Isle of Bute

Day 1

Departing home, with a stop on route we will make our way to our overnight hotel the 3* Holiday Inn Preston.

Day 2

After breakfast we depart our overnight hotel and with a stop on route, travel to Wemyss Bay from where we take the ferry to Rothesay, arriving at the 3* Glenburn Hotel in time for dinner.

Day 3

This morning we visit the neo-gothic Mount Stuart House and Gardens, one of the most technologically advanced houses of its age, set in 300 acres of landscaped gardens, woodland and coast. In the afternoon, we enjoy a scenic tour of the island before we arrive back in Rothesay to spend the rest of the afternoon at leisure.

Day 4

This morning, we journey to the mainland from Rothesay to Wemyss Bay by ferry and then make our way to Glasgow. You have the morning at leisure in the city, in the afternoon, we visit Mackintosh at the Willow for an afternoon tea and entrance to the exhibition. Re-opened to the public in 2018 after an extensive restoration, the original Willow Tea Rooms building was initially opened by Miss Cranston and designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1903.

Day 5

This morning, we take a ferry from Rhubodach to Colintraive before traveling along the shores of the tranquil Loch Fyne to the ancestral seat of the chiefs of Clan Campbell, Inveraray Castle & Gardens, where we enjoy a guided tour around one of Scotland's finest stately homes. After free time for lunch in the tea room, we journey south to Crarae Garden. This exotic splash of wilderness is a Himalayan-style glen, set in the gentle hills of Argyll. The sparkling waters of the Crarae Burn form the centrepiece for a woody paradise of rocky gorges, wooden bridges and thickets of maple, birch and evergreens, blending with sprays of flowers. We then head back to the "wee ferry" at Colintraive, where we catch our return ferry to Rhubodach.

Day 6

After breakfast, we catch our ferry back to Wemyss Bay and make our way to our overnight hotel the 4* Crowne Plaza Harrogate.

Day 7

Enjoy the time in Harrogate before making our way south arriving home mid-afternoon.

D=Dinner, B=Breakfast