Day 1 - Join us on Friday morning as we travel by coach to Moffat, an attractive town with a ‘double’ High Street, lots of specialist shops, cafés and hotels, beautiful Station Park and many super walks. We’ll continue to our hotel on the Ayrshire Coast in good time for dinner.
Day 2 - Our morning tour takes us over the Erskine Bridge and the Firth of Clyde and to ‘The bonnie, bonnie banks o’ Loch Lomond’, an idyllic location immortalized by the charming folk-song. We then travel to beautiful Balloch, an important gateway to the Loch. Here you can browse the new Loch Lomond Shores visitor centre and shopping area, before we embark on an unforgettable cruise of Loch Lomond - the Queen of Scottish lochs. We will then return to our hotel for dinner.
Day 3 - With an early start, we will travel by sea ferry to the beautiful Isle of Arran (the most accessible of the Scottish islands), for an exciting and memorable day. Arran is ‘Scotland in miniature’, with majestic highlands and soft lowland areas, wooded glens and heather-clad moorland, clear-blue seas and sandy beaches. We continue to the west of the island on ‘The String Road’, then travel via Blackwaterfoot to beautiful Whiting and Lamash Bays, before our afternoon visit to Brodick Castle. With fine sea views, this impressive sandstone castle dates from the sixteenth century and boasts unique collections of furniture, fine art, porcelain and silver. Its vibrant gardens include an internationally-acclaimed rhododendron collection and magnificent walled gardens, with beautiful walking trails. Other attractions include The Ranger Centre, Ice House and the fantastic Bavarian Summer House.
Day 4 - Discover the famous Ayrshire Coast with a coach tour. You’ll see picturesque fishing villages, beautiful beaches, cliff-top castles, and fabulous views across the sea to Kintyre and the Munros of Argyll. Our first stop is Ayr, a popular resort with pleasant shopping areas and promenade walks. Then on to the world-famous, leafy village of Alloway, home of Scotland’s best-loved poet ‘Rabbie’ Burns: ‘The Bard of Scotland’. With its ruined church and rustic bridge over the River Doon (immortalized in Tam O’Shanter), the village encapsulates traditional Scotland. You may like to see the picturesque thatched cottage of Burns’s birth, browse the Visitor Centre to learn more of his life and times - or simply soak up the atmosphere of this celebrated village. A scenic drive along the coast brings us to the former fishing port of Girvan, now a popular tourist spot. Our homeward journey begins in the early afternoon.
Please note: the visit to the Isle of Arran is subject to ferry timetables which are believed to be correct at the time of creating this web page. However, Omega reserves the right to change the order of the itinerary if the timetables are revised for any reason.
