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About Kiwi & Haggis Tours

Kiwi and Haggis Tours is a family-owned and operated business by Yvette and Craig Webster offering private driving tours in Scotland.

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Scotland is one of the most wildly romantic countries in the world, and it also happens to be the country I call home.

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Best time to visit

My favourite months to travel Scotland are April and May. It’s not as busy, the days are longer, accommodation is cheaper, and the spring weather is just lovely!

Scotland Travel Tip

Slow down! Scotland is best enjoyed at a slower pace as there is so much to see and do. I suggest spending at least 3 nights in each area you visit, and including 2-3 things max to see and do each day.

Pound Stirling [GBP]. Scotland accepts debit and Visa/Mastercard at most places and contactless payments are available. I recommend carrying £100-£200 (a mixture of notes and coins).

If you need help planning a trip to Scotland, make sure you sign up to my Planning A Trip To Scotland Course. This course walks you through planning your trip step-by-step, and includes my best tips!

Scotland is one of the most wildly romantic countries in the world, and it also happens to be the country I call home. There’s lots to love here: bagpipes, highland dancing, tartan, the Scottish Highlands, haggis, Irn Bru, the accent, and of course, kilts! This Scotland travel guide is filled with all the basic information you need to know about Scotland before planning your trip. You’ll also find links to some of my most comprehensive guides, so make sure you read all of these too and you’ll be a planning pro in no time.

Accommodation in Scotland

I’ve stayed in some unique accommodations all around Scotland. There is a large variety of accommodation available- from bothies to castles, glamping to camping- there really is something to suit all tastes and budgets. 

When looking for accommodation in Scotland I use Booking.com . Once I find a place I’m happy with, I’ll also compare prices by booking directly to see which has the most flexible cancellation policy and the best price.

For camping/glamping and quirky accommodation, I use Canopy & Stars . For castles, cottages, and traditional Scottish accommodation, I also search Cottages and Castles . I also use Airbnb to search for quirky accommodations, self-catering accommodations, or accommodations for large groups.

Getting around

There are four main ways to travel throughout Scotland: by car, bus, train, and by ferry.

For car hire, I use Auto Europe , a car rental comparison site (similar to Skyscanner). I have my own car in Scotland, however, I used Auto Europe to hire a car on my recent trip to Ireland and they were fantastic. I was able to secure a great rate that included insurance, so all I had to do was pick up my car from the airport when I arrived.

Travelling by train is my second favourite way to get around Scotland.

Top 10 Things To Do

1.  Edinburgh Castle  

2. Ride the Jacobite Steam Train  

3. Underground Vaults in Edinburgh  

4. Visit a whisky distillery  

5. Visit the highlands  

6. Stirling Castle  

7. Visit an island

8. Drive the North Coast 500  

9. Go hiking  

10. Go to a traditional Scottish pub

My Travel Guides

What to do if the Jacobite Steam Train is cancelled

Grandad Haggis Reviews: Portavadie Marina, Loch Fyne

14 Best Things To Do In Glencoe [2024]

The Ultimate Guide To Visiting Stirling

34 Amazing Things To Do in Stirling

The sleepy Scottish Borders village of Morebattle

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Backpacking in Europe , Backpacking in Scotland , Backpacking in the United Kingdom , Reviews

Scotland tours from edinburgh: an honest haggis adventures review.

I’ve lived in England for most of my life yet haven’t travelled much in the UK.  However, after my trip to Ireland last year, I couldn’t wait to visit Scotland!   I was invited by Haggis Adventures to join them on one of their Highland Fling 5-day tours around Scotland and was excited to see everything on the itinerary.  Here’s my full and honest Haggis Adventures review, including highlights of our Highland Fling tour and what to expect on a Haggis Adventures tour.

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I received a complimentary tour from Haggis Adventures, but as usual all opinions are my own and this is my honest Haggis Adventures review.

About Haggis Adventures

Haggis is the sister company of Shamrocker Adventures , who I travelled around Ireland with in September.  Radical Travel is the parent company, who also own BusAbout.  They run various tours around Scotland of varying lengths, from single day tours to 10-day explorer trips.  The tours are a good combination of budget backpacking tours, mixed with culture, food and drink and incredible Scottish scenery. 

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When is the Best Time to Visit Scotland

Although you can take Haggis Adventures tours throughout the year, I’d say that spring and autumn are the best times to travel around Scotland.  The weather in winter can be very cold and wet, and although that could still happen throughout the year, Spring and Autumn have a mixture of sun and rain, without the crowds that flock here over the summer. 

There are some parts of the Highland Fling itinerary which are only included from late May to Autumn, for example, the Harry Potter Jacobite steam train, so check the dates for that if you want to include that option.

How Haggis Adventures Tours Work

The standard Haggis Adventures tours are aimed at budget or mid-range travellers who want the convenience of having transport included, with a guide and the chance to travel with other like-minded people.  The accommodation is in hostels, usually in dorm rooms of 4 to 12 people, but you can book private rooms for a supplement if you prefer. 

Although I am a solo traveller and love my own space, the shared dorm rooms gave us more chance to get to know each other, even if a good night’s sleep isn’t always guaranteed.  A snooze on the bus is a welcome break if you need it!

All transport on the yellow Haggis Adventures buses is included, as was the ferry crossing to the Isle of Skye.  Some activities such as tree planting and a visit to Culodden National Trust site are included in the package price, whereas other optional activities are payable on top. 

The Loch Ness boat trip, Jacobite Steam train, Ceilidh dance and whisky distillery visit were extra costs, but I loved them all so I’d recommend joining in what you can to get the full Scottish experience!

Our guide was also our bus driver.  Michael did a fabulous job driving us all over Scotland, sharing interesting facts, myths, legends and a varied playlist of music to keep us entertained. 

I was thrilled on the first day when he turned up in a kilt, and although he didn’t wear it every day it was a nice surprise when he had it on again for our final day.  He was calm, fun, friendly and looked after us all very well.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: A  7 Day Scotland Itinerary

What was the Tour Group Like?

As with any group tours, you can’t control who you travel with, and the group you get can make or break the tour.  We had a full bus of around 30 people and actually had a great group. 

Although there were smaller sub-groups which formed over the week, and people travelling together didn’t mix as much as other solo travellers, there was a great vibe and we all made friends quickly.  I was on the older end of the age range at 36, I would say that most travellers were in their mid-20s, although we ranged from 18 to 40+. 

I enjoyed the variety, so you could party if you wanted to or just chill out.  I knew I didn’t want a heavy party tour, so this suited me down to the ground.

Haggis Adventures Backpacking Scotland Tour Highlights

We covered a lot of ground on our 5-day Highland Fling tour, crossing Scotland from Edinburgh to the west coast and back again.  I won’t list the full itinerary here as there is too much to mention, but you can check out all the details of the tour on the Haggis Adventures website here .

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Glencoe was absolutely stunning.  We didn’t get to spend too long here which was a shame, although if it was raining I’m sure a quick stop is adequate!  We had the chance to take a short walk to admire the gorgeous scenery and stretch our legs before hopping back on the bus.

A Scottish Ceilidh

The Ceilidh Dance was an unexpected highlight of our first day.  We were led to the venue by a handsome bagpiper, and walking through the streets we certainly got a lot of attention!  At first, I wasn’t sure I wanted to take part in the dancing, but after seeing how much fun everyone had on the first dance, I soon joined in. 

Forget any embarrassment and get involved!  Just wear comfy shoes and light clothes – you will get sweaty as you fling each other around the dance floor. 

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Distillery Tour and Whisky Tasting

Scotland wouldn’t be Scotland without whisky!  Although I’m not a fan of the drink myself, visiting a Scottish Whisky Distillery was interesting, and we got to taste the whisky at the end as well.  (I donated mine to someone else!)

The Jacobite Steam Train (aka The Hogwarts Express)

A trip on The Jacobite Steam Train across the Glenfinnan Viaduct is only included in the itinerary during the summer, so if you want to do this make sure you plan your trip accordingly.  The train is most famous for being featured in the Harry Potter films as part of the journey of the Hogwarts Express, and the journey is quite spectacular – especially when crossing the viaduct.

The Isle of Skye

Hiking to the Old Man of Storr was probably my favourite activity on the whole trip.  We were very lucky with the weather on Skye and had glorious sunshine to hike to the top of this incredible viewpoint.  The hike was quite steep but definitely worth the effort!  We spent nearly 2 full days on Skye and also visited a waterfall, a castle and a brewery among other places.

You can’t visit Scotland and not go to Loch Ness .  We stayed in Fort Augustus on the Loch for 2 nights and could take an optional boat tour on the Loch which I highly recommend.  We took the boat tour with Cruise Loch Ness and the guide Shaun pointed out interesting things around the Loch, and we also spotted a couple of deer on the bank. 

The most interesting (and entertaining) part of the tour was the talk given by Shaun about Nessie and the various attempts to find the Loch Ness Monster.  If I wasn’t a believer before, I am now!  You might even be able to snap a photo of Nessie herself if you’re lucky.

Planting Trees

This may seem like an odd highlight, but I really enjoyed this part of the tour.  Haggis Adventures partner with Trees for Life UK to help repopulate an area now known as Haggis Wood.  We planted two trees among the others that previous Haggis tour groups planted, doing a small bit for the environment. 

Trees for Life is a wonderful project, and you can volunteer there to plant trees for a week yourself.  To me, it highlighted that Haggis Adventures really do care about Scotland and the environment and are making a contribution to help.

Culodden probably isn’t somewhere I would have visited by myself but learning about a period in Scottish history I knew nothing about was actually very interesting.  It was sobering to visit the battlefield, which is essentially a mass grave, where thousands of Highlanders were killed in a brutal battle which ended the Jacobite uprising and destroyed the Highland Clan way of life. 

The weather was fitting for the sombre day; grey clouds hung low in the sky and the drizzle fell as we walked around the field. 

Extra Stops Along the Way

There were some fab stops along the way which I wouldn’t have been able to do if I was travelling on my own by public transport.  We visited some hairy coos and could buy some vegetables to feed them, or just snap a few pics.  We also visited the Kelpies, Portree, Kilt Rock on Skye, Eilean Donan Castle and Dunkeld, among others.

What I Loved about Haggis Adventures

What I loved about the Haggis Adventures tours was the varied itinerary, local guides and schedule to help you get the most of a short time in Scotland.  As with any group tour, there are pros and cons with relinquishing control of your itinerary to someone else. 

In this case, I loved the extra stops which were included, things which I wouldn’t have made the effort to visit – or indeed couldn’t have visited at all with public transport.

I also really enjoyed the variety of activities on the tour, it was well thought out and there really was something for everyone.  Hiking, nature, history, cute villages, Scottish dancing, drinking and jaw-dropping scenery really showed us the best of Scotland in a very short time.  If you didn’t want to do anything, you didn’t have to, but the range of activities meant most of us did everything we could! 

Anything I didn’t like?

Checking 30 people into a hostel at the same time isn’t the easiest task, and in the first hostel, there was only one person on the reception who checked us in one at a time as we had to leave a deposit for the room key.  This took longer than it should have done – there must be an easier way, like collecting deposits beforehand or handing out keys in groups. 

The next hostel was quicker, and the final hostel had 2 people working, although the process took a while as most people paid for the option breakfast and dinner as we checked in. 

The hostels were decent, but generally didn’t have enough toilet facilities or showers, especially when we were all aiming to leave around the same time.  However, the overall quality was pretty good, and I slept well each night.  My favourite hostel was Morag’s Lodge in Fort Augustus, we stayed there for two nights so had time to settle in and do the pub quiz there too which was great fun!

Again, it’s hard to balance the right amount of time in each place, there were places I would have happily spent more time like Glencoe and the beautiful Isle of Skye, but that was also due to the gorgeous weather. 

With Scotland’s weather being so unpredictable I guess you have to hedge your bets a bit with where to spend your time – hiking Glencoe in the rain would not have been that tempting!

Would I Recommend Haggis Adventures?

100% YES!  After my Shamrocker Irish Adventures tour, I had no concerns about taking a tour with Haggis Adventures, but the trip really did exceed my expectations. 

That might have been partly due to fabulous weather, our great guide Michael, the lovely bunch of people on the tour and all of the amazing things we saw – all together they made me fall head over heels in deep Scottish love with Scotland!  My only regret was not spending longer here. 

I would love to explore more of Scotland when I can, but the 5-day Highland Fling tour gave me a wonderful taster to really whet my appetite.  Scotland, I’ll be back!

Have you taken a Haggis Adventures backpacking tour of Scotland?  I’d love to hear your review as well, please let me know in the comments below.

Want More Travel Tips for Edinburgh & Scotland?

• 2 Day Edinburgh Itinerary
• Free Things to do in Edinburgh
• An Edinburgh Food Tour
• Hunting for Harry Potter in Edinburgh
• 7 Day Scotland Itinerary
• Things to do in Loch Ness Scotland
• Backpacking Scotland Tours from Edinburgh
• Wailing Widow Falls in Scotland

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Hi! I'm Claire Sturzaker, a 30-something foodie traveller who loves to enjoy the best of a destination without breaking the bank. I'm here to help you and all women backpackers to plan their best budget travel adventure. I am an avid supporter of female solo travel, and took my first solo trip 20 years ago! I love to write about travel, hostels, backpacking and van life.

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All Tours Operated By Haggis Adventures

Discover the best Haggis Adventures adventures in one convenient place. TourRadar offers 4 Haggis Adventures tours. You can find the perfect trip spanning across 3 day to 8 day itineraries with prices starting from just EUR 96 per day!

4 Haggis Adventures trips

Highland Fling

Such an amazing tour of wonderful places. It was all I imagined it to be. Our driver/tour guide, Cara, as so knowledgeable and informative about the places we visited, making for an immersive experience. Just what I wanted. Cara made sure that we all had a great tour. Thanks Cara. You are a champion ????

• €75 deposit on some dates Some departure dates offer you the chance to book this tour with a lower deposit.

• Christmas & New Year

Karis was a very good guide and a very skillful driver, I was very disappointed in the accommodation provided by Haggis Tours. I only realised that it is a budget tour company and expected to stay in a dormitory but I did not expect to stay in a hostel that I would have stayed in in the 1980s. The standard of hostels has improved a lot since then. At nearly 76 years old I did not find the accommodation at all comfortable.

• In-depth Cultural

Wild Skye & Loch Ness Hunter

It was incredible experiencing the amazing land, History, and people! Teigan is so fun and knowledgeable with her story telling y& games she plays with us. She did a great job! I recommend taking off Touradar that meals are included, because they are not. It also would need nice to have that one last night of accommodation too!

Isle of Skye & Hebridean Hopper

was a fantastic tour, Connor was amazing as a driver and tour leader, was well planned out - accommodation could be a bit better as some of the hostels were a bit ropey and maybe some breakfast thrown in but otherwise fantastic. Thank you Connor.