Wilderness Scotland has introduced a range of new guided trips for 2024. There’s a luxurious tour of the Highlands, with exclusive stays and access, a women-only retreat to the Cairngorms, and two new e-biking itineraries, to the Orkneys and the white-sand fringed Outer Hebrides.
Wilderness walking: highlights of the Highlands
This new nine-night, fully guided trip combines the very best of the Highlands’ wild beauty with superb, luxury hotels, offering the finest seasonal food, all while enjoying some stunning hiking. Highlights include: a boat trip to the remote shores of Loch Coruisk on Skye; hiking in Glencoe in the company of red deer and golden eagles; a visit to the Culloden Battlefield; hiking in the Cairngorms National Park; and guided tours of Scone Palace and the Dundreggan Rewilding Centre. The group stays in the Highlands’ most sumptuous hotels, including the Fife Arms and Eriska Hotel.
Price: from £4,975pp sharing, including 9 nights’ accommodation, all meals, guiding and transfers. Depart 6 May, 3 June or 26 August 2024; wildernessscotland.com
Wilderness retreat: winter Highlands
As the bright, frosty days of winter glow with golden light, join Wilderness Scotland on a wonderful trip into the heart of the Cairngorms National Park – Britain’s largest and wildest. Led by an expert Wilderness guide, relax and recharge in an exclusive-use mountain lodge tucked away in a wild glen. Secluded and cosy, this lovely women-only retreat offers every contemporary comfort without forgoing its rustic roots. From its door, hike to hidden waterfalls and around stunning lochans; chat with your knowledgeable guide about the unique biodiversity of the Highlands and the hardy wildlife which call it home. Enjoy the exhilaration of a wild swim and warm up in a toasty, mobile sauna. In the soft afternoon light, stretch off in a private yoga session; and as darkness unfurls across the river, listen to tales of local folklore under a starry sky.
Price: from £1,495pp based on 2 sharing, including 4 nights’ accommodation, all meals, guided activities and transfers. Depart 5 February or 4 March 2024; wildernessscotland.com
Winter walking: Shetland and Orkney
Discover the salt-stung beauty of two of Scotland’s furthest-flung archipelagos on this new group walking trip to Shetland and Orkney. Beginning in Shetland, there is a walk around Sumburgh Head with its puffins a plenty and an adventurous trip to Unst, Shetland’s most northerly isle, home to 100,000 birds in breeding season, and Viking culture too. Transferring to Orkney by ferry, the group will then discover a remote Italian Chapel on the uninhabited isle of Lamb Holm, built during WWII; hike to the iconic Old Man of Hoy sea stack and to St John’s Head, the highest sea cliff in the UK, and learn about Orkney’s incredible Neolithic past with visits to Skara Brae and the Ring of Brogdar.
Price: from £2,945pp sharing, including 8 nights’ accommodation, all meals, guiding, and transfers. Depart 2 July, 16 July, 27 August or 17 September 2024; wildernessscotland.com
Road cycling: e-bike the Orkney Isles
The Orkney Isles are one of the UK’s most fascinating destinations, with a rich Neolithic heritage, superb scenery and amazing wildlife. Combine cycling, natural beauty and culture on this new e-biking itinerary, with the group travelling on gently rolling roads on some of the archipelago’s remotest islands. There’s a circuit on Shapisey, with the brilliantly-preserved Burroughston Broch and the Mill Dam RSPB reserve, the Isle of Rousay, with its ancient burial sites that date back thousands of years, and Birsay, a unique tidal island, with the ruins of the Earl’s Palace. With a visit to the iconic ancient site of Skara Brae included too, this is a definitive Orkney cycling adventure.
Price: from £2,245pp sharing, including 5 nights’ accommodation, all meals, guiding and transfers. Depart 14 April, 12 May, 25 August or 22 September 2024; wildernessscotland.com
Road cycling: e-bike the Outer Hebrides
Traverse five of the Outer Hebridean islands with the ease and enjoyment of an e-bike on this new cycling tour. Beginning on South Uist, the route meanders north at a gentle pace, taking in North Uist, Harris and Lewis. With the bike’s battery taking the strain out of the legs, the group will have more time and energy to explore the islands’ many other delights. There’s a stroll along the white sand of Hushinish Beach, guided tours of the Isle of Harris Distillery and Amor Weavers, and a visit to the Standing Stones of Callanish, a stone circle that predates Stonehenge. Throughout the week, the stunning coastline and wildflower machair landscapes provide a constant companion, and the group stays in a variety of characterful hotels.
Price: from £2,525pp sharing, including 6 nights’ accommodation, all meals, guiding and transfers. Depart 20 April, 22 June, 20 July, 17 August or 14 September 2024; wildernessscotland.com
Images: Wilderness Scotland