Thanks, BigRuss. Sounds like you had a great trip!

Hi CAPH52 -- We took a Rabbie's day tour to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, and we took an overnight through the Highlands to Inverness. Both were great. We liked the itinerary and the drivers very much.

Sally

Thank you, Sally! Rabbie's is sounding better and better!

Caph - I know it is stressful but I sense so much joy and am so excited to read all about it. What a great event!!

Sorry, I did mean Rabbie's and not Robbie's.

Having had a quick look at their one day tours, I think the one including Loch Ness would be good actually - although Loch Ness itself isn't that special, the tour does also include Rannoch Moor, Glencoe and other places which are worth seeing. It's a long day, but if you want to see the Highlands in a day, it would be very good I think (if you can stand that long in a small bus).

Dawn, if my trip report on this trip is anything like my others, you'll hear much more about it than you'd ever want to!

Caroline, thanks so much for looking at that itinerary for me! I'm glad to hear you say that it sounds good. It <i>is</i> an awfully long day! But at least, at that time of year, it should all be during daylight. For us, it'll all be new country passing by the windows. And, best of all, someone else will be doing the driving!

As much as I love traveling by car and having the option of going where you want to and stopping when you want to, there's much to be said for having a tour guide to tell you what you're seeing. I hope we're lucky enough to get one who's a story teller.

And, as I've said before, on this trip, since my husband won't be with us, a car just isn't an option. I'm not an adventurous driver. I don't like driving new places near home. Much less in another country where they drive on the other side of the road! Everyone in Scotland should be grateful I'm not renting a car!

And I realize that much of that had nothing to do with your post, Caroline. Just a little tangent!

If you want to see all that, a tour is the best option - it would be no fun driving it all yourself in a day !

On the three day tour that I took with Rabbies, we spent a lot of time off the bus. I would assume that a day tour would be different, but I think on all tours they try to keep the long hauls to a minimum.

Good to know, Susie!

Oops, hit post too soon!

True, Caroline! And I don't think I'd want to be around my husband if he'd had to do that much driving in one day!

I know we can't see that much very thoroughly in one day. But at least it should give us a good overview so that, when we're able to go back, we'll know what we want to take the time to see better.

Good thinking. Hope you have a nice day for it !

Thanks, Caroline. So do I!

I was just reading another thread that reminded me that I've been wanting to pull this back up to ask a couple more questions.

Does anyone know whether we need to book the tour ahead? Or can we wait until we have some idea which day we're there might be the best in terms of weather? And, if we do need to book ahead, how soon should we do it?

The gentleman at the B&B we booked suggested Grayline because he said they'll pick us up very near to the B&B. That part of it is definitely tempting since the tours leave early in the morning and our B&B is a little ways out of the city centre. But I know there are Grayline tours all over the place, including here in Chicago. I'm feeling biased against them because I'd rather go with a local company. However, if anyone knows anything about the Grayline tours in Scotland, I'd certainly love to hear it!

Sheila, I'm still planning to take you up on your generous offer. But this old, cluttered computer I'm using hasn't been doing a very good job of opening documents lately. As soon as I get that straightened out, I'll e-mail you. But how do I reach you?

Thanks again, everyone!

Where are you staying ?

We're staying at Adam Drysdale House, 42 Gilmore Place.

Oh yes, of course. It's only on the edge of the city centre & you won't have a problem getting a bus to the starting point early enough. I see the Loch Ness etc tour leaves the High street at 0815, and the first (regular bus) number 27 leaves Tollcross (the area where you are staying) at 0552 on weekdays, 0621 on Saturdays and 0714 on Sundays. At that time of day it will only take 10 minutes max to George IV Bridge, then it's just a few minutes' walk. Here's the Lothian buses timetable website - http://lothianbuses.com/index2.php.

I'm not sure the Grayline tour sounds as good, I also think it may be less 'characterful' (i.e. Scottish) and I think it will be in a full sized coach as opposed to the Rabbie's mini coaches (although I don't know this for sure - I can't remember ever seeing a Grayline vehicle around). Also, if they are picking everyone up at their accommodation, how much time does that waste ? I reckpn your B&B owner may be on commission I'd stick with Rabbie's.

In June (it's getting fairly busy here then) I personally would book in advance, but have no personal experience of whether that's necessary.

Thank you so much, Caroline! That's kind of what I was thinking about the B&B owner too!

I really appreciate the bus info. It makes me much less nervous about getting to the tour on time.

And I do think we'll stick with Rabbie's. Everything I've heard about them has been positive.

Caph I am very excited for you!!

Me too, Dawn! The wedding is three months from today. So I've got a while to wait. But once the weather starts getting nice (two 60 + days in a row, woohoo!), the time goes more quickly.

SuzieQ, Scotlib and others who've done a Rabbie's tour, did you book ahead?

Thanks!