SAMPLE PROGRAMME

Day 1 Mon 9th Sept
Meet flight Glasgow Airport, am. Drive to Glenelg via Loch Lomond. Lunch in Tyndrum. Some short stops on the way at places of historical interest.

Day 2 Tue 10th Sept
Morning off. Afternoon drive round Glenelg

Day 3 Wed 11th Sept
Morning hike to Glen Beag to visit the Pictish Broch Towers and hear about the early history of the area. Afternoon hike in Glen More to hear about more recent history - the Jacobite Rebellions and the Clearances.

Day 4 Thurs 12th Sept
Hike to Sandaig Islands, former home of Gavin Maxwell and setting for "Ring of Bright Water".

Day 5 Fri 13th Sept
Visit to the Isle of Rum (Drive to South Skye and then on by Power Boat). Stay overnight at the old Hunting Lodge, Kinloch Castle.

Day 6 Sat 14th Sept
Talk and walk on Rum hearing about the Natural History of the Island from the resident wildlife wardens. Return to Glenelg.

Day 7 Sun 15th Sept
Day off.

Day 8 Mon 16th Sept
Drive to Plockton High School to visit the Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music. This residential unit was set up two years ago to provide a specialized educational program for young people from all over the Highlands and Islands who are talented traditional musicians.

Day 9 Tue 17th Sept
Hike up Glen Arnisdale led by a local man, Willie Mackenzie, and hear his stories from local history, culture and folklore.

Day 10 Wed 18th Sept
Drive to South Skye to visit Sabhal Mor Ostaig, the Gaelic College, and Armadale Castle the ancestral home of Clan Donald. Time to visit the Castle Gardens, Museum (featuring a presentation on the Lordship of the Isles) and Genealogy Library. Handy for McDonalds.

Day 11 Thurs 19th Sept
Day off.

Day 12 Fri 20th Sept
Drive to Carbisdale Castle on the Sutherland border. This former home of the Dowager Duchess of Sutherland is now a Youth Hostel, set in its own extensive grounds. It is a magnificent wood-panelled building stuffed full of art-work, notably a large and valuable collection of marble statues. It is reputedly haunted!

Day 13 Sat 21st Sept
Onward to Gill's Bay on the north coast where we take the ferry to the Orkney Islands. We are staying in hostels in St Margaret's Hope on the island of South Ronaldsay for two nights. On Saturday evening we will visit the henge monuments, the Standing Stones of Stenness, and one of the most powerful ancient sites on the planet - a World Heritage Site and THE place to be on the Equinox - The Ring of Brodgar.

Day 14 Sun 22nd Sept
Another day in Orkney visiting other antiquities - the Mesoolithic Tomb of Maes Howe, the 5000 year old village of Skara Brae, the village of Stromness, the incredibly beautiful Italian Chapel (built by Italian POWs in WWII in a tin Nissen Hut), and a potter who lives and works on the Island of Harray. Yes, he's a Harray Potter.

Day 15 Mon 23rd Sept
Return directly to Glenelg.

Day 16 Tue 24th Sept
Day trip to visit the splendidly medieval island castle, Eilean Donan, ancestral home of Clan Macrae. Tour of the castle and lunch at their centre. Onward to local fishing port, Kyle of Lochalsh where we'll be given a short presntation on the place by the Harbourmaster, Johnnie "Ach" Macrae.

Day 17 Wed 25th Sept
Drive to the Trotternish peninsula at the northern end of the Isle of Skye. Stay overnight in Dun Flodigarry Backpackers Hostel. Visit to a restored Blackhouse village.

Day 18 Thurs 26th Sept
Hike up into the mist-shrouded (usually) basaltic butresses of the stunning mountain ridge that is called "The Quiraing". After lunch another hike to Ruadh Huinish, the northernmost point on Skye to see a Cleared Blackhouse village and do some whale-watching and bird-watching from the cliffs.

Day 19 Fri 27th Sept
Day trip to Inverness, the capital city of the Highlands. Time to have a look round and to visit the Battlefield site of Culloden.

Day 20 Sat 28th Sept
Drive south to spend a last night at the Trossachs Backpackers Hostel outside Callander.

Day 21 Sun 29th Sept
Return to Glasgow

In addition to the activities listed, we will also have presentations in Glenelg from musicians, a storyteller, and other occasional speakers.