All day tours

The Scottish Borders

Eighteen hundred square miles, from rolling hills & moorland, gentle valleys, rich agricultural plains, to rocky coastline with secluded coves and picturesque fishing villages.

Through the centre, tracing a silvery course from the hills to the sea, runs the River Tweed, fed by its many tributaries and providing some of the best fishing in Scotland. As well as fishing, you can try your hand at golf, riding, walking or cycling.

You'll discover friendly towns and charming villages, while the castles, abbeys, stately homes and museums illustrate the exciting and often bloody history of the area. It's that history which is commemorated in the Common Ridings and other local festivals, creating a colourful pageant much enjoyed by visitors and native Borderers alike. 

As the Borders is a region famed for its textiles you'll want to browse and buy beautiful tweeds and tartans and the highest quality knitwear from the mills and shops.

Eating out is a pleasure too - with a choice of hotels, inns, restaurants and cafes offering prices to suit your pocket and flavours to tempt your tastebuds.  The region draws on the best of the land and sea and serve it up in their inimitable style.  Ales brewed to an ancient recipe, sugary confections boasting local town names, hearty fish soups with Gaelic seasoning, salmon and game smoked to a distinctive Borders cure.

The change in seasons is at its most visible in the expertly maintained gardens that bring year-round colour and horticultural interest to the regions - there is much to explore!

All the major towns have Tourist Information Centres.

Scott's View overlooking the River Tweed and Eildon Hills.  This view was made famous by Sir Walter Scott and recently voted one the borders most romantic spots.

n fit in but certainly the following –

http://www.crmsociety.com/

Glasgow 

Glasgow has long been established as an excellent place to live, work, rest and play. As a major European cultural capital, it is also a great place to visit.

Glasgow has a vibrant nightlife where one can visit any number of restaurants, pubs, clubs and cafes in the city.

For a more restful pace there are 13 free museums and galleries to choose from and with over 70 parks and gardens spread across the city you’re sure to find your own personal oasis.

In 1999, the city was designated UK City of Architecture and Design.  Glasgow’s elegant streets are lined with some of the finest and most beautifully preserved Victorian buildings

The magnificent City Chambers, Glasgow’s municipal headquarters in George Square, stands as a proud statement to the city’s proud position during the 19th century as "Second City of the Empire." Around the city are unique examples of Glasgow’s most renowned architect and designer, Charles Rennie Mackintosh (including the famous Glasgow School of Art), and of the equally gifted Alexander "Greek" Thomson.

The main Tourist Information Centre is in George Square.

http://www.seeglasgow.com/

The Trossachs

The Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park is about an hour’s drive from Orchard House. It is an area rich is spectacular beauty and the woods, mountains, lochs and coasts full of wonderful wildlife.

What you find depends on where and when you look.

In summer Loch Lomond’s ancient oakwoods ring with birdsong. Look out for redstarts, pied flycatchers and wood warblers. Ospreys are summer visitors to the loch and nearby Lake of Menteith.

Lake of Menteith, Trossachs

In the high country of Breadalbane, goldern eagles may be seen soaring over mountain slopes. Ben Lui is known for plants such as saxifrage and mountain avens.

Porpoises and seals swim in the sheltered waters of Loch Long and Loch Goil, while crabs and sea anemones can be found in rock pools. Flocks of wading birds feed at the mouth of the River Eachaig at Kilmun.

Winter is often a good time to spot wildlife. Whooper swans and goldeneye find refuge on quiet Trossachs lochs, while Greenland white fronted geese graze by the River Endrick. Red deer, which frequent the high mountain areas, move down the slopes to find food. When the trees are bare you can often glimpse Loch Lomond’s herd of fallow deer as they bound through the woods.

Facts and Figures

• The Park is 1,865 sq km (720 sq miles) and has a boundary length of 350km (220miles).
• There are 20 Munros (mountains above 3,000ft) in the Park and the highest is Ben More at 1,174m.
• There are 20 Corbetts (mountains between 2,500ft and 3,000ft).
• There are 22 larger lochs, with numerous smaller lochs and lochans.
• About 50 rivers and large burns.
• 15,600 people live in the National Park (2001 census).
• Two Forest Parks – Queen Elizabeth in the Trossachs and Argyll in Cowal.

There are Tourist Information Centres in most of the towns.

http://www.trossachs.co.uk/

Fife and St Andrews

Barely 40 minutes north of Orchard House is the Firth of Forth which you will cross using the Forth Road Bridge to enter the Kingdom of Fife.

As you cross this bridge glance over to the adjacent Forth Rail Bridge, sometimes referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World.

The Kingdom of Fife boasts two ancient "capitals". Dunfermline was once the seat of Scotland's early Celtic kings, while St Andrews was the ecclesiastical capital of Scotland. An abbey and royal palace survive in Dunfermline today. Abbot House is also nearby, telling the town's story. To the west lies Culross, with its atmospheric 17th and 18th century domestic architecture. Below the shadow of the Forth Bridge is Deep Sea World, the largest aquarium in Britain. 

http://www.standrews.co.uk/

Follow the Fife Tourist Route signs from the Forth Road Bridge through the coastal towns of Fife to Dundee to enjoy spectacular seascapes and breath-taking views of the Firths of Forth and Tay; the route takes you through coastal towns and villages including Aberdour, Burntisland, Kirkcaldy and Leven before reaching the fishing villages of the East Neuk of Fife.

In the East Neuk of Fife - neuk is Scots for corner - Scotland's European links are recalled by the Dutch influence in the local architecture of a string of attractive fishing villages including Pittenweem and Crail. The Scottish Fisheries Museum at Anstruther explores the long struggle with the sea.

The university town of St Andrews blends religious history with an academic air, though it is even better known as the ''Home of Golf''. St Andrews also offers outstanding shopping, fine beaches, a good range of places to eat, two local history museums and the British Golf Museum, as well as St Andrews Castle and the St Andrews Sea Life Centre.

View of St Andrews looking up the first and eighteenth fairways of The Old Course. http://www.standrews.org.uk/

Government Secret Bunker in Fife

Scotland’s best kept secret for over 40 years, Until Now. Hidden beneath a Scottish Farmhouse, a tunnel leads to Scotland’s Secret Bunker. 24,000 square feet of secret accommodation on two levels, 100 feet underground.

http://www.secretbunker.co.uk/

Stirling and Bannockburn

The Bannockburn Heritage Centre is situated at one of the most important historic sites in Scotland. On the battlefield nearby, in June 1314, King Robert the Bruce routed the forces of King Edward II to win freedom for the Scots from English domination.

Near the Centre is the famous Borestone site which by tradition was Bruces command post before the battle; it is marked by an impressive equestrian statue of Bruce by Pilkington Jackson. The Centre contains an exhibition on the period of the battle, and an audio-visual presentation.

http://www.braveheart.co.uk/macbrave/history/bruce/bannock.htm

The Heritage Centre exhibition includes a large model of the Battle of Stirling Bridge, and exciting life-size figures of Wallace and Bruce. It brings to life decisive moments in Scotland's history, including the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath which inspired Thomas Jefferson when he drew up the American Declaration of Independence. An audio-visual presentation tells the dramatic story of Bruce and of the battle, with haunting sounds and images.

Stirling Castle is the grandest of Scotland's castles and one of the most popular visitor attractions in the country.

Stirling Castle played a key role in the lives of the Stewart monarchs, as the birthplace of James III and the home to James IV, James VI, and the infant Mary, Queen of Scots. The castle's Chapel Royal has been fully restored to its original dazzling elegance of 1543, when the nine-week-old Mary was crowned.

The medieval kitchens have been also recreated, complete with life-size models of cooks preparing banquets of peacocks, roast swan, oysters and pigeon pies, allowing visitors to experience the sights and the smells of 16th-century kitchen life in the castle. The castle rock commands views of seven battlefields in a panorama across Scotland that encompasses Ben Lomond, the Trossachs and the Ochil Hills.

http://www.instirling.com/sight/castle.htm

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Tour

Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) architect, designer and artist is celebrated around the world today as one of the most significant talents to emerge in the period which spans from the mid 1890s to the late 1920s. Most of his surviving work can be found in or around Glasgow.

From Orchard House you can drive to Glasgow in about an hour and spend a day visiting as many of his buildings as you can fit in but certainly the following –

• The Willow Tea Rooms
• The Glasgow School of Art
• Hill House at Helensburgh

http://www.crmsociety.com/