Tour 1. Royal & Ancient Scotland

Embark on a full day tour of the historical sites St Andrews, Scone and Loch Leven.

You first stop is St Andrews– where the game of golf evolved and where the spirit and traditions have been safeguarded for over six centuries. St Andrews is also Scotland's first university and the third oldest in the UK. Visit the Old Course, University, Cathedral and town.

 

Travel north west through Perth to Scone Palace. Scone is a place that breathes history like nowhere else in Scotland. Today, in the 21st century, it is the home of the Earls of Mansfield, and a major attraction to visitors from all over the world. Fifteen hundred years ago, it was the capital of the Pictish kingdom and the centre of the ancient Celtic church. In the intervening centuries, it has been the seat of parliaments and the crowning place of Kings. It has housed the Stone of Destiny and been immortalised in Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Your final stop is Locheven Castle. Built in the 13th Century and taken back from the English by William Wallace in 1303. This castle was visited by Robert the Bruce in 1313 and 1323 and became a prison stronghold for much of the 14th Century. Built on an island, the most famous prisoner of the castle was Mary Queen of Scots in 1567. On 2nd May 1568, Mary succeeded in escaping with the help of Willie Douglas who stole the keys to the Postern Gate from the table beside Sir William Douglas during a banquet in the Great Hall. They slipped away in one of the boats and legend has it that Willie threw the keys into the water. When the Loch was being lowered in 1831, a set of eight keys was found in the mud.