Your Celtic Highlights

This vacation brings you the best of Scotland, England’s Lake District, North Wales, and Ireland. Your trip begins in Scotland in the lively city of Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, and continues via the “Bonnie Banks” of Loch Lomond to Fort William and the Highland capital of Inverness. On your way to Edinburgh, drive through Braemar, home of the Royal Highland Games for over 900 years. In Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital, tour famous Edinburgh Castle and the Queen’s Holyrood Palace. In the lowland hills, visit the famous blacksmith’s shop at Gretna Green before crossing the border into England. Delight in the beauty of the peaceful Lake District on your way to historic Chester, where you see the Roman remains on your walking tour.

Travel Scotland Explore the north Welsh towns of Betws-y-Coed and Caernarvon, then take a ferry across the Irish Sea to the “Fair City” of Dublin, Ireland’s capital. In Dublin, visit Trinity College, famous for the 1,200-year-old Book of Kells. Blarney, the Ring of Kerry, the Cliffs of Moher, and the Giant’s Causeway are all included on this tour. Your Irish vacation experience is completed with a visit to Belfast with a “Living History” tour in the company of a Local Guide. Next, travel back to Glasgow to complete this popular vacation.

Travel Scotland and Glasgow's West End is a vibrant and cosmopolitan district situated a few miles from the city centre, and easily reached by bus or underground.
The hub of life in this part of the city is Byres Road, running between Great Western Road and Dumbarton Road, past Hillhead underground station. Shops, restaurants, cafés, some enticing pubs and hordes of roving young people, including thousands of students, give the area a sense of style and vitality. Glowing red sandstone tenements and graceful terraces provide a suitably upmarket backdrop to this cosmopolitan district.

Dominating the West End skyline, the 19th-century, gothic-turreted tower of Glasgow University overlooks the slopes, trees and statues of the ever-popular Kelvingrove Park. Aside from its credentials as a seat of learning, the 'uni' is also home to the Hunterian Art Gallery, best known for its wonderful works by American painter, James Whistler and the Mackintosh House, a remarkable re-creation of the interior of the home of Margaret and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Travel Scotland and find across the River Kelvin from the university stands Scotland's most popular visitor attraction, the recently restored Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, off Argyle Street. Reopening in 2006 after a £28 million, three-year restoration programme, Kelvingrove's ecletic mix of art and artifact has proved to be a 'must-see' winner with natives and visitors alike. Nearby, the excellent Museum of Transport with its enormous collection of trains, cars, trams, and models ships is also well-worth a visit for kids, big and small.