A Scottish Journey

Great tour - amazing tour leader and wonderful locations.

This was our first visit to Scotland. We absolutely loved it and felt we saw a good variety of places. Stunning scenery amazing castles. Our guide was so informative, organised and mindful of our wishes and needs. Her local knowledge meant she could always make recommendations for eating, shopping and coffee breaks. Some days We maximised our time by picking up a sandwich or something when we stopped for morning coffee. That way we could spend more time enjoying the rugged scenery

Great tour guide (Mike) and driver (David).
Loads of information delivered with humour.
We really did a lot of back roads which was a very different way of seeing Scotland. Without the local information we would have missed so much.

Our tour guide Lesley Anne was phenomenal! The tour took us on many backroad adventures of the beautiful Scotland! What a great time! 💚

First the pros -
The tour guide, Leslie, was very knowledgeable on Scotland and very friendly.
The bus drivers, drove carefully and safely.
The hotels were generally comfortable, and the food was quite good.
The country was beautiful and scenic, the Scots were very friendly.
Now the cons -
The 18-seater bus for 18 people was far too small, some taller/larger people had to keep their legs stretched out into the aisle all the time.
The smaller people still felt very cramped in the aircraft type seats.
The tour bus, being so small, had no toilet, so we had to rely on stopping regularly for toilet breaks.
The travel time in the bus each day was too long, some of the sites we visited had no interest to the majority of the group.
I did not like the regimental start times, stop here times, get going times.
Now the very bad cons -
The luggage. We were told we could have certain size ports which we did, and the weight would not be a concern.
When it came time to load the bus (back compartment) the tour guide told people to half their luggage as it was not going to all fit. Not acceptable. 18 paying customers have 18 recommended size ports all deserved to have a place on the bus for their luggage. The cargo space under the bus was not used, if this was used then no-one would need to halve their luggage. More then a few of us Australians were not use to cold weather and need the extra warm clothing. Which would of course take up extra room in our luggage.
Suggestions -
If you are to have 18 people, get a 24-seater, 20 people get a 26-seater, this will allow for people to move around a little while travelling and spread out a little.
Tow a trailer behind for the luggage.
Utiilise a proper coach with a toilet, and bigger seats.
If you're a backpacker with one knapsack, then this might suit you.
For people who wish to visit a country at leisure with a little bit more input, this is not your tour.
I definitely would not recommend this tour.

We LOVED this tour!! Our guide Lesley Ann was the best! She understood our group dynamic and provided a magical mix of folklore, history and road knowledge throughout the trip. 5 out of 5!

Excellent site seeing and enjoyed the country life.
The weather was great most of the time.
Towards the end of tour was cold over the last few days.
Enjoyed learning about the history and and taken some Excellent photos too.

Wonderful tour with a knowledgeable leader and excellent driver.

Our Scottish Journey tour was first scheduled for fall of 2020. Then again in fall of 2022. We - my husband and I along with 7 of our relatives - finally went October of 2024. Our group all agreed the trip the best we could have hoped for! The hotels were all top notch with king sized beds, bottled water, wifi, and good breakfasts. We had 2 excellent drivers, Ian and David, who were accommodating, knowledgable, friendly and, most importantly, safe. But the make or break feature was Lesley Anne, our intrepid tour guide. She was the best! She did everything she could do to make our trip informational and comfortable - in a word - perfect. She was flexible enough to make a few changes when she thought it was best. She was knowledgable and entertaining. She included not only facts about the sights, but other things as well - local customs, music, the clans, restaurant recommendations, shopping hints, and the people. The scenery was indescribably beautiful and although I took hundreds of pictures, I'm not sure any will do justice. Because we traveled in a smaller mini-bus, we could traverse the roads less traveled, many of them barely wide enough for 2 cars to pass. The people we met along the way were unfailingly friendly. Lesley Anne included regular comfort and coffee breaks along the way and took care of us like a big sister. Most of our stops were 2 nights which was just right.

We chose October 1 -10 for our trip because it was the perfect time for the weather to still be decent, which it was, and for the crowds to abate. It was a good decision. However, my advice is to bring more warm clothes than you think you need! I brought 1 raincoat with a hood (good decision) and a light winter coat. I should have brought a warmer coat. I bought a hat there. I wished I had taken gloves, a warm scarf, and my UGGS. Although I took some nicer pants and tops, I didn't take any dressy clothes, and I didn't need them. Don't forget a super long charging cord for your phone if you want to have it by your bedside during the night. Although I might have a couple of suggestions for improvements at the hotels, they are minor. We flew into London and spent a couple of days there before taking the train to Edinburgh. We stayed in Edinburgh for 2 days after the trip - our tour didn't spend time there and it's a delightful city, especially if you stay on or close to the Royal Mile. Then we flew back to London and stayed in an airport hotel before our trip home the next day. I would say our trip was a 10!!

Great tour the best tour leader and driver

- Lesley Anne is an excellent guide.
- Tour itinerary was as advertised with a few surprise bonus stops included.
- Food and lodging included were first class.
- daily pace was good. I would suggest a little less time at some coffee/comfort stops to allow more time at stops with greater content.

A really interesting and well run tour. Interesting choice of stops, some slightly off program and all the more interesting because of it. Leslie a lovely host, very knowledgeable and well prepared with notes. Anne a careful and cautious driver and a delightful addition to the tour group.
Hotels and dinners well up to standard.

Perfect weather made a huge impact but the itinerary was good and Warwick our guide excellect, striking the right balance with commentary & silence for us to absorb the stunning scenery. Lunch stops in a couple of places could have been reduced enabling earlier arrival at hotels, or slightly later starts, but on the whole it was well constructed. Compared with other touring companies i believe tour documentation was poor- baggage tags would have assisted guides & hotel staff in some instances; name badges help in the early days of meeting a group of strangers &, bearing in mind the cost of the package, proper printed material was expected - not pages downloaded from the internet & stapled together. All in all a memorable experience .

Its a truly wonderful introduction to a place I've always wanted to see. The group was just the right inclusive size,and to top it of Leslie gave us a brilliant overview of this beautiful land,its history and the proud people of Scotland .Would not hesitate to recommend this Backroads tour.And will certainly look at doing other tours with Backroads. Very professional, with the aim of giving you a truly memorable experience. Thank you so much

Very happy with the tour and the tour guide

The trip was fabulous. However, as a solo traveler the only issue I had was that you get the short-end of the stick with hotel room assignment. Even though as a solo-traveler you pay a supplement to bring Blue-Roads profit up to that of a couple traveling, you do not get the same quality of hotel rooms. Often the solo traveler is put in the smallest attic room. In paying the supplement I expect to get equal treatment and consideration on accomodations. Don't charge me the supplement and then short suit me on accommodations.

Spent far too much time stopping at “ tourists “ spots would have preferred more time off the beaten track.

The highlands is a beautiful area, your took us to most of them. Tour ran seamlessly. The bus can be a bit on the small side at times but it is a small price to pay to get into where we went that a small bus gave us access to.

It was our first 'group' tour, and we could not have been more pleased. The booking process and follow-up was great. The tour guide and driver were wonderful-knowledgeable, engaging, and fun to be around. The scenery in Scotland was stunning and the sites visited were perfect. Be prepared for a lot of walking in some areas and some hotels did require going up and down steps. So when it says that you will be walking and not have mobility issues, it is very true. Prepare for unexpected surprises along the way. Definitely a 5-star adventure.

This was an experience of a lifetime made especially noteworthy with our tour guide, Edward (Ted) Ashe's, depth of historical knowledge articulated throughout the 10 day journey.

The exquisite Highland views and historical Scottish sites visited were only possible due to Ted's keeping with the "Backroads Tours" company name.

Video link:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/PQY7ArEf52zpkYUt7

The drivers were road and terrain savvy with marvelous skill and personality.

Belinda and I are already planning a Northern France tour predicated on Ted's schedule.

Very good tour, managed to see amazing sights and history

Excellent tour leader & itinerary. Bus was too small for 18 guests. Spent a little too long in a couple of daytime stops.

Truly ‘backroads’, I enjoyed the quiet picturesque out of the way places.it was well paced with enough down time. The tour guide Lesley Ann and the drivers, especially Abby were exceptional. Accommodation was varied, food was of a very high standard.

The Tour was everything we hoped it would be and more. Our Guide, G, was knowledgeable, personable, and entertaining with the group. The driver, Paul, much the same. We saw the beauty of Scotland with many off the map hidden surprises. It was truly amazing. Would do this tour again in the future, no doubt

Well thought out tour itinerary. Tour guide (Lesley Rose) was respectful, knowledgeable and very willing to find out answers if she did not know the answer. Accommodation needs to be looked at, some of the places were mean with food, getting to and from rooms was difficult, lighting was poor

Loved the whole experience

The two days of rain hampered our tour a bit, but you can't blame the tour for that!

Guide was very knowledgeable and helpful

Firstly, we would like to thank 'G' Davison for being such a fabulous tour guide. He was the perfect guide. He not only gave us an indepth view of Scottish history but he was also happy to personally socialise with us and give us a more personal view of what it's like living in Scotland.
I would like to thank Backroads for choosing such great food venues. We thoroughly enjoyed all our meals.
We were also happy with our accommodation. However, I do have a suggestion regarding our accommodation on the Isle of Mull. Instead of organising accommodation for a basic room in the hotel, perhaps the overall price of the Backroads trip could be increased to allow for an upgrade at this particular hotel. Unfortunately all of our rooms were located about 600 or so metres from the main reception, lounge and dining facilities. This not only meant a long walk every time we used these facilities but after a long day travelling, the last thing everyone wanted to do was spend half an hour getting to our rooms. The hotel has lovely rooms with water views closer to reception. I am sure they would be more expensive but I do believe this would allow for a much more enjoyable stay for all members of the tour group. Our tour guide was sympathetic to our complaints and I am sure everyone would enjoy the last nights of their tour on Backroads if they were spent in one of the upgraded rooms.
Lastly, we were disappointed that our accommodation was changed from Duisdale House where we were looking forward to staying. Instead we stayed in Toravaig House on the Isle of Skye. Apart from not having the lovely views that Duisdale House offers, the rooms in the hotel were extremely small and the dining area where we all ate was much too small to accommodate the size of our group. The lounge area where we had drinks was too small with not enough seating to accommodate everyone. I am not sure why we didn't stay at Duisdale House as no explanation was given.
Overall, we enjoyed our tour with Backroads, however, this will be our first and last trip on a Backroads tour. We really enjoyed the intimacy of the small group but the tour bus was much too small for my husband. The only seats that he could sit in and be comfortable was the front seat or in the middle of the back seat. We were very fortunate that the group were happy to accommodate him but he still felt extremely embarrassed that he had to request these seats on the coach. I do hope you consider my suggestions regarding the accommodation, as I am sure this would make the The Scottish Journey with Backroads a much more enjoyable experience. Regards Julie & Trevor Stretton

The Scottish tour was a wonderful experience of history, culture and scenery.
Tour guide was happy, helpful, informative and presented with a great sense of humour. The driver was friendly, above all she drove safely and knew exactly where she was going. The accommodation was excellent and there was such good food provided.

We loved our Scottish Journey. The locations and hotels were excellent as was our tour leader,Gee. One of the best that we have experienced.

A great tour with real summer weather for the mainland part and a "Scottish" summer on Skye and Mull. Rain.
Not discouraged or disappointed though.
Top marks.

Excellent guide and itinerary

An informative journey, scenery was amazing and the tour guide was very knowledgable.
Communication could have been better.
We felt very rushed a lot of the time.

Very informative and a fun group to be part of.

Guide Edward Ashe was excellent and was very knowledgeable.
We enjoyed the variety of hotels. Although their location in some areas was excellent occasionally the bathtub did not have adequate ‘hand hiolds’ to get into or out of the bathtub.
Some hotels needed updating from dark deco to something a little lighter.

Great tour, well organised. Friendly people and fantastic experiences. I really liked the places covered in the tour, especially the Isles of Skye, Mull and Iona.

Our Tour Guide was Gee Davidson.
Gee was so helpful to us, he simply could not be of more assistance.
We experienced a wonderful tour of Scotland through Gee's eyes.
His love of Scotland is infectious and will stay with me forever.
The accommodation at The Lodge at the Loch was good, but the people running it, should not be operating a hospitality venue.
I had to beg for one slice of gluten free toast for breakfast, was told by Jean there was none left and then given a crust!
That sort of meanness does not give a lasting good impression.

Lovely countryside. Excellent guide and fabulous bus driver, Abby. Good group with 20 Max. Could have done with more leg room on bus.

Loved the trip, loved the itinerary, loved the friendship with new people that we had never met before and possibly have forged a new long lasting connection.

The tour gave a very good overview of Scotland. The tour and guide had an excellent knowledge of the areas we visited.
On the whole the accommodation was good and having 2 nights in each place worked well.

Enjoyed visiting Scotland. Liked the smaller group on the Back Roads tour. Friendly helpful tour leader in Mike

A great tour with excellent tour guide and drivers. We went the backroads for sure! They do their best to create a memorable journey.

Scotland up close and personal.

It was a bit above my pay grade, but I guess it was value for money

Wonderful Tour, excellent tour guide. Very knowledgeable . Accommodation good. Driver friendly and a safe driver.

Perfect tour for me as a solo traveller. The small group was friendly, very knowledgeable guide and a very good driver. The small bus was able to travel roads that a large bus would have had difficulty with, the small bus was easily able to pull over on narrow roads for photo stops. Enjoyed having 2 nights in the same place, for the entire journey. Very good accommodation. The trip met my expectations and would recommend it to others.

Great tour. Very good accommodation, Driver great on such tiny roads. Mike very personable. I would have Really liked to go to at least ONE whiskey distillery. I think this should be a must on a Scottish trip, more than looking at TV film site. ( outlanders)!! . Culloden info fantastic. The castles, gardens, ruins, abbey, Skye and Mull. All fascinating. Many thanks. NZ tourist.

A great itinerary and a great guide. My fourth trip to Scotland. I saw places I hadn’t been and learned a great deal from Laura.

I would have liked a 1 page summary, on the first night, of the places that we were about to see.
Bus seats were cramped for a long legged person.
The towns and stops that we visited were well chosen.
The hotels were generally good; the room on Mull was a bit small.
The dancers and the piper were a bonus.
Mike, our guide, was just superb. He has a very good with history and related well to the group. He was prideful and humorous.

Overall a pleasant experience, Mike was an amiable host, a mixture of places that gave variety and something for everyone. Plenty of beautiful scenery and photo ops.
On balance, a couple hotels would not have been our choice and an accommodation review could be of benefit as an opportunity for improvement. Some days, found the driving too much.

Outstanding guide, safe driver, perfect size group, well planned with diversity historical experiences, some city opportunities but most importantly true back roads adventures. Appreciated having two nights in one place with daytime excursions.

Fantastic, tour guide Tom so knowledgeable and funny, driver Tony very warm , friendly and a an amazing driver.

Scotland back roads tour are spectacular, the scenery is outstanding . The bus was always clean and comfortable, bit more leg room for tall people would be nice. Accommodation was always lovely with some outstanding.

Highly recommend Back Roads tours UK.
We enjoyed it so much booked three more for France next year. 🥰

Fabulous tour guide, very caring and considerate and excellent driver of our comfortable bus. Enjoyed the beauty of our Scottish tour and very blessed with glorious weather. We would recommend it. We did however miss the fact that our guide was not a Scottish local. We would have loved a bit more local banter and folklore.

We enjoyed our tour. The tour guide Tom was wonderful being a Scottish born and bred person who had a lot of knowledge and insights along the way and shared in a fun and engaging manner. Our bus driver Tony, also Scottish born and bred, was amazing, especially on those one lane back roads. The hotels we stayed at were very comfortable and the food was very good. The sight seeing was incredible and we felt we got a good chunk of the Scottish landscape. The people on the bus were loads of fun and we had a nice time getting to know them and share our experiences together. I would highly recommend this tour.

The variety of places we visited over the ten days of our tour were excellent.
Our tour leader Laura Mezey was full of interesting information on a wide range of subjects. She looked after our group with great care, catering for individual needs and requests. She showed a genuine spirit of friendship to each and every one of us. Our driver John was confident, careful and a real character full of good cheer and funny stories.
I was impressed with every aspect of the tour, I throughly enjoyed the accommodation and meals.

Great thorough tour of Scotland. Our guide and driver were great and very professional. Loved the small group of people rather than a big bus load.

We had a fantastic time seeing the countryside of Scotland! We enjoyed everything , from the tour guide, Gee, to the accommodations and food! We felt well “taken care of”, while in Beautiful Scotland!

Very informative tour with knowledgeable tour people discussing geographical history and how it has lead to today’s way of life and future of the Scotland highlands. Discussing climate effect over the centuries and what it could do to the sustainability of Scotland in years to come. The back roads tour on the outskirts of Scotland showed how these clans formed and help support , contribute and build the major cities and governing bodies through all centuries of existence in Scotland

Firstly. Our bus arrived and it was to small to carry all our luggage. My wife and I had to halve our luggage from two bags to one despite all luggage being within specified size. Two other couples had to do likewise. The trip was going nowhere unless we did this. Not a great start. Secondly. Our tour guide was Italian, not Scottish. This certainly took some of the authenticity out of the trip. A great disappointment to many on board. He was at times hard to understand and had what I would call a reasonable knowledge of the area. The food on the trip was good, not great but good. On the nights dinner was not included at times it was hard to source decent food due to the location of the motels.
Accommodation was good. The actual content of the trip was very good, however our guide just seemed to have many on the trip "offside" with his poor attempts at being funny. He also zeroed in on myself and one other participant. Me for footwear on one occasion he felt was unsuitable, and. the other for a genuine mistake over timings. I know this sounds like its getting personal but it was most disappointing to have him constantly "batting on" about these things. He could not let it go.
Overall a good trip. Not great but good. The lack of size of our transport left a sour taste in my mouth. Not a great start to a trip. And an Italian guide. I will leave that to you to decide. I found it a great disappointment that Back Roads could not find a Scottish guide. It's not that I would not recommend Back Roads as the content of the trip was very good.

Great trip knowledgeable tour guide with passion about his country, accommodation pretty good could be improved, we stayed in a place called loch lodge it was a bit isolated so on second night of food, you could only bring something back to eat in your room, it needed work to bring the standard up also.
The one thing I would have liked to see was balmoral castle, but we only drove to gates to take a picture, I mean the queen died at balmoral castle who doesn’t want to see it, very dissatisfied.
The rest was great. I think more needs to be done about the luggage situation it was a nightmare everyone had too much there was not enough room but the driver managed to squeeze it all in at a push.

Small travel group, small towns, small roads, great travel guide. Marketing needs to be more specific about baggage restrictions. Our carry on backpacks did not fit above seats as those compartments are much smaller than on planes.

Fabulous trip. Tom was a very knowledgeable guide and John our driver was very supportive. Our experience was very enjoyable with so much humour.

I found the Scottish Tour guide Tom McIver extremely knowledgeable with all the historical facts and stories relating to the various locations. I also believe the Backroads places that were chosen were very much a favourite destination for me.

An excellent tour full of variety.
Great tour leader. The pace was good, meals & accommodation also V good.
Don't really have any recommendations for change.

Would be better if we had a Scottish tour leader and fewer people on the coach- maybe 16? For more flexibility in seating.
Need to adhere to luggage specifications- sizes of cases so luggage does not become a problem each day.

Just what we wanted to see the Scottish Highlands and Isles and well paced. The first hotel Malmaison in Edinburgh was a disappointment being overpriced, dark and dirty looking with poor customer service. Apart from that the accommodation was very good. The bus was a tight squeeze due to some very large people on the tour we had to accommodate for. Luggage size should be more strictly monitored as many were oversized and very difficult for the driver and leader to fit in.

Beautiful scenery. Lots of wonderful experiences. Loved it.

Scotland was a scenic country to visit. We were constantly enthralled by the scenery. We stayed at some lovely hotels and ate very well. We had a variety of experiences to get a taste of Scotland

Excellent! Informative tour guide who was organised, proactive, dealing with all little issues that arose with calmness. A variety of sights to see: Castles, Lochs, Islands, Religious sites. Iona was the highlight for me. A variety of accomodations, all very comfortable. Excellent dinners at these places. Richard our tour guide was very , very good. Approachable and with a sense of humour. Would recommend A Scottish Journey to anyone. June 2024 Michael ( Australia )

While it stated a little rocky (not impressed with Mail Madison meal), it did quickly get better after that. Fiona and Abby were great and showed us some fabulous hidden gems of Scotland. Very knowledgeable!

We had an amazing trip in this tour. So many incredible sights and taking the backroads gave us stunning scenic drives.

Our guide and driver were very professional and I always felt safe with Tony behind the wheel.

Giovanni had excellent knowledge of the places we visited and was very considerate with ensuring our group was well taken care of (including comfort stops).

Personally, the minibus was a little uncomfortable and I would have liked the days to finish a little earlier. (I am in my 70’s and like an afternoon rest - stairs are a little difficult for me but I did manage them).

I would definitely recommend this tour to get a thorough experience of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

Loved Scotland great guide in Fiona. Many hotels too removed from town. To much free time in small villages with not much to do apart from shops. If weather bad not good experience
Do nt think need to do 2 islands if bad weather would be horrible

There was a lot of driving to get to far flung destinations. I would have preferred seeing villages and castles of historical significance, rather than outdoor activities like visiting a waterfall, or looking for seals. Perhaps the itinerary was too ambitious, but it just seemed like we were always driving against the clock and on
a number of occasions, turned up at charming villages just as things were closing up for the day.

The meals and accommodation were mostly good.

I had the feeling that our tour leader, Richard, had done the trip too many times and so was lacking in enthusiasm.

This tour exceeded my expectations. G.our tour guide, Mike the extra man and Ian our bus driver were just fantastic. Always willing to help and go the extra mile. The content was excellent and well planned, they also included Balmoral Castle when they found out it was open on the day we were in the area, in consultation with the passengers they alter the routes and included sights that they thought would be of interest to all on board. This came about because they had the genuine interest of their country and wanted to pass their knowledge and love of what they do onto us. G also went beyond his roll when one of the passengers lost her passport, he phoned all previous hotel about the passport, organized rail tickets to London along with the accommodation in London when getting the replacement passport, and looking after luggage until she could return at the end of the tour. We were so fortunate to have him as our tour guide.
Thank you for a great holiday and I will be looking at other tours you offer.

What shall I write… it was an excellent trip with a great group and fantastic Tourguides (incl. „Co“-Guide; G, Mike and Ian (bus driver)). On my first trip to Scotland I learned a lot about history and saw beautiful landscape and bridges, castles and isle! I became a really good „overview“ and more. That I had been part of this journey, with interesting and funny chats between all of our group and guides was an extra highlight. The meals and accommodations were terrific as well. Thanks a lot!

I enjoyed the Back Roads tour, being off the highways, seeing the countryside was special. Crathes Castle and Balmoral Castle were highlights for me. Unfortunately I had to leave the tour in Inverness as I lost my passport and had to go to London to get an emergency passport. The tour director G. Davidson was very helpful and supportive at for me a very stressful time. Made sure I had accommodation and saw me onto the London train. I can't thank him enough. Elaine Drews.

Great itinerary, beautiful spring weather & scenery. Good guides , driver & company on board. Accommodation good & all up, value for money

This trip was excellent. The tour guide was very informative with a sense of humour and the driver drove safely at all times. The group size ensured that we all got to know each other and were comfortable with each other. The accommodations and the food were both excellent. What a beautiful country! I would highly recommend this tour!

The Scottish tour was everything we expected from our reviews of the tour prior to booking. Our guide was very knowledgeable with a good sense of humour making the trip fun. Our driver was excellent and worked well with our guide so that we saw all that was promised even though the weather forced us to reroute on the fly. The accommodations were very comfortable, clean and were as they appeared in the tour documentation. Would recommend this company, guide, driver and the accommodations to everyone.

Good value for money and well organised

See previous comments why do want more of the same?

The small interment group and friendly gride and driver

N/A. Travel agent purchase, ask him.

Loved how we went Backroads to hidden gems …How we learnt about the history of Scotland as we travelled this Journey

Excellent route, beautiful scenery, a great tour leader, alot of interesting history, comfort hotels and coach.

A Scottish Journey was an excellent way to visit Scotland. We covered a lot of Scotland and many historic sites.

For an expensive tour that promised quality all the way, several aspects were disappointing.
The Tour Guide did her best, but some meals were inedible, there were problems with hotel room allocation and some promised experiences could not be delivered ‘ because it was out of season’. If key places close at the end of September, Back Roads shouldn’t take money for tours in October.

The tour was excellent, we've not been on a tour before so we were unsure of what to expect, but from start to finish, we had a great time. Mike (guide) and Andrew (driver) were brilliant, they became part of the tour family, so much so that at the end there were tears and hugs all around. Mike added his own personal Scottish touch (including humour) making it feel that it was a tour of his own back yard. Andrew's driving skills were exceptional, smooth and extremely safe. His friendly nature is an attribute.

All my wife and myself wanted in a tour plus more.

The tour covered many of the wonderful and historical areas in Scotland. Very happy

The cost of the trip was higher than a couple others we looked at.

Purchase transaction was fine

Good price for such a great trip.

As outlined in customer experience feedback

Lots of fun, great scenery and a variety of experiences. The local guides at places we visited were well-informed and passionate, which helped make this trip memorable.

The tour covered everything we wanted to do and see

Purchasing the tour was easy. One of the hotels we stayed in though needs to improve their service.

Great enjoyable very interesting

Well organised & a good variety of locations. Tour guide was informative & knowledgeable

Excellent value for money

Tour covered everything and more that I wanted to experience just wonderful

We loved the places we visited, our driver Abbey and Mike our tour guide, were great people.

The purchase experience was fine and technically the logistics were fine. While the tour description states "Savour time exploring the magnificent Cairngorms National Park", we never went into the park because the ground was wet and several participants had canes. Personally, we would have liked to have done more hiking and spent fewer hours on our own in small towns - albeit quaint not justifying the amount of time spent.

The tour itinerary was good, taking across a diverse range of scenic places and places of historic significance.
Downside was the quality of meal offerings.
Lovely accommodation, except where showers were over bath without benefit of grab handles

Professional guide and driver. Hotels mixed. Meals generally awful.. Food seemed to be trying to meet a budget not a quality standard. I would rather have no meals included if this is the prevailing standard. Consideration of access , especially in bathrooms must be addressed.

Excellent tour guide, safe driver and a great group of people made this tour most enjoyable. We would love to do another tour with Tony and Russell.
Loved all the places we went to, some hotels were better than others but all in all a fantastic tour that I can highly recommend

Guide and driver excellent

Too much driving each day

The tour leader was excellent . He managed people very well and this is a difficult task especially 24hrs . He had a fascinating knowledge of history geography and customs to add as well as his own Scottish background .

To be forwarded with accompanying e-mail.

The tour guide we had treated us like a group of school kids on a school excursion. Some of the motels we stayed were very isolated and left us nowhere to go or an alternative to eat or to mix with the locals. We had to pre order many of our meals and purchase our lunches, leave them on the bus for 2-4 hrs because we were told there was nowhere to buy our lunch at the destination we were going, only to get there and have options available. Eating lunch at a cemetery with the option of sitting on wet grass or graves was disrespectful as far as I’m concerned. Two days of just driving around to fill in the time. I would not recommend this tour unless major changes are made to it.

The highlight of our tour was our tour leader, Paul. His knowledge of the Highlands, his background in photography, and his talent in storytelling, and his performances of caber tossing and the ode to haggis all made the trip memorable. At the same time, he attended to every detail to keep things running smoothly, and constantly consulted with our driver, Abby, whose superb skill in negotiating both city streets and narrow winding backroads had us all agog. They both quickly established a close rapport with the group. The minibus was a bit cramped for 20 (18 guests), but it was able to take us to sites larger bus tours had to miss. The accommodations were all good, though often cramped. I am already recommending this tour friends.

We saw so many sights. Truly got the feel of Scotland and the wonderful people!

Again the tour and tour guide were great but the choice of hotels and meals was poor. Certainly not 4 star.

The knee room on the bus seats was a bit tight. The scenic back roads that Giovani chose and Andrew's amazing driving made long drives almost magical

Well worth the money spent.

Great pace and loved having two nights in each hotel. Much more relaxed way of travelling. The small bus enabled travel off the main roads and we had access to beautiful vistas

Recognizing that the tourist industry worldwide is still recovering from COVID, the hotels were clearly trying to provide good service but with limited staff & that required everyone being patient.
Having to provide meal choices so far in advance to accommodate the hotels was somewhat frustrating & confusing.

See previous comments as above

Very well organized, friendly staff

Good experiences over a wide range of Scotland

good value for money, coming from overseas it was a good way to travel the area without the bother of hiring cars and having to organise all the accommodation.

Hotels were great, but not what I would consider four- star. That is not a big deal to me, but is apparently part of the companies branding.

i had a great time, i thought the agent that i dealt with could have been more hands on. i purchased over the phone all information was emailed to me.
i also by another agent purchased another tour with trafalgar best of Israel they called me into there office and gave me all documents and itinerary. maybe i am too old fasion

Really enjoyed this trip but when there was free time, there was little to do as we were away from any major centre at times

Pitched at the right price point for length of tour.

We could have had more meals included. Cultural experiences.

I’ve waited a long time to visit Scotland. It was worth the wait.

Great tour guides, accommodation was adequate, bus comfortable, loved the whole back roads experience of Scotland.

Excellent guide and itinerary. Food and hotels average

Overall very good. Food could be better.

Felt price paid was very good with respect to choice of hotels, guides, comfort of mini-van and our driver was excellent.

Great trip could of been better

Good value. We enjoyed all accommodations (and on some tours they can be a bit dodgy) and all provided meals. Particularly on hotels, they were all different, and that added to the charm of the trip (much better than them all being similar). Professional driver and guides - and you particularly notice that when you don't have them. This tour had them.

The tour did not disappoint
The landscape,history and charming towns were memorable and the leadership from Giovanni Braida made each day interesting.stressfree,fun and very relaxing
Iwould travel on a tour with him again and with Ian the most competent driver on Back Roads and back of Back Roads at times
A fabulous tour of the Scottish Highlands and Islands

I would have preferred ordering meals at the restaurants after arrival, as opposed to preordering before we saw the place.

Everything was great. they tried very hard and were successful

Great overnight locations and tour destinations

Great locations, excellent driver and guide working together as a team.

Confusing instructions as to the identity o=f the company. We booked through Adeo and were referred to Back Roads only to find that Back Roads was not the correct name. It was blue roads.

The itinerary was very good and enabled us to see the best of the best of Scotland in the Highland region and the isles off the West Coast.

See previous remarks regarding.

I enjoyed the trip. We stayed nice places and had wonderful meals. The bus tour showed us most of the beautiful country.

Reasonably price. Good value.

Expensive, compared to other tours of similar length I've taken. Can't understand why, on the Isle of Skye, our accommodation was the Duisdale Hotel which is a long way from either of the two "towns" on Skye. Had we stayed closer to one of the towns, we could have explored the area during our free time. This wasn't feasible from the Duisdale. The breakfast service at that hotel was disorganised and chaotic - even on the second morning, after negative feedback had been provided to them about the breakfast on the first morning.

See comments in the above field.

Change the Hotel at first stop once trip began. Eden Locke however was great. Otherwise other than days of long driving distances it was great

Group was small - a good size (16); tour leader knowledgeable and careful to accommodate all needs; accommodation mostly interesting and in good locations, especially on the islands. Having 2 days in each location worked very well.

Would pay a little more to have rooms on ground floor.

Great variety of sights, hotels and back roads.

I felt the cost of the trip seemed high considering what was included. Several meals were not included and the tour offerings were mediocre.

Time allocated at some activities/venues too long and others too short.

Awesome trip, great lodging, knowledgeable guide!

Accomodation on the first 2 nights was definitely sub standard with awful meals for dinner and breakfast. Thank heavens they couldn’t do dinner for us the second night so we were taken to a nearby hotel by the coach driver, and that was excellent. Absolutely dreadful start to the tour . Luckily the remainder of the accomodation and meals were better.

Lack of communication with Backroads even though I emailed them the first day about the poor start. I should have received a personal email to acknowledge what I was saying rather than a standard reply.

No tour guide, only a driver. Filthy hotel rooms. Inedible food at one location, astronomic prices at one other. NOT a good value for the money. Everything I "learned" about Scotland was through Google.

See comments to question 1

Again, tour itinerary and guide were excellent.

Dreary and at times boring.
Unfortunately weather not conducive to touring.

Did not enjoy this trip/ tour al all. Only one star but really should be no star

Good value for the money spent

Have already just done so but your site seems not to like it

Excellent Guide and Driver

Wanted to see Scotland and travel thru places that my Scottish ancestors lived in or near.

As above,the whole package was good.

Value for money both tour and accommodation.

Although the scenery was spectacular, the tour leader's lack of knowledge about Scotland and some accommodation caused us to feel bitterly disappointed with this tour.

Excellent tour guide and driver hotels not as expected

This was a very interesting tour, Scotland has such a wonderful diversity of scenery. If there were a fault, maybe more personalised one off tours could be organised like the private tour of Duart castle. It would have Been nice to have seen a piper, for instance after all its what you think of Scotland

Isle of Skye and Isle of Mull, were fabulous. Scenery throughout spectacular.

Good value for money
Accommodation and meals

We enjoyed getting to see everything in Scotland, The Isle Of Skye, The Isle of Mull, and the Isle of Iona. The accommodations were great and the food delicious!! Our guide ,Gordon, was very good, being a Scotsman himself. He certainly knew his country.

As I had booked 2 tours following each other I think one free night at the beginning or at the end of either tour should have been offered ...I feel that the "early bird " customer discount was not enough...considering the price .
Other than that point I have no complaints

Lovely places to visit, places we stayed were lovely.

The only negative was a couple of the Hotels being very tired.
Extremely poor lighting in some rooms .
Other Hotels on the other hand were excellent.

Excellent value for money

Loved all the places we travelled to, most of the hotels were good. A nice number of passengers and all got on well. The driver and tour guide were wonderful

The guiding was comprehensive, informative and flexible. We learnt a lot about the ecology, history and people of Scotland.

The bus was comfortable and clean. We really enjoyed all the different styles of hotels we stayed in and the food service was amazing. Thank you for the extra evening meal which we enjoyed at Duisdale House Hotel.

My interests lie with flora and fauna along with history and old architecture. I was suitably impressed with everything we stopped to see.

The only slightly down point of the journey, which relates to personal preferences, was the lunch stop at the Waterside Seafood Restaurant. Yes it was supposed to be a taste experience and it was, but the meal needed to include more food without a smoked flavour. I think this would have enabled a better appreciation of the smoked flavours.

The one thing that I felt was missing was a balance to the history, ecology and amazing food and accommodation - a arts/musical experience. Could you please consider including a music and dance experience (as in try it out) in the future?

We were very,very satisfied with out trip.

From start to finish our tour was the most enjoyable experience. Our tour guide Rob was full of knowledge and showed a genuine passion for his country and it's history. I was amazed at just how much we packed into our tour. All of the places we visited and what were able to see was done at a relaxed and comfortable pace without feeling rushed at any time. We had free time in most destinations and our guide was always ready with recommendations of what we could do and where to eat. I am a convert to Back-Roads and will be back for another tour!

We saw breathtaking views with very few tourists around because early in season. Tom Mcgiver was very knowledgeable about the history which was of interest to us. He was very humorous. But may need to work on his jokes😂😂
Only 5 people on the tour so was very easy to know everyone and all blended well.
Thoroughly recommend these tours

The places we visited were all "must sees" when you think of Scotland.St Andrews was great for golf lovers and Inverness was interesting as a larger city. There was so much history to become immersed in -some relating to current TV shows!
My favourite places were the Isles of Skye and Mull with their pretty towns and stark countryside.

Overall very good
Days a little too long and hence unable to enjoy interesting hotels