Duration:
8 days
Today's Price:
$2,995
In 2020 the hugely popular ‘Lord of the Glens’ will be joined by a brand new sister ship, the ‘Lord of the Highlands’.
The challenge, as with her sister ship, was to craft a vessel that could both transit the intricate waters of the Caledonian Canal as well as navigate the sheltered waters around Scotland’s hauntingly beautiful fretted west coast, the result being a splendid craft whose elegance calls to mind that of a luxury yacht.
There are 21 outward facing state cabins spread over two decks, four with their own small balcony, each named with references to John Buchan’s “THIRTY-NINE STEPS”. Each cabin is finished in hardwood finishes, plush carpeting, dressing table, stool, wardrobe, satellite tv, and en suite facilities with shower, wc and washbasin. All state cabins are air conditioned and heated with an internal telephone and picture windows. The cuisine is excellent, freshly prepared on board by a loyal and long serving brigade of chefs, drawing on the rich bounty of locally sourced produce.
This seven-night cruise combines both fresh and saltwater cruising, as the Lord of the Highlands sails from Kyle of Lochalsh to the islands of Skye and Mull to Oban, featurning some of the remote and breathtakingly beautiful scenery of Scotland’s west coast, and then through the Caledonian Canal to Inverness.
Highlights include Loch Ness, Loch Oich and Loch Lochy and Thomas Telford’s engineering masterpiece Neptune’s Staircase, a series of eight interconnected locks that takes vessels back to sea-level near Fort William. In between our cruising, there is also a full programme of shore excursions including visits to Armadale on the Isle of Skye, the little islands of Eigg and Iona, colourful Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, romantic Eilean Donan Castle, the Glenfinnan Monument, Culloden Battlefield and prehistoric Clava Cairns.
What's included?
- Accommodation
- Meals - as per the itinerary
Please note there is no lift on board the ship and there are a number of steps between each deck.
Today's Price
$2,995
Deposit: $600
Tour highlights:
- Welcome and Farewell Receptions
- Enjoying the views from the ‘Sir Walter Scott’ bar and lounge
- Romantic Eilean Donan Castle
- Inverie, home to the remotest pub in mainland Britain
- The peaceful Isle of Iona
- Negotiating Neptune’s Staircase and the rest of the Caledonian Canal
- Cruising Loch Ness, keeping an eye out just in case…
Tour details
| Dates | July 1 2020 - July 8 2020 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 8 days |
| Cost |
Today's Price
$2,995 Balance due by April 8 2020 |
| Tour code | BWLHH20M |
July 1 2020: Itinerary
Travel under own arrangement to Inverness (rail/air connections can be arranged on request). A coach transfer is provided from Inverness Airport (approx. 1300hrs) or Inverness Bus Station (approx.1430hrs) to Kyle of Lochalsh, where we embark the MV Lord of the Highlands.
In the evening we will be joined by members of the crew for a welcome reception before dinner and moor for the night here in Kyle.
Meals include: Dinner
Hotel: Lord of the Highlands
After breakfast we depart by coach on an excursion to Eilean Donan Castle. This must be one of the most photographed castles in Scotland, with its impossibly romantic setting on Loch Duich. The beginnings of Eilean Donan Castle reach back into the early mists of time - evidence of a pictish fort was found in vitrified rock uncovered during excavations, some of which has been kept for visitors to see. We will also visit the picturesque village of Plockton, a National Trust for Scotland conservation village with an incomparable location on a sheltered bay of Loch Carron, surrounded by a ring of hills.
Returning to the ship in the afternoon, we sail via the narrows at Kyle Rhea and the Sound of Sleat to Armadale on the Isle of Skye. Here we will see the Clan Donald Centre and Gardens before sailing to Inverie in Loch Nevis, one of the most remote locations in Scotland with a famous pub which can only be accessed by boat. We moor at Inverie overnight.
Meals include: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: Lord of the Highlands
Enjoy your breakfast. We depart on an early morning sail to the tiny island of Eigg, where you get a sense of what life is like for the 90 or so people who live on this island, which came into community ownership in 1998. After exploring the island, later we sail around Ardnamurchan Point, the most westerly point of mainland Britain, and into the Sound of Mull to arrive at Tobermory on the Isle of Mull. Tobermory’s most famous and striking feature is the row of brightly painted houses that lines the waterfront, originally built by the British Fisheries Company for £20 pound each to house its workers. We moor in Tobermory overnight.
Meals include: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: Lord of the Highlands
After breakfast we sail down the Sound of Mull to Craignure, the main ferry port of Mull, and depart by coach for a visit to the Isle of Iona, the last resting place of some 50 Scottish Kings and the place where St Columba introduced Christianity to Britain. The tiny island has a unique sense of peace and tranquillity. Later we return by coach to the vessel at Craignure, and sail across the Firth of Lorn, pausing for photographs in front of Duart Castle, the 13th century home of the Chief of Clan MacLean. We continue to Oban, where we moor overnight.
Meals include: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: Lord of the Highlands
Enjoy your breakfast. In the morning we sail north into Loch Linnhe, a long fjord carved out by the last ice age, to Corpach and the southern entrance to the Caledonian Canal.
In the afternoon we depart by train on the West Highland railway, travelling over the impressive Glenfinnan Viaduct. We leave the train at Glenfinnan Station and visit the Glenfinnan Monument. In a dramatic setting at the head of Loch Shiel, the monument was built in 1815 to commemorate the Jacobites who fought and fell during the 1745 uprising. Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) raised his standard on the 19th August 1745 marking the start of his campaign to restore the exiled Stuarts to the throne. The Glenfinnan Monument was designed by James Gillespie Graham and erected by Alexander Macdonald of Glenaladale. We return to Corpach, where we moor for the night.
Meals include: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: Lord of the Highlands
After breakfast we ascend Neptune’s Staircase, an impressive flight of eight inter-connected locks that lifts the vessel 103 feet above sea level to Banavie.
We then sail through peaceful Loch Lochy and Loch Oich and various man-made sections of the Caledonian Canal, which was started in 1803 to plans produced by Thomas Telford following survey work by James Watt thirty years earlier. By the time the canal finally opened in 1822 it had taken 17 years and cost £840,000, but instead of the 20 foot depth in Telford's plans, the canal when it initially opened was only 14 feet deep, too shallow for many of the increasingly large ships being built at the time. A second phase of construction was then undertaken between 1844 and 1847 and what emerged from this was the canal originally proposed by Telford. The irony was that by the time the canal was finally complete, steam ships could make the passage around Scotland much more easily than the sailing ships in whose era it was designed. We moor overnight in Fort Augustus.
Meals include: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: Lord of the Highlands
Following breakfast we disembark. A coach transfer is provided to Inverness Bus Station (approx. 0930hrs) and Inverness Airport (approx. 1000hrs). Alternatively you may return home independently.
Meals include: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: Lord of the Highlands
Following breakfast we disembark. A coach transfer will take you back to Inverness Bus Station (approx. 10.30hrs and Inverness Airport (approx. 1100hrs)
Meals include: Breakfast
July 1 2020: Additional Info
July 1 2020: Accommodation
The Lord of the Highlands is the sister ship of the Lord of the Glens. It boasts 21 outward facing state cabins spread across two decks each named with references to John Buchan’s “THIRTY-NINE STEPS”. Each cabin has hardwood finishes, plush carpeting, dressing table, stool, wardrobe, satellite tv, and en suite facilities with shower, wc and washbasin. All state cabins are air conditioned and heated. There is an internal telephone and picture windows.
The cuisine is freshly prepared onboard by a loyal and long serving brigade of chefs, drawing on the rich bounty of locally sourced produce. What could be more delightful than to awake to the prospect of a full scottish breakfast and for early risers to take advantage of the complimentary hot beverages that await in the lounge and for that matter for the rest of the day as well?
