This tour took us all over Scotland and included incredible scenic vistas, castles and ruins, waterfalls and whisky, ferry rides and a two-day stay in both Skye and Orkney, remnants of the Neolithic age, and ample time each night to eat, drink, and explore for ourselves. We had excellent B & B en-suite accommodations at each stop. Our drivers, Andy (Days 1-4, Edinburgh to Highlands and Skye) and Eddie (Days 5-8, Orkney to Edinburgh) were kind, patient, informative, witty, and helpful. We traveled with Highland Experience in 2018 and had such a great time, we decided to book with them again during this trip. So glad we did! Definitely the trip of a lifetime. ????????????????????????????♥️
Half our trip was ruined by a tour guide being routinely aggressive, even to the point of making my wife cry, on top of an uncaring company who will do absolutely nothing to rectify the situation. We also got COVID during the tour, though due to UK laws the company can't be held responsible for their lack of safety measures (which the company made sure to point out, of course).
Our guide for the first half of our trip (Andy) was great. If you get the chance to have him as your tour guide for any other company, you should take it. He's friendly, knowledgeable, will keep you updated, and goes out of his way to ensure everyone's having a good time, even with problematic guests.
Graham, however, at first seems easygoing, but has a very short fuse, and was aggressive to the point of making my wife cry. This is detailed later on in the review.
Highland Experience said they were sorry for the experience, but did nothing about it. They were slow to respond (even before the trip when I had some questions), and every time they did, they gave the typical "we're looking into it," but always added that they were going to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for us or anyone else. We have not been reimbursed with anything, given a discount, or have our situation rectified in any way whatsoever.
Halfway into the trip for the Orkney leg, we picked up a couple passengers - one of whom coughed frequently into her fist on the bus and didn't use hand sanitizer. On the ferry over to Orkney, we (my wife, another guest (Christine - see her 2-star review Beautiful landscapes, but big mistake to go for this agency), and I) sat down with Graham and talked with him about the issue. At first, he said that he took our advisement seriously (especially my wife, who is a laboratory scientist who works for a company that researched COVID, and the guest, who works in biotechnology), but pushed back against disinfecting the bus or asking the woman to take preventative measures like wearing a mask (which we offered as we had brand new extras on us). He defensively said that "no one ever cancelled a trip just because they had the cold," which I understand, but it's also not what we were saying. We were asking for additional measures to be taken for the safety of everyone on the tour, which we explained to him, but we have come to learn that he frequently hears one thing and turns it into another while behaving aggressively to it.
On the ferry back to the mainland, my wife asked him around what time we'll be getting to Inverness so we can plan on when and where to eat (since unlike Andy, Graham rarely updated us on ETAs and places to eat, so we largely had to figure this out for ourselves, especially with many places being closed or closing early due to staff, etc.), and he lashed out at her in front of the other guests on the ferry, saying that it's not his fault that places weren't available. She was shocked at his tone and said that's not at all what she meant, but he cut her off and carried on, which made her cry. COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE.
There were several other incidents that highlighted his callousness. For instance, he told us he knew ahead of time that we would have to walk 30 minutes from the center of Kirkwall uphill back to our B&B, but didn't tell us until the end of the day, figuring at first "it wouldn't be so bad - (another couple) enjoyed walking," like the rest of us (especially the seniors, which was half our group) shouldn't mind it? Just before leaving the bus to explore Pitlochry, he announced "Be back on time. I WILL be leaving at 2:30." Any time something came up, he became curt, and his tone aggressive. He talked so little that we ended up listening to the same playlist of songs 3-4 times, and didn't offer to load or unload my bags the past few times before the tour was over. Further, *he hadn't even been to some of the places we visited.*
Yes, Highland Experience can give you a tour guide who HAS NOT EVEN BEEN TO SOME DESTINATIONS, so don't expect half of the point of having a tour company to begin with.
Highland Experience said his behavior is atypical, but when it happens before our eyes (and those of other guests) for several days in a row, we expected the company to do something about it. They did nothing for us.
So that's a recap of our experience. It started out well with Andy (aside from Highland Experience putting the guests in half a dozen different accommodations, but that isn't Andy's fault), and when we switched to Graham, it went terribly. And despite us having to stay in Scotland longer due to getting COVID *possibly* during the tour, and *possibly* due to a lack of Highland Experience's health and safety measures (opinion, for legal reasons), the company did not even cover our forced extended stay of 2 days, which was spent locked in a hotel room due to COVID.
Stay away from this company, because they do not take responsibility for anything, and will leave you on your own to pay for their mistakes and neglect.