Recently spent an enjoyable 3 hours with Rose, the charming guide who took my wife and me around…read morethe streets of Edinburgh. We got to sample some great food and drink and learn a lot about local history and culture. It was a great way to see more than the local tourist traps.

I have taken Secret Food tours in several cities and have never been disappointed. The one today…read morehere in Edinburgh lived up to my expectations. It was a great sampling of Scottish foods and will return to several restaurants that were sampled on the tour. And not only do you sample the food, you get a nice slice of local sites and history. Do NOT visit another city without doing a Food Tour! It's not just about the food.

The food was a very nice quality and delicious. The tour guide was lovely (thanks for making the…read moretour so memorable Jenny!). Each of the locations offered something different which was great as i was able to try a variety of Scottish dishes in a short amount of time. Very useful if you're only up for the weekend. I'd definitely recommend doing this tour at the start of your trip so you have tried and tested places to eat meals at later in the trip and also to familiarise with the area with the historical street walk thats included. I definitely plan on re-visiting the locations. The buildings were also full of Old Edinburgh character inside and out.

From the owner: Journey with us through the historic Old Town of Edinburgh, sampling mouthwatering Scottish…read morecuisine, visiting unique locations and exploring the evolution of Scottish food

First trip to Edinburgh Scotland! My friend booked us a tour at The Choclatarium, and I have to say…read morethe tour was so great! Carina the tour guide was informative with a great personality. She imparted her knowledge with enthusiasm and some humor sprinkled in. We arrived a little late for the tour we booked and we're not made to feel bad about it. We were asked if we had any dietary restrictions and I told her I was vegan. The woman that checked us in let the tour guide know. Every part of the tasting, I was provided with vegan version. It was all so delicious! We were given drinking chocolate when we arrived, it was made with oat milk. Warm, rich and creamy..so good! After a talk, we were led into a room where we sampled chocolate and then made our own chocolate bars. I was provided with dark chocolate, vegan marshmallows and I added a pinch of red pepper flakes. I poured into a mold shaped like a castle. Best chocolate bar ever! While we waited for our chocolate bars to set. We listened to some history of the cocoa beans and the guide made a drink that we all toasted to. She explained the ingredients the Aztecs used as she mixed it up, minus the blood of a human sacrifice. This was an amazing experience, I would highly recommend!

The entire experience was awesome. From the tour guide to the taste testing, you feel immersed in…read morethe world of chocolate. Yum!

We took the 4 day tour to Isle of Skye with Rabbie's Tours. It was amazing!! Our driver/tour guide,…read morePeter was knowledgeable and entertaining. I would highly recommend and use this company for other tours.

We went on 3 day Isle of Skye tour in July and it was fantastic. Our guide was Kaylie and she…read moregreat .. knowledgeable and helpful. She was always on time and very kind. I was taking a diabetic medicine that was causing some bathroom issues and she did an emergency stop for me and I am so grateful. I highly recommend tours to see Uk as driving on the other side of the road and a million turn about circles is terrifying so let the professionals take that stress from you. Plus they know where the cool stuff is and when to go. Our other tours in other countries the driver and guide were separate, so she gets bonus points for doing it all and to perfection. the roads are so narrow and scary but she did great. this was first time using this company but left willing to take other tours with Rabbies. She didn't say anything about tips which most do .. but bring tip money and reward exceptional service. We went on the trip with another couple and made some lovely memories. Loved going with friends even made it more special but in other trips we ended up making friends for life so either way is great. We did a stop near an ancient Village I think Vikings anyway there were some shops there where my friend bought a purse and I kicked myself for not going in there and getting one too. I thought the purse prices would be better in Edinburgh they were made with the local Fabric and real leather. When we got to Edinburgh the purses were not as well made and they were more expensive and a lot of them weren't even with real leather or made locally. The Edinburgh purse is a lot of them they use the fabric woven there but they made them out of the country probably China or India. Anyway I that is my biggest regret of the trip that I didn't buy an Islander purse. Now I'm going to have to see if I can buy one online and it'll be a lot more money. So if you go to the Isle of sky and you want a bag or a purse you might want to keep that in mind. My friend bought one that was more large than what I would have wanted but it was around a hundred and some dollars great price for the quality. It's well known that the UK is not known for its great weather. Lots of rain and can be very windy around the cliffs and water. I bought vessie shoes which are waterproof and comfortable but kind of expensive. I also took a raincoat with a hood and a hat with a brim and a chin strap because the wind around the cliffs is real. This hat is especially nice because it has a mesh netting that you can unclip in case you're getting in a buggy area which around the ferry pools we needed. If you don't need the netting you can just clip it back up and so it's really handy. The UK and pretty much most of Europe we find that they like twin beds in the hotels and especially the b&bs. I guess people don't like each other lol and want to sleep together. So we would call ahead and ask that they push the beds together before we get there if that was the case. They also don't seem to have air conditioning screens on the windows or sheets on the beds?? Sometimes places will have fans so it's worth asking or calling ahead to see if you can reserve a fan because they definitely don't have enough fans for every room. If you stay in a US-based hotel like a Hilton or Marriott Holiday Inn you don't have to deal with this as much but I guess it's just common in Europe. Traveling through the summer or heat wave months this can be a bit of a problem. The bed seemed all have these duvets which is great if it's cold out but when it's too warm it's a bit uncomfortable. Since we were roasting we had to open the window didn't love that there was no screen and a lot of the windows are made to where you can only open them about an inch so it doesn't provide much air. This was the case through all of the UK not just the Isle of Skye.

My wife and I have just completed the 3 day tour of the Highlands and Skye. What an incredible…read moreexperience, our tour guide Gary S. was brilliant, informative and helpful. The Highlands themselves are incredible, the scenery and the history is incredible. The trip on Loch Ness was great. I really cannot recommend this company and the tour enough. Thanks for an amazing time.

Our journey started very early 730 in the morning, and it seems they had enough bookings to fill 2…read morebuses. Starting was not so pleasant, these girls' gang (3 ladies in their 40s), they all took window seats and nowthe guide is asking politely to sit them together so that the other person can board the bus, but no one wanna leave their window, and 3 seats were vacant. Hey, aunties, what about some basic courtesy? Everyone paid the same bucks, so don't act like you own the company Coming to the topic, the guide was witty, knowledgeable, and cool. Yes, I had some difficulty understanding the Scottish accent, but it's okay. The tour started with a quick coffee break at Calendar. Then we stopped at Trossachs Woollen Mill- This is possibly the most easiest way to spot highland cows in Scotland. The second stop was somewhere in the Scottish Highlands: beautiful surroundings, so soothing. Then we stopped at Commando Memorial, Fort Augustus Locks, and Loch Ness View Point, Fort Augustus. Each stop was a 15-45 min stop, depending on how big that attraction was. Loch Ness (Fort Augustus) was 2 hrs+ stop, as a few folks had to go on a boat tour. The bus was comfortable, and the guide kept telling us about stories of the highlands, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, and stuff. Overall, it was a tiring but fun day, knowing many facts, stories, and visiting such a beautiful part of the world.

This tour was fabulous. 12 hours of constant trivia and stories and humor and music from our…read morefantastic driver, Donald, with not a dull moment. I was not expecting him to talk the entire time, but he did, and the ride was very informative and entertaining--a perfect balance of each. On the few occasions where he wasn't talking, he was playing some tunes that pertained to Scotland. There were just enough short stops along the way to get out and photograph the beautiful Highlands, so that one did not get tired of the bus ride, and the distillery tour and boat cruise, though at an additional charge, were discounted and fairly priced, and completely worth it. Everything I expected and more. The bus itself was clean and comfy, and the Donald was a trusty driver. The ride back was a different route than the ride up, so we got to see even more new things. I would definitely recommend and do this tour again.

An amazing and great day out to Loch Ness! Mark was fantastic, entertaining and very knowledgeable!read more

Beautiful hotel in a historic building directly adjacent to Charlotte square. Great location with…read moreeasy access to main attractions - 15-20 min walk to old town. Staff were all friendly. Rooms are smaller even with upgrade, but I think that may be typical of uk and Europe. Hotel has a nice pool with dry and steam sauna along with spa services for purchase. Rooms were elegant and nightly turn down service came with treats such as chocolates or body oil. Room came with plenty of bottled water, filter and nespresso coffee and a treat box with chips and local snacks, all complimentary end refilled daily. There is also a complimentary happy hour with wine and beer. Would definitely stay again

This was a really nice hotel we were able to afford it because we used our travel points but this…read moreis super bougie for a Holiday Inn. Love their Boutique collection. And really enjoyed our stay here we stayed a couple nights then we went on a tour and came back and stayed another couple nights. They were very nice to hold our luggage since our tour company doesn't let you take all your luggage. Our first room was a higher room and had a view of the castle I wish I'd taken pictures I foolishly thought we'd get the same room but we did not. Our second room was lower level and didn't have a view. The service here was great they helped you with anything you wanted help with. There was parking around the corner. Finding the hotel was a little tricky they don't have signs that you would be able to see from the road or even from the street it's very subtle. Definitely have to use the GPS. Nice Decor very bougie. When the guy was giving us the initial tour he said something about a complimentary alcohol tasting in the bar at a certain hour but when I went there it was evidently just a happy hour which that's not the same as he said but anyway that was a little disappointing. I don't think we ate at their restaurants at all I think we went elsewhere but there was a lot within walking distance. Edinburgh had a lot to offer was a great town wish we'd had more time to spend I could have spent a whole week there and still not begun to seen it all. Our group was disappointed we didn't get to go into the castle but I don't care about castles Europe is full of them I'm sick of castles so that wasn't a big deal to me but if you are interested you might want to get tickets ahead of time. Appreciated that they gave us some snacks and drinks in our refrigerator complimentary that was very appreciated.

Highly recommend. If…read moreyou are a Scotch/Whiskey enjoyer, you definitely should check this tour out. Recently me and my friends went and luckily because we rented an air bnb close by, we were able to walk to it. But just fyi when we went, the street that it is on was closed off for the public to walk. So just keep that in mind when thinking about parking. Highlights of the tour were some of the art and presentations they have on the history and making of Scotch. I also really enjoyed how they gave you a sheet that shows examples of some common tasting notes you can expect from each region. I learned that Islay Whiskey was my favorite region to sip from just because of how smoky their Whiskey can be. I had a great time. After the tour they give you an example of each region so you can compare and contrast. On top of everything, the people working there were very enthusiastic and friendly. If we ever came back to Edinburgh I might even want to go again just because of the fun experience.

Sipping our way thru Scotland! We loved the tour featuring over 3,300 bottles, of the largest…read moreprivate scotch collection in the world! Select a dram of your favorite scotch by region and flavor profile to enjoy while perusing the bottles and grab a bite to eat afterwards at the award winning Amber Restaurant. I learned my favorite scotch/flavor profile comes from the Speyside region! Located on the Royal Mile, this is the perfect way to spend an afternoon in Edinburgh!