Classic Scotland Latest News

Disney’s new Blockbuster ‘Brave’ set in the Highlands of Scotland

Fri, 18 May 2012 11:14:00 GMT

This new animated adventure features the red haired heroine Merida who travels through the stunning landscape of the Highlands. The story includes iconic images of Scotland including castles, mountains and moorlands, standing stones, kilts and bagpipes. The bloody history of Scotland, with its fierce battles is an ideal setting for Merida’s struggle to discover the true meaning of bravery. The movie will premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 30th this year.

Classic Scotland features a range of tours which include the striking scenery of the Highlands and Islands and visitors can immerse themselves in the history and culture of this great country. Whether you are interested in history, scenery, literature, golf, malt whisky or Island Hopping around the Orkneys, Shetlands and the Western Isles, Classic Scotland Tours can provide an individually planned itinerary to meet your needs.

Our wide range of tours includes platinum tours, where you can experience the finest hotels and sights in Scotland, regional and sightseeing tours and special interest tours, including golf, literature,shooting and fishing tours and garden tours.

We also arrange Scotland clan tours which help you to uncover your family history and our ever popular whiskey tours which allow you to taste the malt whiskies of distilleries in remote Highland and Island locations.

Whatever your interest, please contact us to arrange your private tour of Scotland.

Scotland's Whiskey Festivals

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 11:17:00 GMT

Single Malt Whisky is Scotland’s most famous product, with a huge selection of distilleries, each producing whiskies with their own subtle flavours and character. From the peated malts of the Western Island of Islay to the famous and densely packed distilleries of Speyside, you can enjoy the flavours of Scotland on Classic Scotland’s wide range of Whiskey Tours.

Classic Scotland offers seven whiskey tours on their website, including tours of Speyside, Islay, Scottish Castles and Whisky and our VIP whiskey Tour, where you can experience private nosings in the distilleries of your choice, fine dining and luxurious castle hotels.

Your Private Whiskey Tour organised by Classic Scotland Tours can include the distilleries of your choice and can be combined with one of the Whiskey Festivals which celebrate everything to do with malt whiskey. These festivals offer auctions of rare whiskies, dinners with menus created with whiskey in mind and a wide range of activities, tours, talks and entertainment.

The most important whiskey festivals are:

The Spirit of Speyside: 3rd-7th May
With unique tours and tastings, many at distilleries not normally open to visitors, opportunities to meet the experts, matching food and whiskey events, a local food fair, master-classes and lectures.

Islay Malt and Music Festival: 25th May – 3rd June
Concerts, ceilidhs, distillery open days, guided walks and sporting events - there is something for everyone.

Glasgow Malt Whisky Festival: November each year

Speyside Autumn Whisky Festival: Held at the end of September each year
Themed on Whisky, food, music and the heritage and culture of Speyside, the Autumn Whisky festival offers an array of quality events.

Classic Scotland can create a whiskey tour to meet your requirements, visiting castles, historical sites and distilleries of your choice. Please contact us for ore details of our tours or the festivals.

Scotland - A Country of Culture

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:12:00 GMT

Throughout the summer months in Scotland, events are taking place to celebrate the creative industries in the country. Scotland boasts an incredible range of talent, from award-winning directors and writers to widely recognized actors and internationally renowned visual artists, architects and digital companies. As a result of the wealth of indigenous talent, Scotland produces a huge volume of home-grown productions and products each year.

One of the most famous events in Scotland is the Edinburgh Festival. This is staged each year in August at a number of venues throughout the city and features performers. This first started in 1947 and since then, the Fringe has featured performances of all types of entertainment so there really is something for everyone!

Since 2005, the Glasgow Film Festival has celebrated the best in world cinema. Many movies are also produced in Scotland, and throughout the country you will find familiar film sets from the Highlands and Islands to the cities. Notable famous sites include Doune Castle used as Camelot in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Eilean Donan Castle in Highlander and many sites associated with the Harry Potter Movies. Our sightseeing tours including our Scottish castle tours visit many of these sites and we can tailor a private tour to meet your interests.

There are also a number of events happening throughout the year that relate to the many famous authors Scotland has produced, including Robert Louis Stephenson and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. If you are a fan of literature then you should be sure to tour Edinburgh which is one of only five cities to attain the UNESCO award of “World City of Literature” for its quality, quantity and diversity of publishing. You can take a tour of the places known to Scotland’s great authors with our Great Scottish Literature Tour.

No trip to Scotland would be complete without taking in the local food and drink.The vast variety of food in Scotland has made it one the planet’s culinary highlights and must visits. With outstanding ingredients from beef to lobster there is something for every palate and taste. If you like fine dining, there are 16 restaurants in Scotland that have attained the accolade for outstanding cuisine. Visit as many restaurants as you like with our Fine Dining Tour from pubs to castles.

And of course, Scotland’s biggest export - whisky. There are numerous distilleries in Scotland with many concentrated in relatively small areas like Islay and Spesyide. Many open to the public and you can visit the single malts and learn how and what makes a good whisky with our Scotch Tours.

Events for 2012 Scottish Tours

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:52:00 GMT

There is a great variety of events and festivals in Scotland during 2012 which you can incorporate into your Scotland Tour. We have listed below a few of our favourites. Simply choose an event that appeals to you and we can create a personally planned itinerary for your private Scotland tour.

Edinburgh Military Tattoo – a spectacular event in the grounds of Edinburgh Castle, a magnificent location overlooking Scotland’s capital city.
Year of Creative Scotland 2012 – there are many events this year throughout the country celebrating the art, literature and culture of Scotland.
Highland Games- Many events occur in May and June and the games include Highland dancing, piping and the famous Tug O’ War championships. These events are an ideal opportunity to visit rural Scotland and meet the locals.
Whisky Festivals – The whisky festivals in Speyside and Islay involve distillery tours, auctions of whiskies and meals celebrating cooking with whisky! These are an ideal opportunity for whisky enthusiasts to learn about Scotland’s finest malt whiskies.
Edinburgh Festival – Edinburgh’s pubs, restaurants and public buildings host a huge range of events including theatre, comedy and music. The city is alive with street performers and many famous faces can be seen in the city so make sure that you include this as part of your Edinburgh tour.

For more details of these events or any of our Scottish tours, please contact us.

Pandas go on show

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:17:00 GMT

Edinburgh Zoo's two new pandas, Tian Tian and Yang Guang have gone on show to the public for the first time. Having arrived in Scotland on the 4th December, over 11,000 tickets have been sold to the panda enclosure before the end of 2011.

Classic England’s ‘Royal Celebration Tour’

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:36:00 GMT

To celebrate the marriage between Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011 and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, Classic England have introduced a popular new Royalty tour.

The eight day tour begins in the capital city, London, visiting many of the historic sites associated with Royalty, from Buckingham Palace to The Tower of London. It then travels through the glorious English countryside to seethe castles and homes of Royalty such as Windsor Castle, Brighton Pavillion and Walmer Castle, a favourite of the Queen Mother. The suggested itinerary can be adjusted to meet the requirements of our clients and the accommodation ranges from quaint B&Bs to historic castles and country mansions with Michelin starred restaurants. For further information, please contact us at info@classic-scotland.com