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Four-Day Islay Whisky Tour

Quick Details

Single Occupancy Room 1 person per room
£895
Double Room 2 people per room
£1590
Twin Room 2 people per room
£1590
Triple Room 3 people per room
£2385

Discover some of Scotland’s Finest Whisky Distilleries

Fall in love with Islay, home to some of Scotland’s finest whisky distilleries! This tour takes you to a Scottish island paradise. Islay is home to stunning scenery, ancient history and traditional culture.

Itinerary

Day 1
After departing Edinburgh, you head north into the Highlands. The landscape becomes more mountainous, and your guide tells the history and culture of this stunning part of Scotland. Passing Loch Awe and into Argyllshire, with some great photo stops along the way, you arrive in the Victorian town of Oban where we will sample some delicious drams whilst taking in the views over the the islands. Please note on some occasions, due to ferry times, we will visit a Distillery on the way to meet the ferry, such as Auchentoshan, rather than visiting Oban.

Oban is the seafood capital of Scotland, so make sure you make the most of it. The seafood shack at the harbour is perfect – get the platter if you’re feeling hungry! When then journey to the ancient Neolithic landscapes of Kilmartin Glen. There are hundreds of ancient monuments and historic sites in this region, some of which you get to explore. It is then a short drive down the Kintyre Peninsula to Kennacraig, where you board the evening ferry to Islay. The ferry crossing is around two hours and offers for some beautiful views of the islands of Gigha, Jura and Islay as well as the area surrounding West Loch Tarbert.

There is time to relax in the ferry bar with an Islay whisky, grab some dinner from the restaurant and soak up the sea air before you arrive. On arrival into Port Ellen or Port Askaig, it is a short drive to Bowmore to check in to The Bowmore House or Island Bear for your three-night stay. On rare occasions we may need to place you in different accommodation, we will make you aware of this in advance.

Days 2 & 3
With two full days to explore, there are plenty of options for sightseeing, and your guide will share some of their favourite places with you. These can include empty beaches, whitewashed villages, ancient sites, the Kildalton Cross, medieval strongholds, fresh seafood, local wildlife and traditional cultures. With only around 3000 people and nine world-class distilleries, the chances of finding a ‘wee dram’ on Islay are pretty good.

The distillery and whisky experiences give you an insight into Islay’s most famous export. We’ve planned a wide range of tours and tastings, including a warehouse experiences, tours and exclusive tastings! Each tour is a little different and there will be lots of delicious drams to taste – you won’t be disappointed!

Each night on Islay, there are plenty of options for eating, drinking and relaxing. Your tour guide will let you know all the best places to get the most out of your time in Bowmore. There is an eating option for all budgets and tastes, and with so much local produce on offer, you will be spoilt for choice. The whisky bars aren’t too bad either. Slainte Mhath, as they say in Gaelic.

Day 4
After a final hearty breakfast, you catch the morning ferry back to Kennacraig. Arriving on the mainland, you head to the loch-side town of Inveraray. This is the seat of the Clan Campbell, home to the Loch Fyne Whisky shop and your stop for lunch. After lunch (and some last-minute whisky shopping) your journey now hugs the shores of Loch Fyne and Loch Long before climbing up to the Rest and be Thankful pass for sweeping views.

Then it is to the shores of Loch Lomond. With time to stop for some lovely views and stretch of the legs, this is the last stop on your tour before crossing the River Clyde and into Scotland’s largest city of Glasgow. Some of our guests may be leaving the tour here, so we may make a short stop in central Glasgow (George Square) before returning to Edinburgh.

Fantastic tour for novices and pros alike Katharina S

What a wonderful tour! I am not a novice and still learned a lot about whisky, tasted many wonderful drams and had a fantastic time all around. Our guide, Moray, even squeezed in an extra stop and made sure we got the most out of the experience, Covid restrictions and all. My personal highlights are too many to mention. The warehouse tasting at Lagavulin was great start on the island and the range tasting at beautiful Ardbeg a fantastic finish, with everything in between being memorable as well. The stops along the way to Islay and back were also well chosen and added to the experience. The accommodations at Bowmore House were comfortable with excellent breakfast to start the day - the full Scottish laying a much needed base for all the whisky. And the hosts were just lovely people. I travelled solo but it was always comfortable and easy to connect with everyone else on the tour, shared interests and all that. 110% recommend this tour, and will definitely take it again.

– TripAdvisor
Amazing Brad

Wow, wow and wow.. Have just completed the 4 day Islay tour with Scottish routes and can whole heatedley recommend it. The brilliant giude and driver Moray knew everything there was to know and sure he influence on Islay got us an extra special experience. The Bowmore house was exceptional with Andrew & Allison giving the warmest of welcomes and great service. The in room breakfasts were superb and gave a great start to the day. Even though Covid restrictions were still in place we still were able to visit 7 distilleries with special (😁) tastings at all of them. Over all a fanstic time was had which made the travel well worth the effort. 10 out of 10 to Mory and the team you made our dream trip extra special.

– TripAdvisor
Recommends Scottish Routes. Martin Rosager

the perfect trip if you are an Islay whisky lover/sucker. Moray did an excellent job from telling about the history and sites we where passing and made sure that we got good mix of culture and lots of wee drams. the bowmore house made sure that we where well feed for all the whisky we where about to consume and insured an everyone felt like home, totally overshooting my expectations. the distillery visit an good mix of tours and warehouse tastings and I left whit the of they did an little bit extra for us. so 4days on Islay tour highly recommend from me and if it's going to 5days including all distilleries you can count me in again.

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