The Art of Glasgow & Edinburgh & Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Suggested Itinerary

Day 1 – Tatton Park

Board our private executive coach at your preferred pick up points – stop at a convenient property en route such as Tatton Park in Cheshire, an opulently decorated early 19th century house with the theme of Victorian grandeur extending into the garden – continue to the 4* Doubletree by Hilton Westerwood Hotel in Cumbernauld near Glasgow.

Day 2 – Guided tour of Glasgow, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum & House for an Art Lover

Guided tour of Glasgow includes a visit to the medieval cathedral of St Mungo’s, consecrated in 1197 and home to one of the finest post war collections of stained glass windows in Britain – Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, Scotland’s most visited museum, is home to one of Europe’s greatest civic art collections – built in Glasgow between 1989 and 1996 to a 1901 Charles Rennie Mackintosh design, the exhibition at the House for an Art Lover compares the decoratively furnished rooms against his original drawings.

Day 3 – National Gallery of Scotland, Royal Yacht Britannia & The Kelpies

Guided tour of the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh, home to Scotland’s greatest collection of European paintings and sculpture from the Renaissance to Post- Impressionist eras with paintings by artists such as Titian, Van Dyck and Tiepolo – the Royal Yacht Britannia served the Royal Family for over forty years and played a leading role in some of the defining moments of recent history with highlights being the State Dining Room, the Bridge and the Queen’s Sitting Room – continue to The Kelpies, 30 metre high horse head sculptures by sculptor Andy Scott, standing next to a new extension to the Forth and Clyde Canal and a monument to horse powered heritage across Scotland.

Day 4 – The Hunterian & Burrell Collection

The Hunterian is home to the world’s largest permanent display of the work of James McNeill Whistler, the largest single holding of the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and The Mackintosh House, the reassembled interiors from his Glasgow home – the newly refurbished Burrell Collection houses an extensive collection of over 9,000 works including medieval art, tapestries, alabasters, stained glass, English oak furniture and European paintings by such notable artists such as Degas and Cézanne.

Day 5 – Dumfries House

Designed 250 years ago by renowned 18th century architect brothers John, Robert and James Adam, a guided tour of Dumfries House explores this imposing Palladian mansion nestled within 2,000 acres of scenic countryside in Ayrshire and widely acknowledged as one of the country’s most architecturally significant stately homes.

Tour Features

4* hotel

Half board accommodation

All excursion travel & guided tours included

Blue Badge guide Days 2 to 4

Executive coach throughout

One free place per 10 paying passengers

Guided tour of Glasgow

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

House for an Art Lover

National Gallery of Scotland - guided tour

Royal Yacht Britannia

The Kelpies

The Hunterian

Burrell Collection

Dumfries House

Hotel

Four nights on half board basis at the 4* Doubletree by Hilton Westerwood Hotel in Cumbernauld near Glasgow. Set in its own 400 acres of woodland, facilities at the hotel include a restaurant, bar, indoor swimming pool and sauna. All rooms are en suite.

Tailor-make this tour

Your tailor made tour

Here are some more suggested places of interest:

  • Hopetoun House - set in 150 acres of rolling parkland and one of the most splendid examples of the work of Scottish architects Sir William Bruce, William Adam and his sons John and Robert
  • St Mungo’s Cathedral - on the site where St Mungo, the first bishop of Strathclyde, was buried in AD 612, the present cathedral dates from the 13th century and is the only one on the Scottish mainland to have survived complete the 1560 Reformation
  • Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh - the Queen’s official residence in Scotland and the Queen’s Gallery, built in the shell of the former Holyroodhouse Free Church and Duchess of Gordon’s School
  • Pollok House - lavish family rooms packed full of period furniture and furnishings and vast servants’ quarters show the realities of running a country house in the 1930s
  • Hill House - one of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s finest domestic creations and, decorated with the help of Mackintosh’s wife, the feel of the house is of restrained elegance combined with dazzling architecture
  • Tarbet & Loch Lomond - a picturesque village once described by Queen Victoria as being blessed with ‘splendid passes, richly wooded with the highest mountains behind’ with an optional cruise on the beautiful loch

Tour Reviews

Reviews for The Art of Glasgow & Edinburgh & Charles Rennie Mackintosh

 

My wife & I have just returned from the tour of Glasgow - which we thoroughly enjoyed. It was an excellent tour - comfortable room, enjoyable food, very good coach and driver and an interesting programme, but I must direct special praise towards our tour guide. She was so knowledgeable, good company and a great ambassador both for Glasgow and for Scotland. We're both looking forward to more tours with Tailored Travel!

LB, Bromley September 2024

 

A belated thank you for all your help in making our trip to Glasgow happen. All in all a success. Your prompt response to our one complaint was greatly appreciated by all as was the Prosecco reception. We were blown away by the content of this trip. Our driver was great and the Blue Badge guide very professional. Very easy to work with both. There is an appetite for a further trip and I shall certainly be recommending that my successor (when identified) works with TT. Big thanks from us all.

JG, Harrogate September 2024
 
 
That was quite some trip north of the border! Many thanks for organizing such a splendid itinerary which was brilliantly paced. I don't think that we left a stone unturned in the Glasgow area and my "bucket list" benefitted, as both Dumfries House and the Burrell Collection featured high on the list. We were indeed fortunate to have James as our driver and our Blue Badge Guide was perfect in that he did not overload us with statistics. The weather could have been kinder but at least the sun shone for our whistle stop tour of the Dumfries Walled Garden and for my very first encounter with the delights of Gretna Green. With best wishes and here's hoping that there might be another trip in 2025/26?
MA, Knaresborough September 2024
 
 
We're on our way back now. The tour to Glasgow has been a triumph. All the venues proved interesting and a feast for the eyes. Our guide was excellent - knowledgeable and entertaining. He made everything run smoothly and went out of his way to find and book places for lunch. He also engaged specialist guides for the Burrell. Our driver was fantastic and took us down country lanes and byways without a flicker. We all felt very safe. We can recommend them both. Good hotel. Very comfortable and clean. Great breakfasts. It was nice to have an area dedicated for our evening meal and be served. We have all enjoyed the trip and thank you and the TT team for all your hard work. Here's to the next time.
SM, High Peak May 2024
 
 
We had a really lovely trip to Scotland - lots of happy memories.
DH, Stratford-Upon-Avon May 2023
 
 
Just a short note to say how much we all enjoyed the Scottish tour. The houses, galleries, hotel were spot on and Holker Hall on the way up was a precious gem. Thank you so much for all your hard work. Di and I have loved our time with you.
SS, Stratford upon Avon May 2023
 
 
Thank you very much for re-introducing us to Glasgow. We had no idea that we were going to see such a lot of wonderful things. I had been to the Burrell Collection a long time ago and it is still outstanding and my favourite art gallery of all the ones that we visited. I loved Salvador Dali in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, the House for an Art Lover was interesting but I would not have liked to have lived there. I absolutely loved Dumfries House and would have moved in tomorrow. Hill House left me confused and the Hunterian Gallery was very stimulating with its challenging system of exhibiting the paintings and they had such a lot of wonderful works of art. We were so lucky to have the friendly and brilliant driver Pawel and the super duper Ken as our guide. They were both fantastic. Also I loved our bedroom and bathroom which was super comfortable and the hotel staff was very accommodating.
B & R Makin, London May 2023
 
 
Our tour to Glasgow & Dundee went very well. The hotel was well located and of a good standard. They provided porterage on arrival which was a nice surprise. The Blue Badge Guide was excellent. He was at the hotel on the Wednesday afternoon to introduce himself, and, whilst liaising with me, basically ran the show for Days 2 to 4. He threw in a couple of extras along the way. I would recommend him unhesitatingly. The coach was comfortable and the driver proved to have a very safe pair of hands. He worked very well with the guide on Days 2 to 4. The visits all went well. Audio guides were provided free of charge at the House for an Art Lover.
RH, Alderley Edge October 2019
 
 
Just to let you know that we arrived back after an excellent trip to Glasgow. All your arrangements worked like clockwork and our group was very happy. Our guide was excellent both in his knowledge and attention to detail. The hotel was very comfortable and looked after us well. After our long journey the check in was quick and efficient with luggage quickly delivered to our rooms and warm cookies on hand in the lobby. The staff were very amenable and meals of a good standard. While the rest of the country was experiencing heavy rain and floods we had glorious weather with three sunny days. How lucky was that! Many thanks to you and the rest of the team at Tailored Travel for making our trip so successful.
MW, Ascot October 2019
 
 
Once again, we have had a marvellous holiday with Tailored Travel. This time to Scotland. Favourites were Dumfries House, Loch Lomond, anything to do with Macintosh, Britannia, Mike our Blue Badge Guide. In fact there was nothing we didn't like. The hotel was very comfortable, some of us managed a swim and sauna. Mike and Ken were excellent guides, very interesting and fun with it. Our driver did a great job and was extremely patient with us oldies! Even the weather was very kind to us. From all of our group a very sincere 'thank you', particularly to Sandy who was very patient with all my dealings with her. Looking forward to our next trip with you.
GD, Cheam May 2017
 
 
Our tour of the Art and History of Glasgow and Edinburgh was our 4th tour with Tailored Travel and as we expected it was informative, well structured and fun. It's always an opportunity to get to know others in a relaxed way. And what a fabulous group - perfect time keepers. We left on time, met on time and were able to enjoy extras as a result. Our driver Peter really looked after us and Mike our superb guide took the trouble to go the extra mile for us. I can't make up my mind as to which is my favourite trip because each one is tailor made and has its own charm and identity.
CB, London October 2016
 
 
Back safely from another very successful Fine Arts Tour. Everything worked out well - the group, Mike our tour guide, Nigel our coach driver, all the venues we visited, even the weather as it only seemed to rain when we were on the coach, plus the hotel. As always thank you for your help and patience in putting this tour together.  As always everyone enjoyed the friendship and making new friends. I am already being asked about next year's Tour. Now I must get my head round that one.
VW, Kingston Upon Thames May 2014
 
 
I have received lots of enthusiastic feedback since we returned from our tour to Glasgow. Not a word of criticism! I want to thank you for all your help, delivered in a most professional, thorough and prompt fashion. Your advice was gratefully received and acted upon and Ursula and I both enjoyed the trip as much as the others did.
MD, Winscombe May 2012
 
 
I am writing to express my appreciation of the trip to Glasgow and Edinburgh Tailored Travel arranged for our group. It was a fascinating and detailed tour and I learned a lot. Our Scottish guide, Tom, was excellent in providing information on the history, geography and geology of the places we visited and all done with a friendly, courteous manner and a delightful sense of humour. The Westerwood Hotel was very comfortable and the staff very friendly and helpful. I look forward to travelling with your company again.
AT, Lewes July 2011
 
 
‘A great trip with lovely people. I look forward to next year’. ‘An interesting and well structured tour’. ‘A really good and interesting tour. Thank you’. ‘Very interesting and well balanced programme’. ‘A very enjoyable tour’. ‘Most enjoyable and informative tour’.
South Cambs Society July 2010
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Remember this itinerary is just our suggestion. Tailor make this tour exclusively for your group to suit your members’ budget or preferences. You could:

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  • with fewer dinners
  • for more (or fewer) days
  • include different excursions – see ‘Tailor-make this tour’ tab for suggestions
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  • include all entrance fees & gratuities
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