We spent 8 plus hours with Bill Grant, the owner and guide of this tour.
Pros: - Excellent private tour. He drove and led my wife and I around Isle of Skye as well as other areas over an 8 hour period.
Knowledge of the history of Scotland was outstanding. Not only did we learn about the different landmarks of Isle of Skye, but we got to know much about the history of Scotland as it related to the different aspects of the Highlands and to each landmark. More importantly, Bill has a way with presenting such things in a fascinating way to keep one's attention. He also adjusted the level of discussion and topics of discussion to hold interest for both me and my wife. My wife had interests that were different from mine, and so Bill made the subtle adjustments in paying attention to each of our interests and made sure to devote time to each of our interests and questions. And did we have a lot of questions!!! Bill rattled off responses with intentional and thoughtfulness providing good content.
He is flexible. The tour starts in Inverness, and he guides the clients along the drive from Inverness into Isle of Skye. However, we were staying in Morvich, much further south. Bill drove all the way to our remote airbnb residence and started the tour from where we were staying. He rearranged the itinerary to fit our location. He also had to adjust for the weather because we had weather ranging from occasional sprinkles to drizzle to sheets of rain to open sunny skies. In all of these climate changes, Bill showed how the Highlands offered different beauties in each situation. It was surreal in a wonderful way.
We also had a flat tire on our car rental, and we asked Bill to drop by the grocery store at the end of the tour, so we could get some food to cook for dinner. He knew just the place to go to, and we got the supplies we needed.
Because of Bill we received an in-depth understanding of Scotland and exposure to the wondrous beauties of the Highlands. HIs command of the facts and making them fascinating kept us wanting to know more and see more as the tour progressed.
In addition, we also learned about contemporary Scottish culture as we discussed rugby, golf, current government structure, food, celebration of holidays, the language, and more.
We saw many of the popular landmarks, but then we also toured at out of the way areas where we stopped at a pub where I had a beer. Bill does not drink while driving, so he was fine with a glass of water. His goal was to have us have a bit of experience at a local pub, and it was fun.
By the end of the day, I wanted to move to the Highlands myself. It is a truly special place. It's God's country, and Bill helped showed us this. He also was more than helpful in taking photos of my wife and I, and he took good ones!
I unequivocally recommend Bill for private tours with the highest of recommendations. We have already added plans to bring our adult kids here to tour with him, but we know now to add other aspects of the Highlands. Bill has a few other tours that he does with Inverness and other areas of the Highlands.
Cons:
- I did not know that the Highlands was such a special place, and I would have arranged for at least a 2-day or 3-day tour of the Highlands with Bill. There is is so much to see.
-The other con is that Bill made me realize how awful other tours I have had. He has set the bar very high now, and it will be difficult for us to find other private tours with quality and experience on par with his tour.
