March 2024 by Warren Bushart
We used Secret Scotland to plan a self driving trip though Scotland. The process was painless. Mike was so accommodating in taking our ideas and creating a plan that worked for us. The B an B s that were reccomended were all top quality. We're currently hitting a few other bucket list places to travel but when we go back to Scotland, and we will, we will definitely use Secrect Scotland again for trip planning.
October 2023 by Henry Stone
If you are thinking of going to Scotland, where to go, how long will it take, where to stay, where to eat, what ferry's to take, etc, etc, then look no further than contacting Mike and Aury. They provide every detail including choice of routes with detours to suggested attractions. My advice to everyone is to switch off their sat navs and follow one of the suggested detailed routes otherwise you will miss 80% of what there is to see! Once Mike and Aury understand your likes and dislikes such as walking, golfing, eating, places of interest and visiting distilleries, then leave the rest to them.Most people think they can organise trips like this themselves today on-line but the level of detail they provide would have taken me years to collate. The only problem is that they are too cheap for the service provided!Thank you Mike and Aury for providing us with the most enjoyable 15 days in Scotland and even organising excellent weather!Just used Mike & Aury for the 2nd time to plan a trip on the Whiskey Trail in November. So much information supplied on where to go, route to take, places to eat, where to stay length of journey and distilleries to visit. Great attention to detail that made organising everything easy. Now just looking forward to going. Thanks again guys
October 2023 by S L
Secret Scotland is a MUST if you plan on seeing the Country on your own---and you won't be with these folks...it feels like they are travelling with you! My only regret is not leaving this review sooner as we went to Scotland in 2022...although part of me wants to keep is as our little secret! We are planning another trip back for next year, of course using one of the tours from Secret Scotland. The wealth of information and knowledge, (that is also both money and time-saving) will pay for itself over and over, and we saw things we definitely would have missed without the tour resources. We also met another couple who were using the same tour as we were, and it was so fun to run into them throughout our trip! If you love culture and history then this is for you--we learned so much about each place that I wish we would have had months to explore. I recommend Secret Scotland to everyone I talk to who is planning a trip. I have even sent the link to the website to complete strangers! I am so grateful to Mike and Aury and wish them all the best for a long and fruitful business!
October 2023 by Lisa MacLeod
The itinerary and answers to my multiple questions from this family-run tour service was the best thing I could have done to plan our 2 week trip-of-a-lifetime to Scotland.When I married my MacLeod 42 years ago I vowed that we would go to Scotland to see where his family line had come from and we finally did it. We started in Glasgow (1 night only), then drove through the Glen Coe area, up to Skye, out to the Outer Hebrides (family croft remains at Achmore), back to mainland via Ullapool and Inverness to Grantown-on-Spey, 1 night in St. Andrews, ending in Edinburgh for 2 nights. Their itinerary was worth every penny for the suggested places to eat, detours to take for beautiful vistas (will do more of that the next time too!) and most especially places to stay. I used their suggested B&B's rather extensively and was very happy with all my choices. I will say that per their feedback when I reached out for any updates SS did point out that many accommodations had closed during COVID and they were right - many of the websites were inactive and some had posted their sorrow at closing.We also used our phones for GPS and the SS road directions were spot on. Also very helpful when we ran into a few places with spotty service (military roads in Cairngorms).We probably could have benefitted from a heads up about exactly how a single track road works - we learned that using a right side pull over space thinking we were being nice just caused annoyance :).We used Arnold Clark for our car rental and can't say enough good things about them too - thanks for the discount code.Again I can't thank Secret Scotland enough for helping me take this very long awaited trip. I will be recommending your service forever.
September 2023 by Steve Gentry
Do NOT do a tour of Scotland without purchasing this program. It made our tour of Scotland a thousand times better! We saw places off the beaten path that we never would have found on our own. The small price charged will be returned a hundred times over in the memories made. We printed out the entire file for reference and reviewed it every night to decide what we wanted to see. It doesn't limit you to a standard trip but gives options based on what your preferences are. If you truly want to see Scotland, this is a must.
July 2023 by Michelle Gingrich
Mike made a custom itinerary for our May trip to Scotland, it contained perfect directions that we used with our GPS. It was packed with so many different options of things to see that we could take the same tour again and see all different things. It was wonderful to be able to choose what we wanted to see and there were many stops/sites that I did not discover on a google search. The helpful tips about restaurants and hotels, made sure that we had reservations at fantastic restaurants and on the ferries! The itinerary included hotels and BnBs, we personally enjoy small hotels and everywhere we stayed was perfect. I can't recommend this service enough, it is a must have for making the most of a trip around Scotland.
June 2023 by Nathan Raabe
Two week trip is a wrap and we are very thankful for Secret Scotland's insanely helpful research. No need to bounce around from site to site trying to figure out what to do on your trip, their suggestions based on trip duration and what you want to see is all you need. I purchased the wrong direction tour, reached out to them and they promptly sent me the correct one. What to do, what to see, where to eat, where to stay it's all covered. Car rental discount was great too. Highly recommend folks.
May 2023 by Fabio Soares
They are simply the best ! All you need if you want to explore Scotland is get their experience and hit the road. I did the west part of Scotland and it was just superb!!!
February 2023 by Sara Hood
OMG.OMG.OMG. How do people plan a 30 day road trip of Scotland withut Secret Scotland's guides? They are brilliant. DH stumbled across them on the interwebs, and what a find! We stitched several together to create an itinerary that suited us, bought the add-on accommodation guides (also brilliant) and have saved several hundred Australian dollars on the car hire, due to Secret Scotland's special deal. (I should point out we have the car for almost three months .. so we didn't save that much just on the 30 days in Scotland.) It saved so much grief knowing you were taking recommendations from people who knew the area and had visited the accommation options. Like having new BFFs. Have already recommended them to several friends who are also delighted. Big ups to Secret Scotland.
February 2023 by Leslie Bridge
Mike was amazing with the flow of information for our trip planning to Scotland! He even threw in a trip itinerary when I paid for the wrong itinerary. They were very helpful! So excited to go!!
December 2022 by C Bruck
We received the pdf very quickly. We purchased the three day-Isle of Skye tour. Since we only have 4-5 days, we are trying to optimize our time. We also bought the accommodation package for a few dollars more and look forward to reviewing that as well. The pdf is 88 pages long! It is incredibly well worth the money you pay for it.
November 2022 by Linda Reed
Our experience with Secret Scotland was exceptional, exactly what we were looking for. Their customizable itineraries let us select what we wanted to see and do on our own in our own time and select accommodations and restaurants to suit us, a fun experience in itself. We would highly recommend this company and am now searching for such a company in Ireland with no success. Instead of Ireland we might just have to return to Scotland and use Secret Scotland again.
November 2022 by Sandy Armstrong
I purchased Rick Steves book for Scotland and then found Secret Scotland. I highly recommend Secret Scotland. It is much easier to print out and take with you than the Steve?s book. With Secret Scotland you only have what you need not the entire Scotland in Steve?s book. In addition it is in the proper chronological order for your trip as you have selected. I liked the Secret Scotland suggestions and the way it was written. I would highly recommend this in your Scotland travel planning.
November 2022 by Kerry H.
I have been fortunate enough to run a travel company for women for years with destinations to many of the edgier places in the world. When it came to my own holiday, though, I wanted another expert to quickly 'read' my travel style, provide me with some guidance, and set me up on my own journey...you know, the easier way. That's what Secret Scotland does. Wow. What a company. Mike and Aury truly understood me when I said "I want to zig where the other tourists zag". I wanted to avoid crowds, find delight in the unexpected or unusual, be taken down paths others missed, find pubs not in the blogs, cross bridges that weren't sign-posted...and this is exactly what the itinerary suggestions provided by Secret Scotland did for me. Their stuff was gold! It's not a group tour and it's not you using 40+ hours to research a place you don't know well. Instead, Secret Scotland provides itinerary suggestions, based on your input, that allow you all the freedom in the world to discover the best of Scotland that I argue you would likely miss without their local, hyper-knowledgeable help. I drove my own rented car with a friend. We stopped where we wished as long as we wanted. We booked our own accommodation (though SS will help you with that too). I felt like I was a bit of a local even though I'd never been to anywhere that they suggested we visit. Right or left-hand turns, mileage, distances, tips, warnings, land markers...it was all in their very detailed itineraries. Since 2017, I've told so many people about their services. In 2023, I will be back. I am quite serious when I say that Secret Scotland made our trip to that beautiful land quite remarkable.
November 2022 by Laura Hall
Secret Scotland has been so helpful planning our travel in Scotland. Meticulous details and directions and you can rely on their recommendations. Excellent value and highly recommend if you are planning a trip anywhere in Scotland.
