Day Trip to Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park with Optional Stirling Castle Tour from Edinburgh

Badge of ExcellenceEdinburgh, Scotland

From $68.49

Select Date and Travelers

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

9 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Soak up Scotland’s majestic countryside on a full-day tour of Highlands from Edinburgh. Aboard a comfortable coach, stop at Loch Lomond, the largest inland body of water in Great Britain. Wind through Trossachs National Park, spotted with moors, lochs and jutting peaks, and on to Stirling Castle, coronation place of Mary, Queen of Scots. Explore the grounds or purchase an optional tour of the castle’s opulent interior rooms. On the return journey to Edinburgh, the tour stops at the Kelpies. The world's largest equine sculptures dedicated to the horse-powered heritage of Central Scotland, designed by Andy Scott.

Day trip to Loch Lomond and Stirling Castle from Edinburgh
Explore the banks of Loch Lomond and marvel at the nearby mountains
Admire the stunning scenery of the Scottish Highlands in Trossachs National Park
Discover the town of Stirling and its star attraction of Stirling Castle

What's Included

Local English Speaking Guide
Air-conditioned vehicle

Lunch
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Food and drinks
Entrance fee to Stirling Castle (approximately £17.50 for an adult)

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Highland Explorer Tours
60 High St, Edinburgh EH1 1TB, UK
This tour will depart at 8:45 am from 60 High Street, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh, EH1 1TB. Meet 15 minutes before departure and look for the check-in staff wearing blue high-visibility vests there to greet you.

Start time

08:45 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Your Highlands tour begins with morning pickup in Edinburgh. Meet your guide and board the air-conditioned coach for a short ride into the wild countryside to Balmaha. Listen to live commentary as you journey through Trossachs National Park to Loch Lomond. Enjoy sweeping vistas of the loch and the surrounding hills, blanketed in heather, then take a leisurely stroll along the bank.

In the afternoon, arrive at Stirling, the former capital of Scotland. Opt to visit the famous Stirling Castle (own expense), a critical medieval stronghold and former residence of Scottish royals including Mary, Queen of Scots. With your free time here, stroll the grounds and snap photos, or purchase an optional interior tour and see spectacular rooms like the Great Hall and James V’s Palace. Learn about the site’s colorful history riddled with battles such as the Battle of Stirling Bridge, led by the legendary William Wallace during the Wars of Independence.

On the return journey to Edinburgh, the tour stops at the Kelpies. The world's largest equine sculptures dedicated to the horse-powered heritage of Central Scotland, designed by Andy Scott.

Your full-day trip concludes with return service to the Royal Mile, arriving by early evening.

The Kelpies & The Helix

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Balmaha

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Stirling Castle

2 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Minimum age is 5 years
Near public transportation

Most travelers can participate
It is recommended to book transport to the departure point in advance. Please also allow extra time to get to the departure point for check-in. We advise you arrive at least 15 minutes before the tour departure to allow time to check-in for the tour. Unfortunately, we are unable to hold back the tour for late arrivals.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Evelyn_F

Stirling Castle was magnificent, The Kelties were beautiful, and Loch Lomond so serene. Our tour guide Laurie was upbeat and knowledgeable.

Reviews

4.5

245 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 245 reviews

A trip much better than I expected

Evelyn_F, May 2024

Stirling Castle was magnificent, The Kelties were beautiful, and Loch Lomond so serene. Our tour guide Laurie was upbeat and knowledgeable.

Terrific tour

Evelyn_M, Apr 2024

The Kelpies and Sterling Castle were the highlights for me, as well as the driver’s delightful commentary.

Fantastic day out!

Julie_K, Dec 2023

Rainy start of the day but brighten up considerably by bubbly Sophie, our lovely guide n driver! Totally recommend this tour including Stirling Castle experience.

Nice day trip

jenniferricci, Jun 2023

Lovely day trip. Tim, our driver, was very knowledgeable. Except for a small downpour at Loch Lomond, we had a nice day.

Great day tour- we recommend!

Suzanne_O, May 2023

The guide, Dusty, was great! Learned a lot of history during the tour and really enjoyed the stops. We recommend this tour!

Lovely day trip

Katherine_J, Apr 2023

The guides told great stories and are very knowledgeable about the history. Plenty of time at each stop.

Great day out

siobhan_n, Apr 2023

Excellent tour! Our driver Connor was brilliant, his stories were highly entertaining and he kept us laughing all day. Five stars!

A wonderful place to visit

Stephen_S, Sep 2022

Stirling castle is a wonderful place to visit. It holds so much history. The guides are very good and there are spectacular views.

Learning experience

Charlotte_A, Aug 2022

Loch Lomon walk around. Our trip was really a learning experience I would extremely recommand our guide Peter.

Was a warm day but it was...

David_V, Jul 2022

Was a warm day but it was a nice drive. Had a nice meal and ale at Portocullis in Stirling. Castle was beautiful. My daughter loved the Queens garden. Overall nice trip.

Nature and Castle nice combination

Carlos_L, Jun 2022

Very nice guide and the places we visited were great! Enjoyed every moment of the trip. The guide gave us enough time to enjoy the three stops we made in the trip.

Great views, but boring tour

Heghine_M, Jun 2022

Unfortunately it was the most boring tour I've ever attended. Sounds better than the reality It was very uncomfortable that the guide is a driver at the same time. While driving the car, the driver cannot concentrate on landscapes and tell a story. The guide should be in love with the places to which he brings tourists. So that the tourists want to return again and again. It' s my subjective opinion. But for the sake of fairness, it must be said that the views were amazing. We enjoyed Sterling Castle and Loch Lomond.

A must see

Vicki_A, Jun 2022

Thomas, our guide, was great! We had him on two different tours and just thought he was amazing! He went out of his way for us to see the Falkirk Wheel and the William Wallace Monument! He also helped us find a tour your company doesn’t do! Thank you Thomas.

An adventurous day

Sareh_F, Oct 2021

I love misty views, seeing mountain peaks covered in mist with brown cut Scottish cows grazing in mountain skirts and then seeing a number of lochs was very exciting. Thanks

It was very disappointing! I thought...

Sumeet S, Jun 2017

It was very disappointing! I thought I booked a day trip to Loch Lomond and trossachs but what it turned out to be was a two hour trip of the Stirling castle!!So pls don't advertise as Stirling is optional. Also had 50 minutes at Lomond so all we did was get a cup of coffee..waste of a day trip

I recommend this day tour. We went...

REBECCA C, Apr 2017

I recommend this day tour. We went there last September 2016 and found the trip very nice. Loch Lomond was astounding! The hike to see a massive view of the lake was adventurous! Worth it.

We absolutely loved this tour! We...

Nidharshani D, Sep 2016

We absolutely loved this tour! We were informed of some of the great historic tales of Scotland as we drove around, and we'd definitely recommend opting in for the Stirling Castle visit.

The weather was not the best but we...

Lena S, Jun 2016

The weather was not the best but we had a perfect day anyway. Lee, who drove our bus was a good storyteller and a good driver. Even our dauther who is 17 enjoyed the day. We recomend this daytrip.

A wee bit of everything. Colossal...

James S, Jun 2016

A wee bit of everything. Colossal Kelpies sculpture park, a delicious honeysuckle vanilla malt shop, a stroll along Loch Lomond, Brave Heart offerings, a castle featuring a wedding, Scottish tunes, a hip bus driver/guide. Great value!

I think the tour guides were...

Sharon u, May 2016

I think the tour guides were knowledgable but the tour was disappointing. More time should have been devoted to the national park and we should have driven through some of it. I also think the stop at argfoyle was waste of time. Have the tour leave earlier and go to visitor center in park. Build in more time at loch lomand. Make that a lunch spot or have people bring lunch.

...