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Dear Reader,
Welcome to my Scottish Gatherings Web Site. I hope you find this large site both informative and enjoyable. I am not a Webmaster, but I have tried to make my site easy to navigate from this first page, and fairly quick to download. As well as the information on this site, I have more than 1,000 Scottish photographs on on-line Photo Albums. I will also be delighted to reply to all your suggestions and questions.
My name is Gordon Pollock, and although I was born and raised in Hamilton, Scotland, I have, for the past number of years, lived overseas prior to returning to the beautiful Argyll & Bute area of Scotland from where I now organize and lead Small Group Tours to my native Scotland - The Real Scotland.
My Personalized Small Group Tours of my homeland are paced for discovery and understanding - not just notching sites. You will see behind the tourist facade visiting with " locals " and see sites not normally seen by the regular tourist. You will not have to move your base each and every day, for each Hotel will be chosen to minimize the number of times you have to pack and unpack. Scotland, being a small country, it is perfectly possible to visit most everywhere on the mainland from a couple of base locations. This makes for a much more relaxing experience and also allows you to get to know local people. I do not put 52 people on a huge coach with an endurance test for an itinerary. In fact, each small group travel party will be limited to an absolute maximum of 18 people. The most common small-group size has been between 8 and 12 people.
Touring Around Scotland
In Scotland, and the rest of the UK, driving is on the left-hand side of the road, and distances are sign-posted in miles. Four-lane highways exist mainly in the Lowlands, between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Driving through Scotland can be slow and tedious work, so I try to limit the number of driving hours to a couple each day. After all you're not visiting Scotland just to sit in a mini-bus all day. Rural and Highland Scotland, with their wonderful scenery, are fabulous to tour through, though the roads can be incredibly narrow. Fortunately, I know all the back roads, and will often take you off the beaten track to parts of Scotland that are completely inaccessible to the large Coach Tours, and unknown to most visitors.
Flexibility
Flexibility is the key to having a great vacation in Scotland. It truly is ! Let's say you're due to visit Falkland Gardens on a Monday afternoon - and it's pouring with rain. Well, we'll simply change the itinerary around and visit an indoor site until the shower stops. One particular site might be worth a return visit, others might require a shortened visit. Perhaps you'll meet a Scot who invites you to their home, or wishes to take you golfing. That's okay ! Perhaps you might want a day off just to laze around our home base. That's fine too !
Where the Highlands meet the Islands
For a taste of the magnificent West Highlands, the Cowal Peninsula, where I now live in the town of Dunoon, is a very special place. West Cowal, in particular, has unrivalled scenery, a feast of natural wonders, and not least, a local population that are never less than friendly or hospitable to any visitor. Spectacular mountain scenery, gentle burns/streams trickling through rugged glens and dramatic seascapes combine to make this area an excellent location from which to visit the Western Highlands.
The Kingdom of Fife, where I also have excellent local contacts, is a good example of an excellent base location from which to tour Lowland Scotland. But wherever you decide to go in Scotland, you can be assured that it's an area well known to me. There are many good base locations from which to tour the Highlands, the Lowlands and the Borders.
A Sample Itinerary
* Cowal Peninsula - Castle Toward, Loch Fyne, Carrick Castle.
* Dunoon - Pleasure cruises, Ceramics, Castle House Museum.
* Isle of Bute - Winter Garden, Rothesay Castle, Bute Museum.
* St. Andrews - City, Castle, Cathedral & Old Course,
* Perth - Branklyn Gardens, Caithness Glass, Balhousie Castle,
* Dunfermline Abbey, Culross,
* Dunkeld Cathedral, River Tay, Distillery,
* Loch Leven, Mary Queen Of Scot's Castle,
* Elcho Castle, Scone Palace, Abernethy Pictish Tower,
* Stirling Castle, Wallace Monument,
* Edinburgh - Castle and Royal Mile, Holyrood Palace,
* Inverness & Area - Loch Ness ( and maybe Nessie ? )
* Skye & Area - Incredible Scenery
* Ceres - Fife Folk Museum and Village, Falkland Palace
* North Fife - Balmerino Abbey, Lindores Abbey & Scenery
* East Neuk of Fife - Fisheries Museum, beautiful villages.
Aside from the main itinerary, there will be opportunities to Golf, Fish, Shop, and meet many local people along the way.
Contact me soon, and let me know what your special interests are.
Feel free to ask me any, and all, questions about Scotland.
What would you like to do and see in Scotland ?
Why do you want to visit Scotland ? Is your surname Scottish ?
Were any of your forefathers from Scotland ?
Are your interests:
Cultural,
Scenic,
History,
Golf,
Walking,
Fishing,
Piping,
Highland Games,
Gardening,
Castles,
Abbeys,
Churches,
Battle Sites,
Ancestry,
Music,
Poetry,
All of the above ?
Tell me how I can help you ?
Every tour is unique and starts from a blank page which we fill together.
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