McKinlay Kidd Traveller Reviews

This holiday was a complete disappointment, especially considering the premium price for the tour. Granted that the change of guide due to Covid and the transit strike could not have been completely foreseen, a good, competent company would have had contingency plans in place for both. I myself had solicited MK a week earlier to ask about the impact of the train strike. They knew in advance. The tour had little to do with trains. We missed the train north from Inverness, but that was not a big deal. The disappointment was not having a guide to explain anything en route. MK relied on one of our group -- fortunately a responsible person -- to convey information about our tour to everyone else. MK tried calling me by regular phone, not by WhatsApp as I had requested, so I never spoke to anyone about the changes of plans. Your insistence on a train ride the last day was ridiculous. Staying on the coach would have made much more sense since we had to carry our luggage up, across, and down a steep structure to reach the train, and that train ride was short and far from picturesque. Unless you are traveling on the Royal Scotsman, you shouldn't call this a train tour at all.

Our substitute guide did the best he could given that he was thrown into our group last minute and was not adequately prepared. I had expected to learn more about this region and its history, customs, wildlife, food, and Dan was not an expert on any of those things. Even in the area where he said he was knowledgeable (archeology), he clearly had a good layman's knowledge, not a scholarly background. He was competent under the circumstances but you seem not to have made those circumstances easy for him. Our original guide had met us with a kilt, but he wasn't Scottish, so that already seemed strange. To their credit, the tour operator reached out to me (and the entire group) after the tour and solicited our opinion. The TO seemed to take the feedback seriously and indicated that changes would be made to avoid the problems our group encountered. The TO's interest in genuine improvement is a positive sign for the future.

Three of us went on a 10 day whisky tasting safari which we enjoyed immensely. We learnt something new at every distillery and the people, whisky and nature were outstanding.

Incomplete documentation necessitated frequent phone calls to the call centre Numerous agents handling our tour which led to confusion Transport was a no-show at Edinburgh airport after a 16 hour flight

We had a lovely holiday in spite of the rain as McKinlay Kidd took care of every detail. Very professional, treated us as individuals.

All the arrangements were excellent, the quality accommodation was obviously carefully chosen and the holiday information was very helpful.

Visited castles, Skye, small villages, art galleries and gardens. Also had some lovely hikes around historically meaningful areas. Wonderful food and accommodations provided.

Knowledgeable, talented story teller, helpful.

Great experience. Everyone very friendly. Driving fine. Great food and accommodation

Very helpful and organized. A professional company with excellent knowledge

We very much enjoyed the range of locations and experiences on our tour of the Highlands. The organisation was superb and, despite moving on every couple of days, it was very relaxing. We learnt a great deal about our shared history and were treated to local knowledge and hospitality everywhere we went.

Great organisation from beginning to end. Always at the end of a phone or computer to answer queries or sort out problems.

We spent 6 days following the Hebridean Way, exploring all the accessible islands from Vatersay to the Butt of Lewis

We were directed to McKinlay Kidd by another tour operator who was snowed under with booking enquires at the time we requested help last November. McKinlay Kidd dealt very efficiently with our enquiry and we were sent a suitable itinerary very quickly. The holiday experience proved to be excellent with good communication from McKinlay Kidd who chose lovely places for us to stay and booked all the ferries for us.

A one week small group tour of Caithness and Orkney. Eight tourists and a guide visiting selected landmarks in that area staying in locally owned hotels and visiting places not always on the main track. Very memorable and not easily yo be forgotten

Found unusual places to go a=, planned and organised everything, tour guide was an essential king pin to the whole operation

Excellent accommodations in each stops on the trip. Everyone involved from completing our booking arrangements, the hotel staff during our trip, the tour operators for our side trips that were booked for us were great.

Well versed in creating vacations in the British Isles. This was our second vacation using McKinley Kidd and we would have no reservation in recommending them to others to plan their vacations.

McKinlay Kidd organised a tour of the main Outer Hebrides islands, which for us was totally car free. We had tours organised by them of Barra, North Uist, Harris and Lewis, all done by local guides, who were superb and gave us a realk insight into the history, culture and wildlife of the various islands. They were able to show the differences between all the islands. We stayed 2 nights in Barra, 2 nights in North Uist, 2 in Harris and 1 in Lewis. All organised by McKinlay Kidd, with taxis, ferries between islands all arranged for us. We had a brilliant time and found that all the stress had been taken away from us and we were able to see so much of the islands.

McKinlay Kidd offer holidays in Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales and can arrange tailor made holidays if necessary. They are very efficient and we had complete confidence in the arrangements they made for us. Everything worked exactly as stated and we were given detailed instructions and documentation to see us through.