Scotland for 16 people / 7 days / October 25
 

Hi! I am slowly putting together next year's trip and we have decided upon Scotland in the first week of October. We are a group of 16 (German-speaking) people who have already been to Edinburgh so we can skip that. Seven days in Scotland is not much so I would like to limit it to the eastern coast. I will also probably hire a private coach and a German-speaking tour guide to guide us through Scotland and we will probably be flying into Glasgow.

I am looking at Skye, Glencoe, Oban and Mull as my must sees. I am a wee bit apprehensive about the weather in October and realize that if it rains continuously, seven days in various distilleries is an overkill. The tour needs to be booked soon as the group is large and hotels book up fast.

There are some experts on here whose advice I highly trust and treasure. There are also those who have just returned from Scotland and are full of experiences and ideas to share. I appreciate it all and thank you in advance.

PS: The itinerary is not set in stone so feel free to add or delete any "must sees" for a more realistic and enjoyable trip.

Firstly I assume that you mean west coast rather than east given the places you have mentioned?

There is absolutely no guarantees about the weather in Scotland, pretty much anytime but especially in October. As I type the west of Scotland is being battered by Storm Ashley with heavy rain and 80mph winds. But you could just as easily get calm weather and beautiful sunny days. In a week you should probably expect that every day may well be different. Maybe with a private tour and guide you can leave things flexible so that you can allocate a distillery as and when you get to a bad day rather than planning in advance?

Thank you, John. Yes, it is the west coast, of course. Sorry to hear about the storm. Hope flooding will be kept to a minimum.

The good thing about customized tours is that there is some flexibility. The drawback with a group is that many venues and restaurants now want not only reservations, but pre-orders as well. Luckily with WhatsApp, that is easy to manage.

I suggest you contact Rabbie's and ask about their private 'bespoke' tours. Their driver/guides are very knowledgeable and if they don't have someone German speaking I expect they could find someone for you. Their 16-seat mini buses are comfortable and their tours are very highly rated.

We did a day trip with them in September out of Edinburgh and were very pleased and are already planning something more extensive on a return trip.

I'm absolutely no expert on Scotland but we live in the North of England and holiday in Scotland 2 or 3 times a year, and have done for a long while.
We have literally just returned from a week on Skye and a week in the countryside 20 minutes outside Oban.
We stayed in self catering cottages and had our own car .
The weather was very mixed. Much milder than we expected - when on Skye it was 17 degrees some of the time. But in our 2 weeks away we had hail, lots of rain, low cloud, strong winds and lots of sunshine. The weather changed incredibly quickly.
The secret is to be as flexible as possible. We changed and adapted our plans all the while. Scotland is stunning but when it is raining sideways and/or blowing a gale you want to be inside!
I appreciate that with a big group like yours you can't be as flexible as the two of us, and there's going to be an element of chance and luck in your planning.
On our last day near Oban we had planned a picnic, walk and drive around Loch Awe. However the day was so thoroughly foul when we woke that all plans were cancelled! It poured non stop all day. Instead we didn't stir outside our cottage, and spent the day reading, drinking tea and watching Netflix. We rarely have a day doing nothing and rather enjoyed it! But maybe not great when you're on your hols.
If you get to Oban I can recommend an excellent seafood restaurant called EE-USK.
Ee-Usk Seafood Restaurant | Oban Restaurant | Places To Eat (eeusk.com)

Rabbies; get a big enough van, or two. Two plans for every day. No such thing as bad weather only bad clothing.

A bit about Skye in October. My first visit so nothing to compare with but we found the island very quiet.
No queues or traffic holdups. I’d heard the horror stories about rubbish in lay-bys, full parking areas etc. The island was spotless! We never had any trouble parking anywhere.
Very few midges. I never get bitten but they love my husband. No bites for him!
Portree was bustling in the evenings but again we got parked up.
Had great food at Kinloch Lodge.

Thanks for the Rabbie‘s suggestion, weather experiences and Skye in October updates. I‘ll keep that all in mind as my planning proceeds.

Morgana: I'm surprised you had many midges in October. If the weather has been warm they can last longer but they're usually gone by October. Nasty little buggers. October is a much quieter time on the islands.

Kleeblatt: OK -- your heart is set on the west coast but I would definitely think about that before deciding. Being in October helps because Skye won't be so busy. With a group of 16 it often isn't possible to make last minute changes/cancellations/re-routing. It can be done of course and you might luck out weather-wise.

I HIGHLY recommend contacting Rabbies. They would probably be perfect for your group. 16 passenger tours is exactly what they do and have been really highly rated for over 30 years. They do private / bespoke tours as well as the regularly scheduled itineraries. Their regular tours are all in English but the may have a German speaking driver/guide. If not, they will definitely be able to refer you to someone else.

https://www.rabbies.com/en

Dear Janisj

May I ask what itinerary you would put together for a group is Swiss who have been to Edinburgh, want to try some whiskey and would love to see beaches, glens and quaint villages. Short hikes are also welcomed.

psst 🤫 -- it is whisky in Scotland- not whiskey.

Doing the west coast will probably be fine and will have tons of scenery, a great distillery tour at Talisker, glens and lochs. Just be prepared to hunker down in the pub if the weather is vile. The west coast / islands doesn'r really lend itself to a single base and spoke and wheel day trips like you did in the Cotswolds. The distances are farther and the driving is slower.

Do you have seven nights on the ground? Maybe something like this: Starting from GLA - one night in Oban (you would nee 3 nights there if you wanted to do a day trip to Mull which would take up an entire day). There are distilleries in Oban as well as Tobermory on Mull. Three nights on Skye. one night in Glencoe. the final two nights in/near Callander. This would be a base for the Trossachs, Stirling Castle, Doune Castle lots of lovely easy hikes, lochs and is less than an hour from GLA

Oban has a good whisky and does tours.

Depends somewhat on what your taste in whisky is, though.

Brilliant! Thanks for your input. I have been looking at the Trossachs which remind me a bit of the area we live in, except that it is much wilder and remote.

I'll have a think about everyone's suggestions as I talk to our local travel agent. This is one trip that will be organised through travel agencies and tour organisations. We have done two similar trips in Ireland; one in the west and the other in the north. The group is fine with multiple hotels although I personally prefer slower travel myself.

I asked our local travel agency for a quote for flights, hotels on Mull, Skye and Glencoe, a coach and a tour guide for 7 nights. Well, the total amount came out to CHF 65,100 for 16 people. As lovely as the itinerary was, I'm afraid we'll be looking for a more affordable destination to visit next year.

Thank you all for your help.

:( But before giving up on Scotland entirely do contact Rabbies. 61,000 CHF = more than £54,000. Than seems outrageous since flights should not be very expensive. My guess is Rabbie's could beat that by miles.

Your TA is wanting to charge you almost £3500 per person for a 7 night itinerary -- or £500 per day. I know things are high in CH but that seems highway robbery

You had mentioned them before and I considered contacting them. I know their drivers double as guides and they probably would recommend staying in Oban instead of Mull which would decrease prices significantly. However, after much thought, we have decided to put this trip on the back burner for now.

Thanks again for your expert advice.

Probably for the best - but at least you have a contact for a future trip. Re "and they probably would recommend staying in Oban instead of Mull which would decrease prices significantly" -- on a private tour you can design your own itinerary (with their input of course) so if staying on Mull is your preference they could work it out some how. I'd even consider staying on Iona. The coach can't go on to the island but can park 10 minutes away in Fionnphort.