty of Scotland, meeting new people and having fun!
ANY DOWNSIDES?
There are no downsides to travelling with Haggis Adventures. However, the downsides are common for travelling with a group. You lose a bit of independence when travelling with a group, there is no time to stay longer somewhere. Sometimes time is restricted and this means that everybody has to be back on the bus to ensure there is enough time to get to the next destination. However, some days there is time for extra stops, this is great cause you can see more of Scotland.
IF YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE ALL THIS AND MORE, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND CHECKING OUT THE 7 DAY TOUR I DID IN SCOTLAND WITH TOURRADAR.
SHAMROCKER ADVENTURES
I have also written a tour review about the Shamrocker Adventures All Ireland Rocker Tour in Ireland and Northern Ireland. I saw so much during my 7-day tour around Ireland and Northern Ireland! Saw the Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge, walked on the giant hexagonal volcanic rocks at the Giant’s Causeway, stopped at the beautiful Slea Head Beach on the Dingle Peninsula and kissed the Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle and got the gift of the gab (great eloquence or skill at flattery). If you want to read what I got up to in Ireland and Northern Ireland, check out the blog posts in the links below.