Photograph: Hidden Scotland
Tours from Glasgow · Run by Timberbush Tours
Loch Lomond Shores · Aberfoyle · Stirling Castle
The closest of the Highlands to Glasgow: Loch Lomond, the Trossachs and Stirling Castle, back by six.
Loch Lomond is less than an hour from Glasgow, so this tour gives you a proper day in the hills and lochs without long stretches on the road. You cross the Campsie Fells to Balloch on the loch's southern shore, with the option of a cruise, then go on to Aberfoyle for lunch and through the Trossachs past Kilmahog. The afternoon is at Stirling Castle, high on its rock above the town, where you can look out to the Wallace Monument. It runs every day of the year and you're back in Glasgow at 6pm.
The places it stops at, in order. Routes can change with the weather and the traffic.
The day
Where it starts
19 Killermont Street, Glasgow G2 3NX
Leaves at 9.30am
Seen from the coach
A stop
Britain's largest inland stretch of water, with more than thirty islands and the Highland Boundary Fault across its middle.
1-hour cruise optional
More about Loch Lomond Shores, Balloch
Lunch
The southern gateway to the Trossachs, a Victorian resort that grew from Scott's Lady of the Lake, with its slate quarries and fairy minister.
More about AberfoyleSeen from the coach
A stop
The great royal castle on its crag above Stirling, where Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned, with the Great Hall and the Royal Palace.
Entry optional
More about Stirling CastleWhere it ends
Back at about 6pm
Photographs: Timberbush Tours
19 Killermont Street, outside the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, opposite Buchanan Bus Station
19 Killermont Street, Glasgow G2 3NX
Leaves at 9.30am. Opens 15 minutes before departure and closes 5 minutes before.
Some rooms inside Stirling Castle are closed at the moment.
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.
9.30am to 6pm from Glasgow, from £51 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 Glasgow11½ hoursBack 7.30pm
Glencoe · Fort William · Fort Augustus
Loch Lomond, Glencoe and Loch Ness in a day from Glasgow, an hour shorter than the same day from Edinburgh.
About 9 hours of it on the roadUp to 53 on a coach
From £67 an adult
Run by Timberbush Tours
From Edinburgh or Glasgow2 days
Inveraray · Glencoe · Glenfinnan Viaduct · Commando Memorial
Two days from Edinburgh or Glasgow, with a night in Fort William and Eilean Donan in the morning.
About 13 hours on the road in allUp to 37 on a coach
From £125 an adult
Run by Timberbush Tours
From Edinburgh or Glasgow2 days
Glencoe · Fort William · Commando Memorial · Blair Athol Distillery
Two days from Edinburgh or Glasgow: Glencoe and Loch Ness, then Culloden and the Cairngorms.
About 11 hours on the road in allUp to 37 on a coach
From £125 an adult
Run by Timberbush Tours
