Photograph: Hidden Scotland
Tours from Inverness · Run by Timberbush Tours
Loch Fleet · Dunrobin Castle · Wick · Dunbeath Harbour
To John o' Groats at the north-east tip of mainland Britain, with Dunrobin Castle on the way.
This tour goes about as far north as the mainland goes. From Inverness you follow the coast past Loch Fleet, where seals haul out on the sandbanks, to Dunrobin Castle, the fairytale home of the Dukes of Sutherland, with its gardens and falconry. After lunch near Wick you reach John o' Groats, with time to walk on the shore and look out to Orkney, then stop at Dunbeath Harbour on the way home. It's a long day, back at about 7.30pm, and the far north is quiet, wide and beautiful. It runs every day from April.
The places it stops at, in order. Routes can change with the weather and the traffic.
The day
Where it starts
Railway Terrace, Inverness IV1 1NW
Leaves at 8.15am
A photo stop
Pinewoods and sand dunes surround this large tidal basin between Dornoch and Golspie.
Seals and birds
More about Loch FleetA break
A stop
The largest house in the northern Highlands, a castle of conical spires like a French chateau above formal gardens on the Moray Firth, open April to October.
Castle, gardens and museum optional
More about Dunrobin CastleSeen from the coach
Lunch
The county town of Caithness, a harbour town built on herring, once the busiest fishing port in Britain, with Telford's Pulteneytown on the south bank of the river.
More about Wick areaA walk
Signpost and cliff path
A photo stop
Seen from the coach
Where it ends
Back at about 7.30pm
Photographs: Timberbush Tours
Railway Terrace
Railway Terrace, Inverness IV1 1NW
Leaves at 8.15am. Opens 15 minutes before departure and closes 5 minutes before.
Children aged 4 to 16 pay less; their price shows when you book.
Run by
Timberbush Tours has been taking visitors round Scotland since 1998. June and Gary Voy, a husband and wife team, started it with a single coach, and it now runs its own fleet, with driver-guides who have been with the company for years. Their tours leave every day from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness, and from Portree on Skye, and you book with them directly.
Timberbush Tours answer them, and you book with them directly.
8.15am to 7.30pm from Inverness, from £54 an adult.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before a day tour, and up to 7 days before a tour of several days, by Timberbush’s own terms.
Booked with Timberbush Tours, or call them on +44 (0)131 226 6066
From Inverness9 hoursBack 5.30pm
Urquhart Castle · Fort Augustus · Falls of Foyers · Dores Beach
Loch Ness without the long drive: a relaxed day out from Inverness, back by teatime.
About 2½ hours of it on the roadUp to 37 on a coach
From £51 an adult
Run by Timberbush Tours
From Inverness11½ hoursBack 6.45pm
Urquhart Castle · Glenfinnan Viaduct · Mallaig · Dores Beach
Loch Ness, the Glenfinnan Viaduct and the Road to the Isles to Mallaig, all from Inverness.
About 6 hours of it on the roadUp to 37 on a coach
From £60 an adult
Run by Timberbush Tours
From Inverness8 hoursBack 5pm
Cawdor Castle · Dores Beach · Inverness · Glen Ord Distillery
Off the ship at Invergordon for Cawdor Castle, Loch Ness, Inverness and a distillery.
About 3 hours of it on the roadUp to 53 on a coach
From £75 an adult
Run by Timberbush Tours
