Skip to Main Content
Road Scholar logo
The stone ruins of St Andrew's Cathedral in Scotland, with a graveyard on a green lawn overlooking the sea under a blue, partly cloudy sky.
Scotland

Exploring Scotland’s East Coast: Borders to Balmoral

Program No. 25607RJ
See More Photos
Itinerary
While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of our published materials, programs are typically advertised more than a year prior to their start date. Read More.
While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of our published materials, programs are typically advertised more than a year prior to their start date. As a result, some program activities, schedules, accommodations, personnel, and other logistics occasionally change due to local conditions or circumstances. Should a major change occur, we will make every effort to alert you. For less significant changes, we will update you during orientation. Thank you for your understanding.
Duration
13 days
12 nights
What's Included
27 meals ( 11B, 5L, 11D )
1 expert-led lecture
19 expert-led field trips
An experienced Group Leader
Taxes and customary gratuity
Road Scholar Assurance Plan
Expand All
Activity Note
Hotel check-in from 3:00 p.m.
Afternoon:
Orientation: The Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer questions. This program is staffed with both a Group Leader, who will accompany us throughout the program and deal primarily with logistics, and a Study Leader who will lecture, conduct field trips and serve as an information resource on program-related topics. Periods in the schedule designated as “Free time” and “At leisure” offer opportunities to do what you like and make your experience even more meaningful and memorable according to your personal preferences. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions. Program activities, schedules, personnel, and indicated distances or times may change due to local circumstances/conditions. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding.
Dinner:
At the hotel.
Evening:
Free Evening.
Activity Note
Getting on/off a motorcoach; driving about 2 miles, approximately 1.5 hours. Walking approximately 2.5 miles, periods of standing; paved streets, cobbled areas, hilly, steep terrain. Some steep cobbled areas at Edinburgh Castle; steps with handrails to vaults and One o’Clock Gun; Royal Apartments, David’s Tower, and prisons accessible only by steps.
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
This morning starts with a lecture on the political and cultural differences between East and West Scotland since early history. We’ll then board a motorcoach and set out on a field trip through Scotland’s most famed city, including the winding cobbled streets of the Old Town, the Georgian rigor of the New Town — perhaps a model for the grid layout of American cities — and the Royal Mile. We’ll continue our field trip at the great bastion of Edinburgh Castle to discover its rich and varied history, as turbulent as it is long. The rock upon which the castle is built was fortified in the Iron Age. The oldest remaining section, St. Margaret’s Chapel, dates from the 12th century and is the oldest building in the city. Among the castle’s treasures are the Scottish regalia (crown jewels), also known as the Honours of Scotland.
Lunch:
Lunch is excluded today.
Afternoon:
Free time to explore the city.
Dinner:
At the hotel.
Evening:
At leisure.
Activity Note
Getting on/off a motorcoach; driving about 95 miles, approximately 3.5 hours. Walking approximately 2 miles, periods of standing; varied terrain including paved streets, gravel paths, uneven grassy areas; Extent of walking and other activities according to personal choice.
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
This morning we'll set out towards Melrose Abbey. Founded as Scotland’s first Cistercian monastery in 1136. Being so close to the border, Melrose Abbey suffered at English hands during the Middle Ages and was rebuilt in the 1380s. It was used as an abbey until the Protestant Reformation of 1560. From the Abbey we'll walk to the Trimontium Museum that celebrates the largest Roman Fort north of Hadrian's Wall. We’ll then travel to Abbotsford House.
Lunch:
At a local restaurant.
Afternoon:
Abbotsford House. Standing on the banks of the River Tweed, Abbotsford was Sir Walter Scott’s creation and home until his death in 1832. We will spend time visiting the historic house and remarkable gardens before returning to our hotel.
Dinner:
At the hotel.
Evening:
At leisure.
Activity Note
Getting on/off a motorcoach; driving about 65 miles, approximately 2.5 hours. Walking approximately 3 miles, periods of standing. Paved and gravel paths, some uneven grassy areas;
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
We will board our motorcoach towards our first stop of Haddington where we will have a guided walk an introduction to "burghs" and the Reformation. We will then go to explore the history of the Scottish Flag before we transfer to the Museum of Flight at East Fortune airfield. Located on the site of the UK’s best preserved Second World War airfield and with a collection of over 50 aircraft, the museum is a rich learning environment to find out about the World Wars, science and technology.
Lunch:
At a local restaurant.
Afternoon:
We will continue by motorcoach past Tantallon Castle, a ruin set on the edge of the cliffs, looking out to the Bass Rock, this was a formidable castle and stronghold. Our final visit of the day before returning to our hotel is the Scottish Seabird Center a marine conservation and education charity with an award-winning visitor center, in the beautiful coastal town of North Berwick.
Dinner:
At a local restaurant.
Evening:
After returning to the hotel by motorcoach, the remainder of the evening is at leisure.
Activity Note
Getting on/off a motorcoach; driving about 78 miles, approximately 3 hours. Walking about 2 miles, periods of standing; varied terrain including paved streets, some cobbled areas, gravel paths, uneven grassy areas.
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
Our first stop of the day is at the Bridges Viewpoint a World Heritage Site. We then progress along coastal Fife before turning inland to the town of Falkland. A short walk takes up past the palace, lived in and visited by many of the Stewart monarchs (Mary Queen of Scots loved it). At Anstruther the Fisheries Museum provides an in-depth look at the history of fishing so integral to a country surrounded by water on three sides.
Lunch:
At a local restaurant.
Afternoon:
This afternoon starts with an instructor led short walk of the town's harbor before travelling to the Kingsbarn Distillery via East Newhall Farm for a fascinating insight into Scotland's whisky making heritage. Kingsbarn also houses Darnley's Gin Cottage on the 18th Century farm. We will then continue on to our hotel in Dundee.
Dinner:
At the hotel.
Evening:
At leisure.
Activity Note
Getting on/off a motorcoach; driving about 30 miles, approximately 1 hour. Walking about 2 miles, periods of standing. City side walks, some uneven terrain and grass lawns. Extent of walking and other activities in St. Andrews according to personal choice.
Breakfast:
At the hotel. .
Morning:
We’ll board the motorcoach to St. Andrews, home of the oldest University in Scotland dating back to the 15th Century. Here we'll see the cathedral, Scotland's largest medieval church; learn about the Bishop's home and the conflicts leading up to the Protestant Reformation in 1560.
Lunch:
Lunch is excluded
Afternoon:
This afternoon is free to further explore St. Andrews. Maybe visit the St. Andrews Museum, a Victorian Mansion displaying aspects of local history through art and artefacts. Or maybe visit St. Andrews Old Course the home of golf, where the game has been played since the 15th Century. We will then return to our hotel by motorcoach.
Dinner:
At the hotel.
Evening:
This evening is at leisure.
Activity Note
Getting on/off a motorcoach; driving about 70 miles, approximately 2.5 hours. Walking about 1.5 miles, periods of standing; varied terrain including paved streets, some cobbled areas, uneven grassy areas, woodland, gravel, and grass paths.
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
This morning we'll have a guided walking tour of the waterfront with our Instructor with visits to the Victoria and Albert Museum and RRS Discovery. This Royal research ship from the shipyards of Dundee was Captain Scott's ship for the 1901 Antarctic expedition.
Lunch:
Excluded lunch.
Afternoon:
This afternoon we'll depart Dundee for Aberdeen. On the way we'll visit the Aberlemno Pictish Stones. Four stones with carvings dating between 500 and 800 CE. We will then continue to the "once seen, never forgotten" Dunnottar Castle to view the massive defensive structure, perched atop a rock face surrounded on three sides by the North Sea, once an impregnable fortress. We'll learn about the Hogmanay Fireballs Festival and its meaning before continuing to Aberdeen.
Dinner:
At the hotel.
Evening:
At leisure.
Activity Note
Getting on/off a motorcoach; driving about 155 miles, approximately 4 hours riding time. Walking approximately 1 mile with generally level terrain. Possible grassy areas around ruined cathedral.
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
We'll take the motorcoach where the agricultural land of Moray gives way to the fishing villages of the north coast. On arrival into Elgin we will view the ruins of the cathedral and learn the history of its chequered career. We will then see the process of creating cashmere and other wool products from their raw materials.
Lunch:
Excluded.
Afternoon:
We will leave Elgin to travel to Speyside for a visit to a highland whisky distillery before we head back to Aberdeen via the rugged terrain and agricultural landscape.
Dinner:
At the hotel.
Evening:
At leisure.
Activity Note
Getting on/off a motorcoach; driving about 120 miles, approximately 3.5 hours. Walking up to 1.5 miles on well paved surfaces, some lawns and gravel paths.
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
The first stop of the day is Ballater to visit the railway station exhibition. More members of European royalty passed through this station than any other station in Europe. We too are on our way to Balmoral Castle. This is the private home of the British royal family since Queen Victoria. Inside the castle there is access to the ballroom only and visitors can explore the gardens. Braemar Castle five miles along the road is an interesting building and in the village of Braemar there is a short walk to the site of Braemar Highland Gathering.
Lunch:
At a local restaurant.
Afternoon:
After lunch the route south is through the wild scenery of the Grampian Mountains in the Cairngorm National Park through Blairgowrie and Dunkeld to our hotel in Crieff.
Dinner:
At the hotel.
Evening:
At leisure.
Activity Note
Getting on/off a motorcoach; driving about 80 miles, approximately 3 hours. Walking about 2 miles, periods of standing; varied terrain including gravel paths, grass lawns, paved streets.
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
We'll start our visit through The Trossachs with a stop at Lochearnhead situated on Loch Earn edged by mountains. Evidence indicates that there have been dwellings here for the past two thousand years. We will then continue to the bustling town of Callander before arriving at Aberfoyle. Aberfoyle is a charming village with a long history. We may have the opportunity at some times of the year to witness Duck Herding.
Lunch:
At a local restaurant.
Afternoon:
This afternoon we'll return to our hotel, but will stop at Doune Castle en route. A medieval castle, so evocative that it has been used for various films and television programs including Oulander, Game of Thrones and even Monty Python's Holy Grail.
Dinner:
At the hotel.
Evening:
At leisure.
Activity Note
Getting on/off a motorcoach; driving about 65 miles, approximately 2.5 hours riding time. Walking approximately 1 mile with generally level terrain. Possible grassy areas.
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
We’ll board a motorcoach and begin a full-day transfer to Edinburgh. Our first visit will be to Stirling Castle followed by a short walk in Stirling. Stirling occupies a vital position in Scottish history because of its location. It is central to the wars of Independence of the late 13th century and early 14th century. After this we will continue on to the Falkirk Wheel.
Lunch:
Excluded
Afternoon:
We'll explore the Falkirk Wheel, the World's only rotating boat lift connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. A marvel of engineering built in 2002. We continue our drive towards Edinburgh with a stop at the Kelpies, two monumental steel horse head structures. Kelpies are mythical water-horses.
Dinner:
At the hotel.
Evening:
At leisure.
Activity Note
Hotel check-out by 11:00 a.m.
Breakfast:
At the hotel.
Morning:
If you are returning home, safe travels. If you are staying on independently, have a wonderful time. If you are transferring to another Road Scholar program, detailed instructions are included in your Information Packet for that program. We hope you enjoy Road Scholar learning adventures and look forward to having you on another rewarding program in the future. Don’t forget to join our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram. Best wishes for all your journeys!
Please select a day to update the map
Map details are not available for this location.
Please Note: This program has itinerary variations on certain dates.
Apr 20, 2027 - May 02, 2027
May 11, 2027 - May 23, 2027
Jun 08, 2027 - Jun 20, 2027
Aug 10, 2027 - Aug 22, 2027
Sep 07, 2027 - Sep 19, 2027
Oct 12, 2027 - Oct 24, 2027