Welcome to Wilderness

Wilderness Scotland was founded in 2001. Our first trip was a walking tour in Knoydart, a remote peninsula on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands. Other firsts included our inaugural cycling and sea kayaking adventures.

Princess Anne opened the Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park on 24th July 2002, Scotland’s first national park.

Stevie Christie joined Wilderness Scotland in July 2003. He’s held various roles over the years and today is Co-founder and Managing Director of the Wilderness Group.

The Cairngorms National Park opened in Scotland in September 2003, and it is the largest national park in the UK.

Wilderness Scotland has held a Gold Award from the Green Tourism Business Scheme since 2006.

In 2007, Wilderness Scotland won World’s Leading Green Tour Operator at the prestigious World Travel Awards in 2007. We won again in 2014.

In the same year, we won ‘Investing in the Environment’ at the Highland and Islands Tourism Awards. By 2026, we have won a total of seven HITA awards to date.

In 2008, Wilderness Scotland won ‘Operator Programme of the Year’ at the VisitScotland Scottish Thistle Awards. By 2026, we have won five of these prestigious national awards, including the Climate Action Award in 2023.

National Geographic Adventure magazine named Wilderness Scotland the No. 1 Adventure Travel Company in Europe in 2009.

Wilderness Scotland launched the Wilderness Conservation & Community Fund in 2010. The initiative allows our travellers to give back to those environments and communities which are at the heart of our adventurous experiences in wild places. In 16 years, we have raised over £125,000.

In the same year, the South Downs National Park was established as England’s newest national park.

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In 2011, Wilderness Scotland relocated its office from our original home in Edinburgh to the heart of the Cairngorms National Park.

The Wilderness team expanded in 2013 with the launch of Wilderness Ireland, offering an inspiring range of small group adventure tours in the Emerald Isle. The first Wilderness Ireland trips ran the following year.

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Two new long distance trails were launched across the UK and Ireland in 2014.

Launched in February, the Wild Atlantic Way tourism trail runs 1,553 miles/2,500 km along the rugged west coast of Ireland.

The John Muir Way opened on 21st April 2014 to commemorate both the death and centenary of the birth of Scottish-born conservationist John Muir (1838-1914). The route stretches 134 miles/217 km across the central belt in Scotland.

In 2018, the Wilderness Scotland team moved to a custom, Net Zero building in Aviemore within the Cairngorms National Park, where we remain today.

In the same year, Wilderness Scotland ranked 8th in the Great Place to Work UK Best Workplaces (Small Category) 2018 and 1st in the Best Workplace for Women category. We ranked 6th in the UK Best Workplaces (Small Organisations) in 2020.

In 2020, the Wilderness Group was one of the founding signatories to Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency, acknowledging that tourism contributes to the global climate emergency and committing to being part of the solution.

Wilderness England was founded in 2020 and offers small group tours and bespoke private travel across England and Wales. The first Wilderness England trip ran in 2021.

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The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) was held in Glasgow. Co-founder of the Wilderness Group, Paul Easto, speaks at the Destination Net Zero event hosted by VisitScotland and Net Zero Scotland.

The Wilderness Group signed the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism in 2021, in which we committed to targeting a 90% reduction in carbon emissions and achieving True Net Zero by 2030.

Following our commitments at COP26, the Wilderness Group worked with the eCollective to launch accurate carbon labelling figures on our trips in 2022. We were one of the first travel companies in the world to make this data publicly available. We also added the first electric vehicles to our fleet.

Wilderness England moved its office to Kirkby Lonsdale, a historic market town nestled between the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Lake District National Park in northern England.

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Following their success as an optional addition to our road cycling tours, the first E-bike only trip for Wilderness Scotland set off in the Outer Hebrides in 2024.

Across the Irish Sea, Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara, Ciarraí, opened in 2024 as Ireland’s first marine National Park, located off the coast of Kerry.

Expanding our ways to explore the UK and Ireland, we launched our Culture & Heritage trips, blending history, heritage and nature. The first two are with Wilderness Ireland: Legends of Northern Ireland and Kingdom of Kerry.

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In 2025, MV Luxury Travel joined the Wilderness Group, offering tailored private tours across the UK and Ireland, with its base in Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city.

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Wilderness celebrates 25 years of inspiring adventures across the UK and Ireland in 2026.

On the 19th March 2026, the King Charles III England Coast Path opened as the world’s longest managed coastal path, extending 2,689 miles/4,328 km along the coastline of England.