- Dolphin-watching on an exciting boat trip
- Finding Scotland’s largest birds of prey – sea eagles, golden eagles and ospreys
- Sea kayaking with seals in the West Highlands
- Visit a wildlife hide at dusk to see pine marten and badgers
- 6 nights accommodation in carefully selected guest houses and hotels
- Most meals during the trip (Meals included indicated as B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner)
- The services of an experienced and knowledgeable guide / driver throughout
- All transport throughout the trip starting and finishing in Inverness
- All boat trips and ferry transfers
- Dolphin spotting boat trip
- 1 Day guided sea kayaking including all equipment
- Entrance fees to wildlife hides, nature reserves and historical sites as per itinerary
Green Graded Wildlife Holidays 1-3
All of our wildlife trips are graded Green and involve straightforward hiking with no major ascents, as well as other activities which are pitched at novice level. You can expect to be active for around 5 hours each day so you will need a reasonable level of fitness. Please note that there may be some early starts and late nights as we seek to maximise our chances of finding wildlife, although you can always opt out of activities if you prefer an early night or long lie in the morning!
So to help you decide if you are fit enough for this kind of trip, ask yourself:
- Are you generally active and, for example, happy to hike for 6 miles (10km), including some ascent, with rough ground in places?
- Are you up for a challenge and trying new activities such as sea kayaking or boat trips?
- Are you looking for a wildlife trip which involves more than simply sitting in a hide?
ACCOMMODATION AND MEALS
In Ardnamurchan, we stay at a small, family-run, Highland guest house which has one of the best panoramic loch and mountain views in Scotland. The hotel was renovated in 2008 and offers comfortable rooms with free wi-fi. The meals here are a delight, with a strong focus on locally sourced produce.
We spend 3 nights in and around the Cairngorms National Park. Our base here is at the beautiful Dalrachney Lodge, located in a sleepy Highland village called Carrbridge. Dalrachney Lodge offers the highest standards of customer care and service, all set in a welcoming and comfortable environment.
SINGLE ROOMS
There is no supplement charged to solo travellers, however you will be required to share a room with another person of the same sex. For this itinerary, a supplement of £285 per person will be payable where a single, en-suite room is required. This is subject to availability as per our booking terms and conditions.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
You will be met by your Wilderness Scotland Guide at the fixed seating area in the centre of Inverness Railway Station at 2:00pm on Day 1 of your trip. You will be returned to Inverness station by 1:00pm on the final day.
For advice on getting to and from Scotland please our travel advice page on our website: www.wildernessscotland.com/faq/travel-to-scotland/
Customer Kudos
Every client receives a feedback survey when they return from their guided, self guided or tailor made holiday with us.
Once completed the review is published on our website just as soon as our database updates. The little touches and details are important to us and where issues are raised we make positive changes to our trips to improve your experience.
That's why we read each of our client's reviews and although we don't respond to all of them, if it's glowing feedback then we get the satisfaction of helping to make your holidays truly memorable.
by Ralph Sales 20/07/2017
Pre-Trip Service
I have great problems trying to use this system so I am not really able to make a good judgement.
Trip Comments
Good leader poor weather.
Accommodation and Food
I did think about the price compared with my last trip. Clearly the hotels were better. Very happy with the result.
Your Guide
Very good local knowledge with a bit of luck.
The Bottom Line
I am considering next year but age will be a major issue. I am hoping for another enjoyable trip.
by Deborah Miller 10/07/2017
Pre-Trip Service
Trip Comments
Accommodation and Food
Your Guide
The Bottom Line
by Janice Baxter 10/07/2017
Pre-Trip Service
Prompt replies to inquiries, seemed friendly and helpful
Trip Comments
There was a lot of time spent driving. I was expecting to be walking more.
Dinners and breakfasts were excellent...packed lunches were OK, but sandwiches were lacking.
Our guide was great! He worked hard to be sure we a good experience. As a group, we understood that we were not in Disneyland, and that the animals might not show. Malcom seemed as excited as we were to see them! That kind of enthusiasm is infectious.
Accommodation and Food
Lunches could have been better. Accommodations and other meals were excellent!
Your Guide
See comments for trip overall. Malcom was great!
The Bottom Line
I will look to Wilderness Scotland when planning future adventures in Scotland!
by Martin Freeman 10/07/2017
Pre-Trip Service
All my queries I had were answered promptly and courteously.
Trip Comments
Our guide (Malcolm) was very accommodating and gave us good and interesting information throughout the trip. Felt little "trapped" at The Lodge for dinner where the minimum charge was £23. I understand that this was part of your agreement with the Lodge maybe in securing the rooms. However, it was not part of my agreement with you.
Accommodation and Food
Felt little "trapped" at The Lodge for dinner where the minimum charge was £23. Although the food was excellent and I understand this was part of your agreement with the Lodge maybe in securing the rooms. However, it was not part of my agreement with you. The food was excellent throughout the trip.
Your Guide
Malcolm was extremely patient with the group which consisted of many different personalities. He endeavoured to give us interesting information during the many miles we travelled ....and he succeeded. Always had a smile on his face which is very important to make people feel at home.
The Bottom Line
I enjoyed every minute of my trip from the Isle of Mull to the Moray Firth. Great memories of the views with beautiful fauna and flora will stay with me forever. Thank you Wilderness Scotland!
by Barbara Iseli 05/07/2017
Pre-Trip Service
I would have appreciated more if I could have charged the rest amount directly on my credit Card MYSELF as I could with the downpayment, instead of mailing you my Card Details. I thought that was too insecure. Mistakes happen fast.
TEAM WILDERNESS RESPONSE:
Thanks so much for your feedback. We would not generally recommend sending any card details by email. You can now pay your balance online however you can also pay over the phone or by bank transfer so you certainly should not need to email your card details.
Trip Comments
Highlights every day! Seeing animals that we don't have here! Like badgers, 2 kinds of owls incl. chicks, hunting dolphins at Canonry Point, sea otters very relaxed, sealife in ponds a.s.o, and of course exploring new Areas. Lots of time everywhere we went.
Accommodation and Food
Accommodations excellent. As for Food, I'm not a great fan of Scottish Food, but had to cope with it ;)
Your Guide
I thought he was very knowledgeable about everything to do with Flora, Fauna, sealife, knew all the best places to go and often found the animals he and we were looking for. He worked hard trying to meet our expectations [which HE thought we had :) ], and to show us what was in the program, which is almost a miracle as wilderness is not a zoo. Very friendly and cheerful. We could share his Passion for wildlife. Unforgettable!
The Bottom Line
Unique and awesome!
by Josephine Austen 03/07/2017
Pre-Trip Service
It felt like a person all service.
Trip Comments
Accommodation and Food
Fantastic food at both locations but it wasn't made clear how much it would cost.
Your Guide
Our guide worked really hard to find the wildlife, and to keep the group cheerful despite the poor weather.
The Bottom Line
by James Harlow 12/06/2017
Pre-Trip Service
Trip Comments
We were fortunate to have really great weather. This enhanced the hiking
Accommodation and Food
more choices for supper would have been better rather than 3 a the same hotel for the first 3 nights
Your Guide
The Bottom Line
This was a very enjoyable experience
by Valerie Harlow 07/06/2017
Pre-Trip Service
All of our questions were answered promptly. The people we spoke to knew the answers to all of our questions. We met David on a mountain in Cairngorms and he even remembered us.
Trip Comments
Everything from start to finish was fantastic. Craig McDonald was superb. I would go on a trip with him again. So flexible, interesting and genuinely interested in making sure we had a good time. He also managed to have the animals co-operate and show themselves to us.
Accommodation and Food
The only slight let down was the Strontian Hotel. Some of our food was over salted and the rooms could have been cleaner.. The owners are lovely people and the majority of our food was good. They just need to fix some small things. The loacation is beautiful but it did seem far away from some of the sights we visited.
Your Guide
What can I say Craig? You did an excellent job. You got all the animals to co-operate for us. You were as genuinely interested in what we were experiencing as we were. You were flexible and listened to our needs and to the advice of the locals. I loved your stories about Scotland and about your life in general. What a terrific person to guide us for 7 days. You even carried our packs up the mountain for us when you saw we were struggling. What more could one ask for. I loved every minute of it.
The Bottom Line
Excellent trip all round. Great guide, great weather, great scenery.
by Helen Biggerstaff 05/06/2017
Pre-Trip Service
Trip Comments
Accommodation and Food
The first hotel - the food was overly salted and we were restricted to choosing food in the morning. Which meant the specials were not available to us. Breakfasts were great - but dinners were poor. Lunches - a roll. Need an overhaul. Corned beef rolls and cheese and coleslaw or processed beef, were not very good.
TEAM WILDERNESS RESPONSE:
Thanks for your feedback Helen, really useful to get and we'll be following up with the hotel directly to discuss ways to improve their food offering. The food part of anyone's holiday experience is as important as the activity they are undertaking and we do aim for this to be a high standard as well. We hope it didn't detract from your overall Wilderness experience and do look forward to seeing you travel with us again.
Your Guide
Craig went over and above every day. Knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the region, history and the wildlife. He is a considerate guide.
The Bottom Line
Excellent trip, excellent guide.
by Jennie Walter 05/06/2017
Pre-Trip Service
Very friendly, nothing too much bother!
Trip Comments
Stunning scenery, amazing wildlife - from otters to seals to sea eagles to mountain hares, dolphins, pine martens..... very lucky - & good guide. It was great to have the badger/ pine Martin hide to ourselves. Great selection of activities - kayaking great - again good guide & RIB on Moray Firth excellent .
Accommodation and Food
First hotel in Strontian unfortunately we felt food & drink very overpriced( but understand it is situated quite remotely & may be hard to get fresh provisions frequently) & although accept it is an old building our room & bathroom were very musty & felt not as clean as could have been.Sorry.
The Dalrachney Lodge at Carrbridge however was excellent & exceeded expectations - warm,friendly,clean,fantastic food.
TEAM WILDERNESS RESPONSE:
Many thanks for you feedback on this Jennie, it's this kind of feedback that allows us to follow up in this situation and see what we can do to work with the accommodation provider and ensure that future clients don't have a similar experience at this accommodation. I'm sorry it didn't live up to the standards we aim for but I'm glad you liked Dalrachney Lodge,it has a certain old worldly charm about don't you think.
Your Guide
Knowledgable,friendly,competent, enthusiastic, hard working. Took interest in all & couldn't do enough to help. Outstanding.
The Bottom Line
An excellent trip. Well organised.Good variety of activities. Fantastic scenery, great guide, good weather and amazing wildlife. Thank you.
Prices and Departures
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2018 Trip Dates
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Trip Details
This wildlife holiday in Scotland is a fresh way to experience the fantastic and diverse wildlife of the Scottish Highlands.
Rather than being a list-ticking trip, it’s designed to be a fun and informative multi-activity trip across the Highlands.
Led by our expert guides, we’ll seek out species such as dolphins, red deer and golden eagles as we explore Scotland’s wild places. And while we will visit a hide or two, most of the wildlife will be encountered as we enjoy activities such as boat trips, walks and even some sea kayaking. All activities will be conducted at an easy pace, so are suitable for everyone to enjoy.
Trip Itinerary
Day 1 – Loch Ness
On the way to Strontian, we stop at Loch Ness and visit Urquhart Castle, the spectacular ruined castle on the banks of the loch. Rumour has it that Nessie resides in a sub-aqua cave beneath the castle, so we’ll keep our eyes peeled and may end this wildlife trip with a sighting of the most elusive creature of all. (D)
Day 2 – Isle of Mull, Eagles and Otters
From our hotel it’s a short transfer to the pier where we jump on the ferry for the 15 minute crossing to the Isle of Mull. We’ll go in search of its famous sea eagles and golden eagles, as well as spending time on the coast looking for otters. Even the ferry journey offers the chance to look for dolphins, whales and basking sharks. (B,L)
Day 3 – Sea Kayaking with Seals
Today, we enjoy sea kayaking in the sheltered waters of the Arisaig skerries. This relaxed day will allow us to enjoy close encounters with seals, and perhaps even otters or porpoises. No experience is needed to enjoy the sea kayaking and you’ll be looked after by suitably qualified, expert guides. (B,L)
Day 4 – RSPB Reserve and Evening Hide Visit
Today we transfer east to the beautiful Cairngorms National Park, where we enjoy an afternoon stop at the RSPB Reserve at Insh Marshes. One of the most important wetlands in Europe, we can look out for many bird species such as lapwing, redshank and curlew. Roe deer can also be seen here. After checking into our hotel and having dinner, we head out for an evening excursion to a wildlife hide. As dusk falls, we hope to see species such as pine marten and badger. (B,L)
Day 5 – Mountain Species of the Cairngorms
Today we explore the wildlife of the Cairngorm mountains. Accessing the mountains from a high level car park at 2000 feet, we enjoy an easy hike into the Northern Corries, where we hope to see Scotland’s only herd of reindeer. We’ll also look out for red deer, mountain hares, ptarmigan and golden eagles – as well as enjoying the spectacular scenery. (B, L)
Day 6 – Dolphins and Dunes
Show-casing the diversity of the Scottish Highlands, a short transfer from our hotel in the mountains takes us to the coast where we hop onto a boat for a dolphin-spotting excursion in the Moray Firth, one of the best places in Scotland to see these playful creatures. Back on dry land, we’ll enjoy a beautiful coastal walk, exploring the sand dunes and nature of this often overlooked coastline. (B, L, D)
Day 7 – Ospreys and Red Squirrels
Leaving the hotel after breakfast we visit a nearby nature reserve where we should be able to see ospreys, red squirrels and a number of other species which inhabit this beautiful and ancient Scots Pine Forest. (B)
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