Tours from Edinburgh · Run by Timberbush Tours
Tuilyies Standing Stones · Culross · Doune Castle · Midhope Castle
Outlander filming locations and royal palaces, all close to Edinburgh so the driving is short.
If you've watched Outlander, you'll recognise most of this day. It visits Culross, which played Cranesmuir, Doune Castle, which became Castle Leoch, and Blackness Castle on the Forth, with lunch in Linlithgow beside the palace where Mary Queen of Scots was born. In summer the last stop is Midhope Castle, Lallybroch in the series, and in winter it's the Forth Bridges at South Queensferry. Everything is within an hour or so of Edinburgh, so you spend much more of the day at the places than on the coach, and you're back by 5.30pm.
The places it stops at, in order. Routes can change with the weather and the traffic.
The day
Where it starts
Castle Terrace, Edinburgh EH1 2EW
Leaves at 8.45am
A photo stop
A stop
A stop
A courtyard castle of the late 1300s above the River Teith, built for the Duke of Albany and filmed for Monty Python, Game of Thrones and Outlander.
Entry optional; pre-booking through Timberbush recommended
More about Doune Castle
Seen from the coach
The great royal castle on its crag above Stirling, where Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned, with the Great Hall and the Royal Palace.
More about Stirling CastleLunch
The roofless palace of the Stewart kings above Linlithgow Loch, begun in 1424 and the birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots.
Palace entry optional
More about Linlithgow and Linlithgow Palace
A stop
A 15th-century castle on the shore of the Forth, built like a stone ship run aground, later a garrison fortress and state prison.
Entry optional
More about Blackness CastleA stop
Where it ends
Back at about 5.30pm
Photographs: Timberbush Tours
Castle Terrace, outside the NCP car park
Castle Terrace, Edinburgh EH1 2EW
Leaves at 8.45am. Opens 15 minutes before departure and closes 5 minutes before.
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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.
8.45am to 5.30pm from Edinburgh, 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 Edinburgh10 hoursBack 6.45pm
The Kelpies · Loch Lomond · Trossachs village · Stirling Castle
A shorter Highlands day from Edinburgh: the Kelpies, Loch Lomond and Stirling Castle.
About 5 hours of it on the roadUp to 53 on a coach
From £52 an adult
Run by Timberbush Tours
From Edinburgh or Glasgow4 days
Luss · Rest · Inveraray · Culloden Battlefield
Four days that include the Jacobite steam train over the Glenfinnan Viaduct and two nights on Skye.
About 17½ hours on the road in allUp to 16 on a coach
From £329 an adult
Run by Timberbush Tours
From Edinburgh9 hoursBack 5.30pm
Rosslyn Chapel · Melrose · Scott's View · Glenkinchie Distillery
Rosslyn Chapel, the Borders abbeys and a whisky distillery, an easy day with little time on the road.
About 3 hours of it on the roadUp to 37 on a coach
From £43 an adult
Run by Timberbush Tours
