DAY 04: ST ANDREWS
Today you venture out to the rough and rugged grandeur of the famous Scottish Highlands, ready to encounter beautiful sights, enchanting buildings, and some of the most famous Scotch whisky distilleries in the country. Your tour begins at Dunkeld, a quaint and charming village that is one of the most complete of Scotland’s 18th-century country towns, where you’ll find a darling main street of pubs, shops and restaurants, as well as a gorgeous cathedral that boasts some of the most incredible stained-glass windows in the country.
After spending some time in this delightful village, you’ll marvel at the elegant turrets, beautiful white walls and fascinating façade of Blair Castle, which has been the ancestral home of the powerful Clan Murray for centuries. The castle is home to fantastic works of art and truly decadent furnishings; the grounds and gardens surrounding the castle are some of the finest in the country.
Your final stop on your Highland excursion is to the banks of the River Spey, where there are more single malt distilleries than any other region in the world. You can discover the production techniques of a farmhouse-sized distillery at The Edradour, purported to be the smallest distillery in the country, or climb the nearby mountains to visit The Dalwhinnie Distillery, one of the highest distilleries in Scotland at more than 1,000 feet above sea level. You can also visit some of the larger and more famous whisky makers of the region, from the many elegant offerings at The Macallan to the singular experience of filling your own bottle of single malt straight from the cast at The Glenlivet, the most popular brand of Scotch in the world. Overnight in St. Andrews