|
|
PRIVATE TOURS
Nor'West Tours 
Features of our private trips:
Guided trips - your guide (usually also your driver) interprets the route as you go. Most of our guides have catholic* interests. During your tour they cover the social, political, and natural histories (including basic geology) of your route; prehistory - our area is rich in Neolithic, early Bronze Age, and Pictish sites; and the general situation of our area - the economy, transport links and so on.
*That is - having general, wide-ranging interests - nothing to do with religion!
|
Inevitably, not all guides are equally expert on all topics, and if you wish a tour concentrating on a particular area - say birdwatching, wild flowers, or the Highland Clearances - then let us know in advance and we will try to allocate you the most appropriate person.
If you opt for a taxi-tour, you may get an informative, communicative driver, or you may just get someone who drives you from A to B - it's very much a hit or a miss.
If you wish a tour guided in French, German or another language let us know and that can usually be arranged too.
Most of our drivers operate under a PSV, or coach-driver's licence. This means that they have sat a much stricter driving test than regular drivers, and have regular medical checks from the age of 45.
The vehicles we use carry the appropriate
private hire insurance; they are also safety-checked
at least every 8 weeks from new - many of the
taxi-tours offered in the UK have NO comprehensive
safety check on their vehicles until they are 3 years old!
We can arrange trips for groups of any size but have a dedicated air-conditioned Mercedes-Benz vehicle - see above - for up to 8 persons. A commodious 16-seat vehicle is frequently also available.
Prices start from £ 160 per day (including VAT of £ 20.87) for 4-5 hours. Each hour after that costs £ 20-40 depending on, i.a., time of year and mileage. These prices are for 1-8 passengers
and are for the vehicle + driver/guide, that is, they are not prices
per person!
Please tell us your requirements and we will give you a quotation.
We also do multi-day trips.
If you do not know your exact route and need help with itinerary
design we will normally give you, gratis, one or two e-mails with suggestions.
After that fees apply for help with itinerary development. Most of our scheduled
tours are available on almost any day of the year as
private tours, at the prices noted below. Private tours are also available for larger groups, prices on application:
John o'Groats
Whisky Trail
Orkney day-trip from Inverness, or MegaTour. £ (2010 price still to be calculated) persons (including ferry), then add £ 27 per person up to 8. (Check with us for rates for larger groups.) This trip is not available on public holidays over Christmas and New Year when there is no ferry service.
Inverewe Gardens
Castle of Mey
Orkney Overnighter
This trip is offered in June, July and August. We are sometimes asked if this 2-day Orkney trip - the "Orkney Overnighter" - is available outside these months. Sorry, it isn't - the southbound journey is based on transport services not operated by us and only available in these 3 summer months.
It is possible to have a private 2-day trip to Orkney, from Inverness, at almost any time of year - but it would cost about £ 850. This might be viable for you if you arranged a group of 8 people.
Obviously, on a private tour you can pick any itinerary you wish in the Highlands & islands. Below we give a selection of other day and part-day tours available - click on the link for more information:
2-day tours, including an archaeological extravaganza to east Sutherland, Caithness, and Orkney;
We are glad to organize tours of any length in Scotland and the islands. Initial quotations are free; complex itineraries may attract a charge, usually £ 20 + sales tax.
The vehicle. We have a superior 8-seat Mercedes-Benz V-class dedicated for our private tours. This is a roomy, air-conditioned vehicle.
The guides. We are, to our knowledge, the only guiding-with-transport service in the Highlands whose guides are all university graduates or have completed the HOSTGA guiding course
or in some cases, both.
Days of operation. As stated in the introduction, private tours are available almost any day of the year, with the following provisos:
Christmas and New Year Period. We are happy to run trips booked in advance over the holidays but you should be aware that facilities are reduced. For example, we can easily visit
Skye on New Year's day, but need to carry our own lunches - you won't normally find any restaurants open. Generally there are no ferries to Orkney and Lewis on 25 & 26 December and 1 & 2 January. Likewise,
Inverewe Gardens are closed for some days at this time.
Many venues - for example, Eilean Donan Castle and the Clan Donald Centre - are closed from mid- or late October to March or April. This does not mean that you won't have a rewarding trip by doing a trip 'out of season'.
The
Castle of Mey is open (2009) from 10-13 April, 1 May-29 July and 12 August-30 September.
Cawdor Castle is open from 1 May to mid-October. For opening times of
Brodie Castle, see the National Trust for Scotland website.
Payment; Conditions
1. An advance payment of £ 100 per day booked is required to secure a trip.
On single-day trips, especially out of season, balance of payment is due on departure.
On multi-day trips, or in high season, we will require the balance to be paid in advance. We will advise you according to the nature of each trip.
See also (2), below.
If you cancel more than 15 days before the start of the trip, you will receive a refund of £ 50 per day booked. If you cancel within 15 days of the first day you have booked, the full advance payment (of £ 100/day) is forfeit.
2. The above are our basic conditions and requirements for pre-payment. Trips involving ferries may require additional pre-payments; also, if we get demands for bookings on the same days that you request we may request additional advance payment from you.
Back to top of page
HOME
Contact us
http://www.littles.co.uk/rates.htm