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Dear Reader,
Welcome
to my Website. I hope you find this large site both informative and
enjoyable. I am not a Webmaster, but I have tried to make my site easy
to navigate from this first page, and fairly quick to download. I will
also be delighted to reply to all your suggestions and questions.
My name is George Wallace, and
I have both lived overseas for several years and have now returned to
the beautiful Argyll & Bute area of Scotland from where I now
organize and lead Small Group Tours to our native Scotland - The Real
Scotland.
My Personalized Small Group
Tours of my homeland are paced for discovery and understanding - not
just notching sites. You will see behind the tourist facade visiting
with " locals " and see sites not normally seen by the regular tourist.
You will not have to move your base each and every day, for each Hotel
will be chosen to minimize the number of times you have to pack and
unpack. Scotland, being a small country, it is perfectly possible to
visit most everywhere on the mainland from a couple of base locations.
This makes for a much more relaxing experience and also allows you to
get to know local people. I do not put 52 people on a huge coach with
an endurance test for an itinerary. In fact, each small group travel
party will be limited to an absolute maximum of 18 people. The most
common small-group size has been between 8 and 12 people.
Touring Around Scotland
In
Scotland, and the rest of the UK, driving is on the left-hand side of
the road, and distances are sign-posted in miles. Four-lane highways
exist mainly in the Lowlands, between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Driving
through Scotland can be slow and tedious work, so I try to limit the
number of driving hours to a couple each day. After all you're not
visiting Scotland just to sit in a mini-bus all day. Rural and Highland
Scotland, with their wonderful scenery, are fabulous to tour through,
though the roads can be incredibly narrow. Fortunately, I know all the
back roads, and will often take you off the beaten track to parts of
Scotland that are completely inaccessible to the large Coach Tours, and
unknown to most visitors.
Flexibility
Flexibility
is the key to having a great vacation in Scotland. It truly is ! Let's
say you're due to visit Falkland Gardens on a Monday afternoon - and
it's pouring with rain. Well, I'll simply change the itinerary around
and visit an indoor site until the shower stops. One particular site
might be worth a return visit, others might require a shortened visit.
Perhaps you'll meet a Scot who invites you to their home, or wishes to
take you golfing. That's okay ! Perhaps you might want a day off just
to laze around our home base. That's fine too !
Where the Highlands meet the Islands
For
a taste of the magnificent West Highlands, the Cowal Peninsula, where I
now live in the town of Dunoon, is a very special place. West Cowal, in
particular, has unrivalled scenery, a feast of natural wonders, and not
least, a local population that are never less than friendly or
hospitable to any visitor. Spectacular mountain scenery, gentle
burns/streams trickling through rugged glens and dramatic seascapes
combine to make this area an excellent location from which to visit the
Western Highlands.
The
Kingdom of Fife, where I also have excellent local contacts, is a good
example of an excellent base location from which to tour Lowland
Scotland. But wherever you decide to go in Scotland, you can be assured
that it's an area well known to me. There are many good base locations
from which to tour the Highlands, the Lowlands and the Borders.
A Sample Itinerary
* Cowal Peninsula - Castle Toward, Loch Fyne, Carrick Castle.
* Dunoon - Pleasure cruises, Ceramics, Castle House Museum.
* Isle of Bute - Winter Garden, Rothesay Castle, Bute Museum.
* St. Andrews - City, Castle, Cathedral & Old Course,
* Perth - Branklyn Gardens, Caithness Glass, Balhousie Castle,
* Dunfermline Abbey, Culross,
* Dunkeld Cathedral, River Tay, Distillery,
* Loch Leven, Mary Queen Of Scot's Castle,
* Elcho Castle, Scone Palace, Abernethy Pictish Tower,
* Stirling Castle, Wallace Monument,
* Edinburgh - Castle and Royal Mile, Holyrood Palace,
* Inverness & Area - Loch Ness ( and maybe Nessie ? )
* Skye & Area - Incredible Scenery
* Ceres - Fife Folk Museum and Village, Falkland Palace
* North Fife - Balmerino Abbey, Lindores Abbey & Scenery
* East Neuk of Fife - Fisheries Museum, beautiful villages.
Aside
from the main itinerary, there will be opportunities to Golf, Fish,
Shop, and meet many local people along the way.
Contact me soon, and let me know what your special interests are.
Feel free to ask me any, and all, questions about Scotland.
What would you like to do and see in Scotland ?
Why do you want to visit Scotland ?
Is your surname Scottish ?
Were any of your forefathers from Scotland ?
Are your interests:
Cultural, Scenic,
History, Golf,
Walking, Fishing,
Piping, Highland Games,
Gardening, Castles,
Abbeys, Churches,
Battle Sites, Ancestry,
Music, Poetry,
All of the above ?
Tell me how I can help you ?
Every tour is unique and starts from a blank page which we fill together.
George Wallace, in Scotland, on 44 (0)1369 706295
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