Scotland Expeditions Aboard Lord of the Glens

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Through the beating heart of Scotland

Grand castles, lyrical moorlands, mysterious lochs, sacred abbeys, and sweeping mountains. From the long traditions of Scotland’s clans and monarchs to Bonnie Prince Charlie’s famed rebellions, the romance and intrigue of Scotland’s countryside and traditions speak to all of us. Our ship, Lord of the Glens, is uniquely sized to transit the Caledonian Canal, which cuts through the heart of the Highlands, plus venture into the sea for a coastal exploration—offering the rare experience of a single expedition to the myth and mystery at the heart of the highlands as well as to wild, seldom-visited outlying islands.

NOTE: For expeditions departing April 2024 onward, Day 1 of our itineraries will no longer reflect “departure from the U.S.” and will reflect “arrival to the city” where your expedition begins. Durations of expeditions will remain unchanged. More details.

Scotland aboard Lord of the Glens

Special Ships

Scotland's Highlands and Islands

Duration

9 days

May
Jun
Jul
Aug

From

$10,393

Prices are per person

Highlights

Scotland aboard Lord of the Glens

Special Ships

Scotland's Highlands and Islands

Duration

9 days

May
Jun
Jul
Aug

From

$10,393

Top Highlights

Sail the Caledonian Canal, which bisects the country, plus explore the beautiful outlying islands of the Inner Hebrides
Kayak Loch Linnhe, see the storied battlefield of Culloden, beautiful Glenfinnan, the historic Isle of Iona, and the isles of Mull, Eigg, and Skye
Travel to hauntingly beautiful moorlands, grand castles, sacred abbeys, and sweeping mountains
Wave to the locals who turn out to watch Lord of the Glens descend Neptune's Staircase, a set of eight interconnected locks that the ship is perfectly sized to squeeze into

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Expedition Highlights

Discover secluded villages, ancient sites, verdant landscapes, and engaging people for an intimate perspective on Scottish life, past and present. Trace history through the Highlands in the footsteps of saints and clan leaders. Stand among ancient monuments and feel the shroud of Scotland's culture and history hang about the experience, the way the fog clings to the hauntingly beautiful moorlands. This is a land of ancient rituals, long-ruling clans, and royal graveyards full of monarchs. Explore Scotland and experience the country, continuously inhabited for some six thousand years.

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Life On Board

Traveling through Scotland’s breathtaking countryside with its endless vistas and rare beauty gives you a spiritual lift. To compound this healthful effect, we add the luxury of comfort to the privilege of being there—with a quality of shipboard life and a philosophy of wellness designed to relax and rejuvenate body, mind, and spirit during your travels in Scotland.

Ready for the adventure of a lifetime?

1.800.397.3348

1.800.397.3348

5 Things You Didn't Know: Scotland & the Inner Hebrides

Scotland comprises nearly 800 small islands, and around every bend are magnificent ruins, serene lochs, medieval monuments, and enchanting wildlife. Here are a few facts about this bonnie land that just might surprise you.

Surprising Scottish Wildlife with Naturalist Ella Potts

If you know where to look, there’s an abundance of fascinating species to spot in Scotland. To shed light on Caledonia’s unknown wildlife lexicon, we called on naturalist Ella Potts who has lived and worked in the Hebrides for a decade and is very familiar with its incredible wildlife.

Into the Heart of Scotland: Lochs, Lakes & Ancient History

National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson is truly mad about Scotland. Here, he shares some of his favorite highlights from traveling aboard the intimate Lord of the Glens.

Traversing Scotland's Caledonian Canal

Once built as a safer wartime route for the British Royal Navy as well as for bustling passenger ships, the Caledonian Canal now accommodates only smaller vessels since many more modernly built ships have outgrown it. Lord of the Glens is currently the largest ship to transit the locks.

Discover

Discover Scotland

Expedition Leader

Sail with a veteran expedition leader—the orchestrators of your experience. Many have advanced degrees and have conducted research or taught for years. They have achieved expedition leader status because they possess the skills, experience, and the depth of knowledge necessary to continually craft the best expedition possible for our guests.

Naturalist/Certified Photo Instructor

Our naturalists, passionate about the geographies they explore (and return to regularly), illuminate each facet through their enthusiasm and knowledge. Our guests consistently cite the expertise and engaging company of our staff as key reasons to repeatedly travel with us.

Historian

Our historians will share the stories, tumults, and triumphs of the people and places we explore. Their colorful personalities and passion for history, from the minutiae to the big picture, make them engaging travel tour guides and companions.

Absolutely everything was excellent. Staff, crew, naturalist, photographer, and expedition leader. I learned a lot about my family's history.

Jill L.

1.800.397.3348

Daily Expedition Reports

Daily Expedition Reports

9/3/2023

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Lord of the Glens

Caledonian Canal, Loch Ness and Culloden, Scotland

Fort Augustus presented a charming backdrop as we prepared to descend the flight of five locks down to the entrance to Loch Lomond. Everyone watched from the deck, fascinated as the lock-keepers operated the hydraulic gates while Captain Tony and his crew maneuvered the ship delicately from lock to lock. Once at the bottom, traffic on the public road came to a halt, the swing bridge opened, and we made our stately progress out into the open waters of the loch. At twenty-three miles long and over 1000 feet deep, Loch Lomond holds an enormous volume of water which belies its relatively narrow breadth. Halfway along, Urquhart Castle came into view; this magnificent ruined fortress is strategically placed to dominate the region. On an ancient site, the present walls date from about 1320, and were destroyed during the Jacobite uprising of 1691. The final stages of Thomas Telford’s Caledonian Canal glided peacefully by, and we arrived at the top of the Muirtown flight of locks at Inverness. Then it was on to the bus to explore the sights of the area. The ill-fated Jacobite rebellions came to their climax in April 1746 at the battle of Culloden, when the weary highlanders were overwhelmed by the superior government forces; the impressive museum at Culloden presented this story with compelling effect. In bright sunshine we strolled around the site of the battle, imagining the highland charge and the answering report of the Hanoverian guns. A group of Highland cows were on hand to pose for photographs; their function at Culloden is to conserve the landscape with their judicious grazing. Finally we visited the Clava Cairns, a remarkable set of well-preserved early Bronze Age monuments dating from about 4,000 years ago. These subtle and complex stone structures are focused on the midwinter solstice; prehistoric farming communities erected them as a ritual expression of their beliefs about ancestors, life, and death. Our evening, and indeed our entire voyage, was rounded off after dinner with a delightful performance by the young students of the Elizabeth Fraser School of Highland Dancing. It was a fitting finale to our exploration of Scotland on board Lord of the Glens.

Daily Expedition Reports

9/2/2023

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Lord of the Glens

Caledonian Canal and Fort Augustus

From an overnight stop at Corpach, today the Lord of the Glens commenced its transit from south to north, through the Caledonian Canal. This protected waterway is an engineering marvel of the early 19th century, constructed under the supervision of Scottish engineer Thomas Telford. The canal connects the west and east coasts of Scotland via the geological fault line known as the Great Glen, thus enabling ships to avoid rounding the treacherous north coast. A series of locks allowed the Lord of the Glens to safely defy gravity as we sailed “uphill,” against the flow of water as it drops from the terrain’s high point. In the afternoon many guests disembarked at Kytra lock to walk the last part of today’s journey to the dock at Fort Augustus. There was also plenty of time for guests to enjoy this charming town at the southern end of Loch Ness.

Daily Expedition Reports

9/1/2023

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Lord of the Glens

Oban and West Coast Scotland

It was 6:15 a.m.; the lights of Oban harbor were twinkling and the town still sleeping as we met for our early morning hikes in the gathering morning light. Some walked along the shoreline to a lighthouse. Others took the steep uphill route to McCaig’s Tower to drink in the view of Oban with its fishing boats, ferries, yachts, and all the islands beyond. Back on board we were ready to cast off, sailing in beautiful weather between the mainland and the islands of Kerrera, Lismore, and Shuna, along the length of Loch Linnhe. Past the Corran Narrows, protected by a Stevenson lighthouse, past the town of Fort William, and finally to the entrance of the famous Caledonian Canal. Everyone was out on deck to witness the delicate maneuvering by Captain Tony and his crew as our good-sized ship, the Lord of the Glens , lined up to fit neatly into the first lock. The basin at Corpach is a lovely spot, with views over the sea and hills, dominated by the towering of Ben Nevis — at 4,411 feet, the highest mountain in the U.K. Following lunch the afternoon was ours to explore. One group had the great pleasure of kayaking in perfect conditions in the waters of Loch Eil. The rest of us went by bus to Glenfinnan, famous originally as the place where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard in 1745, thus beginning the last, ill-fated Jacobite rebellion. Its popularity today, however, surrounds the steam train that runs from Fort William to Mallaig, made famous by its role in the Harry Potter movies. On schedule, the train came puffing across the viaduct that spans the deep glen at Glenfinnan, 100 feet above the river. The elegant viaduct comprises twenty-one arches, each fifty feet wide and constructed of mass concrete, and was completed in 1897. In the evening we enjoyed the company of Alastair, the manager of Glenfinnan Estate, who fascinated us with stories of deerstalking, forestry, and life in this part of Scotland.

Daily Expedition Reports

8/31/2023

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Lord of the Glens

Islands of Iona and Mull

We sailed early this morning from Tobermory to the port at Craignure, eastward along the island of Mull. We took a scenic bus ride along a narrow and winding road to the small village of Fionnphort; there we caught the ferry to the historic and spiritual island of Iona. The weather gods were thankfully on our side, and we enjoyed beautiful sunny conditions while exploring the nunnery and famous 13th-century abbey. The island has a rich archeological landscape for photography, and our local guide informed us about Iona’s role as the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland. In the afternoon we retraced our ferry and bus journey to visit the seat of the MacLean Clan at Duart Castle; it dates to the 13th century and has been progressively renovated and restored since 1912.

Daily Expedition Reports

8/30/2023

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Lord of the Glens

Inverie and Tobermory, Scotland

Morning found us docked in Loch Nevis, at the tiny remote village of Inverie. No one chose to join expedition leader Jess and hotel manager Ciaran for a pre-breakfast dip in the bracing salt water, but there was plenty of enthusiasm for exploring the area on foot with a choice of uphill or shoreside walks. We passed the famous Old Forge Inn, the post office, a row of colorful cottages, and an old church on our way into the lush temperate rainforest that is so characteristic of Scotland’s west coast. Along the way were also some friendly Highland ponies (kept for deerstalking in the hills), the “Long Beach” shimmering with cockle and mussel shells, and beautiful views of the Lord of the Glens under a rainbow. Bidding farewell to this friendly isolated community, we sailed out of the sheltered sea loch and headed south. We passed the island of Rum with its rugged mountainous profile, Eigg and its formidable pitchstone peak, and little Muck, admiring how the dramatic geology of each island glowed in the sunlight. Seabirds we observed in the area included a large raft of black guillemots feeding on the water; we were also rewarded with a sighting of dolphins frolicking among the whitecaps. Soon the Ardnamurchan peninsula came into view. This westernmost point of the British mainland features a thirty-five-meter-high automated lighthouse; it was designed by Alan Stevenson, uncle of author Robert Louis Stevenson, and was built in 1849. Under pleasant sunshine we turned into the Sound of Mull, lively with yachts and ferries plying back and forth, and into Tobermory Bay. Some guests ventured off to explore the town’s brightly painted shops and houses. Others joined Seomas for a geological walk investigating the island’s volcanic history, as preserved in the basalt and granitic rocks leading to the Rubha Nan Gall lighthouse. This building is another Stevenson engineering project (1857), and like all lighthouses in Scotland it is now automated. This busy day continued with a visit to the Tobermory Distillery, where we learned about the traditional whisky production process and tasted some of their single-malts: a twelve-year-old “Tobermory” and the peaty “Ledaig.” After dinner our program concluded with a fascinating presentation from Caroline, of the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, about the cetaceans that live in these waters and their important work to protect and conserve them.

Scotland is a land of grand castles, beautiful moorlands, sacred abbeys, and sweeping mountains, and our unique ship—sized to sail a canal through the Highlands and able to venture to wild coastal islands—lets you see it as few can.

Sven-Olof Lindblad

1.800.397.3348

1.800.397.3348

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Scotland aboard Lord of the Glens

Scotland 2023

Aboard Lord of the Glens | 2023 Voyages

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