There is no better way to discover Scotland than on foot. The slow pace lends itself to exploration and lets you experience our beautiful country at its best, finding hidden treasures undiscovered by most visitors.
Our educational hiking adventures and study hiking trips will take your groups to quiet, remote corners that can only be reached on foot, enabling them to enjoy the solitude of Scotland's secret places.
With About Argyll Walking Holidays your travelers can discover more about the history and culture, nature and landscape of what is one of the world's most excitingly varied small countries, all the while enjoying the sheer pleasure of being in the open air.
Much of what is best to see in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland – and certainly much of what is most tranquil and beautiful – is best seen on foot. In many countries, that can be a real problem because of privacy restrictions... but not in Scotland. Access legislation, building on centuries old Highland traditions of freedom to roam, has established in law the right of open access to all uncultivated land (i.e. most of the Highlands). Since this law is grounded in the culture of Scotland, it works very well, and you can be sure that your group will not face arrest for walking in our wild places!
We take full advantage of this right to roam for our bespoke educational hiking trips, customised to your requirements. Tours for up to 18 people, for up to two weeks, and can be drawn up for anywhere in Scotland. Our guides have wide experience of working in all parts of the country.
In Scotland you are never far from the past. Our history themed walking tours will give an insight into the daily lives of people from the earliest Mesolithic hunters to those who helped shape events of the 18th and 19th centuries. These people left an amazing wealth of archaeological sites: houses, tombs, stone circles and standing stones dating back 5,000 years share the landscape with Bronze Age cemeteries, 2,000 year old brochs, Viking ruins, medieval churches, castles. Evidence of the more recent history lies in imposing castles, chapels, abbeys and the humble, now-deserted townships of ordinary country folk whose descendants are scattered across the English-speaking world.
Examples:
It has taken almost 3000 million years and a journey across the globe on the Earth's tectonic plates all the way from the South Pole to present day Europe for Scotland to look the way it does now. It has been a desert, a tropical swamp, a volcanic landscape, an ocean floor and has also witnessed several ice ages.
The scenery of Scotland stems from the wonderfully varied mixture of rock types and ages which has resulted from this movement. Scotland consists largely of five separate and geologically distinct parts. These areas are separated by large faults or breaks in the Earth’s crust. Most of these can still be identified in the landscape. No other country of similar size has anything to compare with it, nor has played a more important part in the development of the Earth sciences. The work of pioneering geologists in Scotland is reflected in the use of many Scottish names for important rock types and features.
Examples:
During a literary hiking trip we'll walk in the footsteps of writers, follow their stories and we will explore Scotland through their eyes, leading to a better understanding of Scotland and its history and culture.
Example:
The general interest itineraries will give your group the opportunity to enjoy the history, wildlife and geology of Scotland, the solitude of secret places, and the pure pleasure of walking.
Example:
We have detailed itineraries with the day-by-day programme available of all these tours. Please contact Frieda at frieda@aboutargyll.uk and we will email them to you.
Other themes are possible, such as natural history or culture. If you have specific suggestions that you would like to put to us, please get in touch and we will draw up a detailed itinerary in close consultation with you. This can include non-hiking visits to places of interest.
Download our Tailor-made Hiking Tours brochure
