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Day Tour from Cruise Ship, Scotland
Monday, April 19, 2010
This morning I collected a group of guests who had just arrived from North America on a cruise ship at Greenock.
Our first stop was the quaint little heritage village of Luss on the bank of Loch Lomond. The main village was originally built to house workers at a nearby slate mine but the properties are now mainly occupied by seniors. Some of gardens are very colourful. After a stroll through the village we went to end of the pier to admire Loch Lomond and Ben Lomond.
View of Loch Lomond from the pier at Luss.
Viking 'hogback' gravemarker at St. Kessog's Church, Luss. This probably dates back about 1100 years and indicates the antiquity of this Christian site.
After Luss we drove down to Balloch at southern tip of Loch Lomond and then on to Aberfoyle and the Trossachs. The hills and mountains still retained the residue of the winter's snow. This is Ben Ledi.
After the Trossachs we drove on to Doune Castle with its Monty Python connection. The castle dates from then 14th century and for a while was used as a hunting lodge by the Scottish royal family who were at the time located just a few miles away at Stirling. The castle was restored by the Earl of Moray in 1883 and is an impressive building.
After Doune Castle we went to Blackford in Perthshire to have a spot of lunch and tour Tullibardine Distillery which proved a great success. The guide took us the through the process of malting, mashing, fermentation, distillation and maturation culminating in a couple of samples. This was a good tour providing a useful insight into this small, privately owned distillery which serves niche markets.
Tour group with guide.
Whisky Stills at Tullibardine
Sample of single malts at end of the Distillery Tour.
After Tullibardine, we drove down to Stirling for a short visit to the famous castle which includes the Great Hall, Kitchens and Royal Chapel with tapestries.
Finally, we drove back from Stirling to Greenock to return guests to the ship and fond farewells.
Our first stop was the quaint little heritage village of Luss on the bank of Loch Lomond. The main village was originally built to house workers at a nearby slate mine but the properties are now mainly occupied by seniors. Some of gardens are very colourful. After a stroll through the village we went to end of the pier to admire Loch Lomond and Ben Lomond.
View of Loch Lomond from the pier at Luss.
Viking 'hogback' gravemarker at St. Kessog's Church, Luss. This probably dates back about 1100 years and indicates the antiquity of this Christian site.
After Luss we drove down to Balloch at southern tip of Loch Lomond and then on to Aberfoyle and the Trossachs. The hills and mountains still retained the residue of the winter's snow. This is Ben Ledi.
After the Trossachs we drove on to Doune Castle with its Monty Python connection. The castle dates from then 14th century and for a while was used as a hunting lodge by the Scottish royal family who were at the time located just a few miles away at Stirling. The castle was restored by the Earl of Moray in 1883 and is an impressive building.
After Doune Castle we went to Blackford in Perthshire to have a spot of lunch and tour Tullibardine Distillery which proved a great success. The guide took us the through the process of malting, mashing, fermentation, distillation and maturation culminating in a couple of samples. This was a good tour providing a useful insight into this small, privately owned distillery which serves niche markets.
Tour group with guide.
Whisky Stills at Tullibardine
Sample of single malts at end of the Distillery Tour.
After Tullibardine, we drove down to Stirling for a short visit to the famous castle which includes the Great Hall, Kitchens and Royal Chapel with tapestries.
Finally, we drove back from Stirling to Greenock to return guests to the ship and fond farewells.Labels: Cruise Ship Tour
posted by Nigel Cole @ 12:42 PM 
1 Comments:
Thank you, Nigel, for a wonderful tour and so much information on all the sites you took us to see. It was a fantastic day for us - Dave and I enjoyed every minute! We hope to get back there again in another few years and see a lot more of Scotland.