Day Trips to Glencoe from Edinburgh

Glencoe lies roughly 2.5 to 3 hours from Edinburgh along winding mountain roads, and the day out lasts about 12 hours, since most itineraries bundle the glen with a second goal. Our catalogue holds 18 tours from Edinburgh that pass through Glencoe. On the tours shown here, travellers have posted more than 70,204 reviews, with an average score of 4.6 out of 5. The tours on this page run from 11 to 13 hours.

Multi-stop tours across the Pass of Glencoe

The multi-stop listings we describe pair the glen with a second goal: Loch Ness on one listing, a day of about 12.5 hours, or Fort William and the Glenfinnan Viaduct, with the visitor centre ticket built in. A Loch Ness version rated 4.9 adds a dram at a distillery and fish and chips; "Short hike to Highland waterfalls", that listing notes. One Fort William version pauses beneath Ben Nevis.

Small-group tours with a turf house visit

A 16-seat air-conditioned mini-coach, shared with other travellers and led by an English-speaking driver-guide, carries the small-group format. Over 12 hours, its listing stops for the panoramic scenery of Glencoe and visits the Turf House, where the subject is how Scots lived in the 17th century.

Table data is indicative and comes from the GuruWalk catalogue. Each activity's current details, including availability, are the ones shown on its listing when you book.

Neither format is a short outing on the road to Glencoe, since the small-group listing shares a 16-seat mini-coach and the multi-stop one adds live commentary; we would choose on group size and on the stops you want. Of the trips shown here, the one with the most reviews is "Edinburgh: Loch Ness, Glencoe & the Scottish Highlands Tour", with more than 20,807 reviews and a rating of 4.6 out of 5.

How much time you get in the glen

On a day that also reaches Loch Ness there is a lot of driving, and the glen itself gets brief photo stops rather than a long walk. Routes come over Rannoch Moor into the Pass of Glencoe and pause below the Three Sisters ridge; guides use those stops to tell the story of the 1692 Glencoe Massacre.

Cancellation and the steam train season

Each listing described above states free cancellation up to 24 hours before. If your version continues to Glenfinnan, the Jacobite steam train over the viaduct runs only in season and finishes in late October; we would check the date before counting on seeing it cross.