The original Scottish Routes was started in 2004 and specialised in tailor-made tours all over Scotland. The company earned a great reputation for its customised tours of Scotland for small groups and families. The business owner (who’s a name we shall omit to spare his blushes) fell in love with a young lady from the other side of the Atlantic. As with all good Scottish love stories, he decided to follow his heart and, in 2009, made the decision to move to the USA.
The business was sold in early 2009 and, in 2010, the new managing director chose to rebrand and expand the business. We now specialise in tailor-made and scheduled whisky tours all over Scotland for individuals, couples, friends, small groups and whisky clubs. In April 2017, Will decided it was time for some new adventures and decided to leave us.
Scottish Routes is now looked after by Clare who has expanded our whisky tour offering and continues the company’s ethos of providing quality, unique tours. As well as making sure our tour guests don’t miss out on the well-known tourist sights and attractions that Scotland has to offer, we pride ourselves in escaping the crowds and sharing some of our favourite hidden gems as well.
Please enjoy looking around our website and, if you can’t find what you are looking for, please do not hesitate to contact us. We can’t wait to show you around Scotland.
MEET OUR GUIDES
Our guides are the best in the business. We ensure that we employ only passionate, personable, reliable and experienced guides in order to give you, our guests, the best possible experience on our tours. All of our guides are fully trained and qualified. Some of our training is carried out in-house, and some are provided via external suppliers. Training includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- First Aid Training
- Professional Driver Qualifications
- Familiarisation Trips
- Professional Development Training
- Vehicle Familiarisation
- Health and Safety
- All of our whisky tour guides are also graduates of the Scotch Whisky School, run by the Scotch Whisky Experience on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.
- Some of our guides are also fully qualified Blue Badge members of the Scottish Tourist Guides Association (STGA).
EXPERIENCE & EXPERTISE
Experience is hard to beat and our guides have it by the bucket-load. Between us, we have over 25 years of experience in the tourism industry and can’t wait to share this with you. We have a guide for every tour you can think of. We will always match the guide to suit the requirements of each individual tour. Between us, we have whisky geeks, ancestry experts, geology students, musicians, photographers, outdoor fans, history buffs, culture vultures and island hoppers. Most importantly though, we are all ambassadors for Scotland!
CHARACTER
Our guides are the most important part of our company. Without them, there would be no tours. So, it is vitally important that not only do they know their stuff, but they are great people as well. We carefully select our staff to ensure they are the kind of people we would want showing us around on our own holidays. They are personable, helpful, well-traveled, polite, fun and just generally nice people that you would want to go for a beer (or whisky) with.
PASSION
We all LOVE Scotland! We think there is nothing better than sharing our passion for our homeland with our guests. All our guides take great delight in sharing their favourite sights, experiences, tasty treats and hidden gems. We will never employ anyone in Scottish Routes that do not have a genuine passion for our country and the job. Tour guiding is not a job for someone who does not fit these criteria.
SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
What is Sustainable Tourism?
According to VisitScotland, Sustainable tourism is tourism committed to generating a low impact on the surrounding environment and community by acting responsibly while generating income and employment for the local economy and aiding social cohesion. Sustainable tourism aims to ensure that economic development as a result of tourism is a positive experience for everyone involved; local community, tourism businesses, and visitors. At Scottish Routes, we take this very seriously. Wherever possible we aim to stick to the following set of values:
- Engage with the local community wherever possible.
- Ensure our guests get to interact with local people at our stops.
- We do not take kickbacks or commissions for services provided to our guests.
- Encourage our guests to shop locally and in shops owned by local people, rather than larger chains.
- Encourage staff and guests to minimise their waste and recycle.
- Educate and inform staff and guests about the local environment wherever we find ourselves.
