Sightseeing for Golfers & Non-Golfers
Scotland is not only the home of golf. It has a colourful and varied history, incredibly beautiful scenery, unique traditions and industries, high quality shopping, museums & art galleries, food experiences and of course the innumerable pubs and hostelries that delight international visitors. The OCE team will assist in making plans to take in some of the very best non-golf activities.
Edinburgh Shopping Trips
No trip away can be complete without buying gifts for the family back home, or treating yourself to something very special that will remind you of your time with us in Scotland. A trip to the capital city to shop in every type of store to the tiny specialist to luxury designer can be fitted in to a day in Edinburgh. Our car and driver will drop you in George Street, The Royal Mile or The Grassmarket. The day can be enhanced with the addition of a Blue Badge Guide to talk you through the history of the Old Town.
Edinburgh City Tours
The Castle is the iconic image of Edinburgh known throughout the world but there is much more to the city than that. Hidden subterranean streets, royal palaces, murder plots and body snatchers. If you visit in August there is the Edinburgh Military Tattoo which we can source tickets for. There is the New Town which was all laid out during The Enlightenment when the great minds of Georgian Scotland civilised the world. Great pubs and restaurants will nourish the body whilst the art galleries, museums and architecture nourish the soul.
Distillery Tours
The whisky industry in this small country of ours contributes one fifth of the wealth. Scotch is one of the unique products that brings a smile of recognition from travellers around the globe. We offer half day tours of a variety of distilleries, depending on your location. Glenturret (The Famous Grouse Experience) is the closest to us and a fine example of the whisky making process. We can customise the tour to suit the basic knowledge all the way up to a Connoisseurs Nosing & Blending tour.
Castles & Palaces
Scotland - a magical place of myths and mysteries, the romantic setting for many novels and stories stretching back into the mists of time, and a location that encourages the imagination. Castle ruins litter the landscape here in Scotland and each one carries its own history. Highest on the list of “must see’s” are Edinburgh Castle& Stirling Castle, both built on volcanic rocks giving views across the low lying surrounding land. Glamis Castle, the turreted home of the late Queen Mother and Scone Palace, the ancient crowning place of Scottish Kings.
Balmoral Castle
Set amongst the magnificent scenery of Royal Deeside, in the shadows of Lochnagar is the Balmoral Estate. In her journals Queen Victoria described Balmoral as
Dunnottar Castle, Stonehaven
On the outskirts of Stonehaven sits the spectacular and gloomy ruins of ancient Dunnottar Castle surrounded on three sides by the sea and a cliff top fortress for two thousand years.
It was here in 1562 that the Scottish crown jewels were smuggled to safety under Cromwell's army by, legend says, the wife of a local minister. Known as the Honours of Scotland they were buried under the altar of nearby Kinneff Church and are now on display in Edinburgh Castle.
Whisky Tours
The Whisky Trail is accessible from Aberdeen, and provides a wonderful insight into the making and maturing of Scotland’s best known export. There are several distilleries with an hour’s drive of the city centre and well worth the effort. The Royal Lochnagar Distillery at Crathie can be combined with a castle tour of Balmoral. The whisky trail itself winds through some of the most beautiful scenery Scotland has to offer, with many of the best known brands of Scotch distilled and bottled in their distilleries. Some tours offer the opportunity to bottle your own scotch.
Shopping
Aberdeen benefits from being the Oil Capital of the UK, and has some unexpectedly fine shopping experiences as a result. Several shopping centres provide a range of goods and services from designer, through high street chains to individual specialist shops. Whatever your taste and budget, you won’t be disappointed.
Loch Ness Tours
No trip to the Inverness area is complete without a visit to Loch Ness and the chance of sighting Nessie, the elusive Loch Ness Monster. The magnificently situated Urquhart Castle, on the banks of Loch Ness, remains an impressive stronghold despite its ruinous state. Once one of Scotland’s largest castles, Urquhart’s remains include a tower house that commands splendid views of the famous loch and Great Glen. Access can be gained by boat or coach. A short visit to the Loch Ness Monster Centre is a fun way to chart the history of Nessie sightings over the centuries.
Cawdor Castle
With its connections to the Kings of Scotland, and immortalised in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, Cawdor Castle is a wonderful mix of ancient and current. The beautiful gardens and woodland walks, as well as a tour of the Castle itself are a great way for non-golfers to pass time whilst their golfing partners are playing Nairn or Castle Stuart.
Cawdor castle2 by Mihael Grmek - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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