Family Vacation Tour to England & Scotland

What a fabulous trip! I began working on this trip with our Zicasso travel specialist more than a year ago. He was so helpful and patient as we adjusted dates, number of travelers, and places to visit. Ultimately, we finalized a perfect vacation for eight people that allowed us to experience much of the beauty of Scotland.

We went from Edinburgh to Perthshire, Inverness, the Isle of Skye, Oban, and Glasgow. Our accommodations were very good and centrally located. We had a driver for our nine days traveling from Edinburgh to Glasgow who was fantastic. Our driver made our travel experience extra-special.

The travel company uses a great travel app which provided details on our plans each day, contact info, maps, weather, and a place to message the team with questions and requests. The team was always responsive and helpful. We will definitely use them again when we visit the UK.

My wife and I enjoyed a perfectly glorious 17-day adventure in Scotland, thanks to Zicasso’s travel specialists.

The trip was amazing. The perfect route, well-paced, excellent (and varied) accommodations. It was a wonderful blend of scenery, culture, history, and independence, everything we had discussed during the planning phase. We hardly even noticed a few boating glitches (rescheduled and cancelled ferries). They really did not impact the journey much at all.

The travel company could not have planned better weather for us, mostly sunny days with blue skies. My photos are fabulous. Even the locals were shocked at how lovely it was for an extended period of time. We packed with just the right layers and never needed to use rain gear. For Scotland we were indeed very fortunate. The food also was a pleasant surprise. Of course breakfasts were consistently delicious and ample, but we really enjoyed our bites out, mostly for dinners and occasional lunches in a wide variety of settings, from pubs, to higher-end restaurants, even some ethnic establishments. All were great.

We were inspired to visit Scotland thanks in part to our fascination with the series Outlander, the history, culture, scenery. None of it disappointed. The trip was planned as a road trip, renting a car following two full days exploring Edinburgh on foot. Our route took us to Dunnottar Castle, Balmoral, Inverness, Ullapool, the Outer Hebrides (Lewis and Harris), Skye, Glencoe, Loch Lomond, and Stirling. As 70-somethings, we were incredibly active on each day, hitting 20,000 steps on many of them. Lots of town/city walking, and many hikes along the way as well, including waterfalls and beaches. And castles, museums, battlefields everywhere, so much to explore.

A few random things:

Lake Katrine boat ride and bicycling was definitely a highlight, so glad we fit that in.

Taking the train to Glasgow on the final day was definitely worthwhile (actually our longest day on foot, 27,000+ steps). Loved the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, made it to the Cathedral and Necropolis, and lingered for dinner in Merchant Square. We felt that city was vastly under-rated.

Our greatest challenge was the driving. We had done Australia the same way last year, so were comfortable with the left-right issue. But we found the roads throughout Scotland to be very narrow, often one-laned, and in terrible disrepair, with potholes at every turn. Thankfully we were not there in high season. We could only imagine how difficult it could be with way more tourists on the road. Having additional car insurance was very wise planning indeed, thank you!

We definitely want to report how pleased we were, with the trip and the travel company’s services. The travel specialist was always incredibly responsive and reassuring as things surfaced along the way. Communications were never a problem. We would definitely use this travel company again, perhaps they might even suggest our next great adventure. Scotland is a must-see for everyone.

Amy and David P.

We had a wonderful time and enjoyed many of the features of the trip. All of the hotels were very nice and the overnight stay in the castle was the cherry on top. We were able to get a tour of the castle and I would recommend to others that they include the stay in their trip, and that they request a tour to get the full experience.

Having free time in Edinburgh with just a few tours was very nice and then getting to see the countryside and the beautiful Isle of Skye was great. As Mark said, our driver was excellent or, as he would say, lovely. He really helped to give us some local insight and took us to some off-the-beaten-track places, in addition to getting us to all the stops on the tour. My husband and I would highly recommend our driver for any Scotland tour.

All in all, an excellent trip. Thank you!

Zicasso’s travel specialists were excellent to work with, as we adjusted our itinerary many times from initial contact to the time of travel. Our travel party significantly reduced in number and they worked with us to put together a great tour of Scotland (Edinburgh, including the castle, Royal Holyrood Palace, and a day trip to Stirling Castle with a great chauffeur/guide) and Ireland, arranging our flight to Dublin with transportation to Galway, then return via train for activities in Dublin. We had a wonderful trip and would highly recommend the travel company.

Our trip to Scotland and the Isle of Man was fantastic! Every detail was thought out and executed flawlessly. The travel company listened to our thoughts and worked with us to make our vision a reality. They were exceptional.

Our hotels were first-rate, our tour guides were friendly, knowledgeable, and personable, and our tours were informative. The "extras" like the falconry experience and luxury picnic in the Highlands were outstanding.

They used a travel app to communicate and update us throughout the trip. I can't say enough about how useful the app was and how it took all the stress out of the trip. The app contained our schedule, names and contact information for our guides, tickets for our pre-paid tours, etc. It also was the means of communication with their staff.

We wanted to give a special thank you to one of the travel specialists. We had one day where we decided to rent a car and drive ourselves from Heysham, England, to Inverness, Scotland. While they were not involved in renting the car or coordinating the day, she proactively sent us suggestions for stopping spots along the way and even arranged for food and drinks upon our eventual arrival at our hotel in Inverness that evening. She went above and beyond our expectations to ensure we were well cared for.

I will definitely recommend this travel company to anyone I know who is planning a trip to Scotland. And I will be using Zicasso again in the near future as I begin planning a family trip to Spain in 2027.

Our trip to Scotland was wonderful from start to finish. The scenery was breathtaking, the history and culture were fascinating, and every stop felt memorable in its own way. We especially appreciated the friendly people and well-planned experiences, including chauffeurs in luxury cars, staying in a carriage house on the shores of Loch Lomond, a visit with a shepherd who was well-versed in local history, and private bagpipe performances.

My wife had the unexpected pleasure of learning the right way to drink whisky. The highlight of the trip was spending three hours with the chieftain of my clan (MacLean), while receiving a personalized tour of Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull. It was a truly unforgettable adventure and we would highly recommend it to anyone considering a visit to Scotland.

This was my second trip planned by Zicasso. If you can afford it, Zicasso is the only way to travel, wherever you want to go.