Day 1
Our coach will pick up this morning at Edinburgh Airport and Edinburgh Haymarket Railway Station – rail/air connections are available on request.

We then depart for a drive through Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park, which is associated with the Royal Palace of Holyroodhouse and was formerly a 12th century royal hunting estate. A circular road around the hill known as Arthur’s Seat, the remnants of an ancient volcano, affords excellent views over the city, including Edinburgh Castle, our next destination. Human habitation on this rocky crag, a volcanic plug like Arthur’s seat, has been dated back as far as the 9th century BC. There has been a royal castle here since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and the site continued to be a royal residence until the Union of the Crowns in 1603. As one of the most important fortresses in the Kingdom of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle has been involved in many historical conflicts, from the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century, up to the Jacobite Rising of 1745, and has been besieged, both successfully and unsuccessfully, on several occasions.

Following our tour of the castle, we will visit the nearby National Museum of Scotland, whose magnificent collection includes a wide range of items of great archaeological interest, dating right back to the earliest human settlement in Scotland following the end of the last ice age 10,000 years ago.

In the late afternoon we check in to our hotel, the comfortable and centrally-located Mercure Point Hotel. Dinner is available in the hotel’s own restaurant or alternatively you may dine out in one of Edinburgh’s many fine pubs and restaurants.

Day 2
Following breakfast, we head west of Edinburgh to explore some of the important archaeological and historical sites of central Scotland. Our first visit is to Cairnpapple Hill, which on a clear day provides views from coast to coast. It was used and re-used as a major ritual site over about 4000 years, from Neolithic times through to the early Christian era, and in its day would have been comparable to better known sites like the Standing Stones of Stenness in Orkney.

Our next visit is to Linlithgow Palace, the magnificent ruin of a great Royal Palace set in its own park end beside Linlithgow Loch. The palace was a favoured residence of the Stewart kings and queens from James I (1406-37) onward and both James V (1512) and Mary Queen of Scots (1542) were born here. The palace you see today is much as it was left by the Duke of Cumberland in 1746, during his pursuit of Bonnie Prince Charlie – a series of remarkably tall hollow shells surrounding the central courtyard. The great hall and chapel are particularly fine.
 
Day 2 (continued)
In the afternoon we will make a connection with an earlier invading force as we visit the Roman remains at Rough Castle Fort, the best-preserved of the 19 forts constructed along the length of the Antonine Wall, which was begun in AD142 and stretched from Bo’ness on the Forth to Old Kirkpatrick on the Clyde, marking the northernmost boundary of the all-conquering Roman Empire. Inscriptions found on recovered artefacts indicate that the fort was the base for 500 men of the Sixth Cohort of Nervii, an infantry unit recruited from a north eastern Gallic tribe. The military way on the south side of the Wall, which enabled transport between all forts, is still well defined, and there is also a fine length of rampart and ditch still intact to the west.

We return to our hotel, where the evening is at leisure.

Day 3
Following breakfast we depart for our tour of the very heart of Scotland, among the rolling hills of Perthshire. Our first visit is to Ardoch Fort, another important Roman relic which predates Rough Castle and the Antonine Wall by some 80 years, from a time when the frontier was even further north and was marked by a series of forts and watch tours along the Gask Ridge between Dunblane and Perth.

We continue via Crieff and the Sma’ Glen to Loch Tay, where we visit the Scottish Crannog Centre. This authentic recreation of a type of ancient loch-dwelling found throughout Scotland and Ireland up to 5000 years ago, which was built by the Scottish Trust for Underwater Archaeology, is based on the excavation evidence from the 2,600 year old site of 'Oakbank Crannog', and provides a fascinating insight into how these ancient peoples lived.

Finally, we call in at Dunkeld Cathedral, which was begun in 1260 and completed in 1501, thus displaying an interesting mix of architectural styles, with both Gothic and Norman elements.

We return to our hotel in Edinburgh, where once again the evening is at leisure.

Day 4
After breakfast we check out of the hotel and depart for Rosslyn Chapel, a few miles to the south of the city. Rosslyn has enjoyed huge popularity since the publication of       The Da Vinci Code in which it plays a key role due to its reputed links with the Knights Templar. The Chapel was founded in 1446 and has had a chequered history as we will discover in the course of our guided tour.

In the early afternoon we return to Haymarket Station and Edinburgh Airport to allow you to make onward connections.