D1 Tuesday, 20 August

Tim will collect you from the Hampton by Hilton Edinburgh Airport hotel and, once we’re all together, we’ll drive we drive north across the Forth of Firth on the new Queensferry Crossing, to visit the gardens at Blair Castle, the ancestral seat of the Clan Murray and their chief, the Duke of Atholl.

Blair Castle has been the home of the Atholl family for over seven centuries. The castle has had a diverse history, witnessing both turbulent and peaceful times, enlarged and adapted over 750 years. Home to politicians, soldiers, agriculturalists and entrepreneurs, the family history is brought to life against a backdrop of fine 18th-century interiors and Scots Baronial architecture. The castle’s garden, the Hercules Garden, is a nine-acre walled garden, named for the life-sized statue of Hercules overlooking the garden. It has been beautifully restored to its original Georgian design and is famous for its lily pond and Chinese bridge, its orchard and its herbaceous borders, which run the length of its 275m south-facing wall.

Blair Castle is roughly equidistant between Edinburgh and Nairn, a bright and breezy seaside town on the Moray Coast, and the Sea View Hotel & Spa, our home for the next three nights, where we will arrive in good time to relax before drinks and dinner at the hotel.

Today’s driving is approx. 160 miles/255 km

D2 Wednesday, 21 August

We start at Cawdor Castle, an impressive 14th-century fortress built by the Thanes of Cawdor, and still the Cawdor family home some 600 years later. There are three wonderful gardens, each with its own history and, over the years, the gardens have become the Walled Garden, the Flower Garden and the Wild Garden. Time to explore them all and explore the castle.

Nearby is Culloden where, on 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army took their last stand to reclaim the thrones of Britain. The Jacobites, led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart, Bonnie Prince Charlie, fought to restore the exiled James VIII as king, against George II’s army, led by his son, the Duke of Cumberland. It was the last pitched battle on British soil and, in less than an hour, around 1,600 men were slain – 1,500 of them Jacobites. The visitor centre is one of the very best of its type and we have plenty of time to take it all in and take a guided tour of the famous battlefield itself.

Yet more military awaits us at Fort George, built in the wake of Culloden, Fort George is one of Europe’s most outstanding fortifications and retains its original function as a British Army barracks.

We return to Nairn, for a stroll along its promenade and dinner at the Sun Dancer, a wonderful local restaurant with amazing views across the Moray Firth.

Today’s driving is approx. 50 miles/80 km

D3 Thursday, 22 August

In something of a departure from the original plans for this tour, we want to include the Black Isle or, more specifically, two gardens and Cromarty, an 18th-century town at the head of the peninsula and a charming, well-preserved historic town.

We’ll start the day at Old Allangrange, the home and garden of our good friend JJ Gladwin. There are two distinct areas to the garden, a three-acre ornamental garden that surrounds the house, a well-designed mix of formal shapes and loose planting, and a five-acre vegetable garden embracing an organic and no-dig philosophy. JJ is also a brilliant cook and generous host and we’ll have lunch with her, before some obligatory sightseeing around the peninsula and in Cromarty itself.

On our way home, we’ll call in at The Lookout, David and Penny Veitch’s three-quarter-acre, elevated coastal garden, with incredible views over the Moray Firth. This award-winning garden has been created out of a rock base with shallow pockets of ground, planted to its advantage to encourage all aspects of wildlife. It is quite extraordinary, all the more so when you realise that everything was carted uphill by hand!

We’ll return to Nairn and our hotel for dinner.

Today’s driving is approx. 80 miles/130 km

D4 Friday, 23 August

We leave Nairn for Elgin, the County Town of Moray, to visit one or two illustrious establishments, Gordon & MacPhail, the highly regarded independent whisky distillers, blenders and bottlers, or the equally as luxurious Johnstons of Elgin, the world-famous textile manufacturers, and its equally famous factory shop.

Whichever is your vice – whisky or cashmere – we will continue east for the remainder of the morning and lunch at Gordon Castle Walled Garden, one of the oldest walled kitchen gardens in Britain and, at an impressive eight acres, one of the largest too. Angus and Zara Gordon Lennox, the new young blood at the castle, have overseen its loving restoration to its former glory with a modern design by world-famous designer Arne Maynard.

After lunch we cross from Moray to Aberdeenshire to visit Leith Hall, built in 1650 on the site of an earlier castle, Leith Hall was the home of the Leith-Hay family for nearly three centuries, until they donated it to the National Trust of Scotland in 1945. The house is packed with treasures and boasts the NTS’s highest altitude garden and, at 186m, it boasts some fantastic views, too.

We continue through the hills to Douneside House, our home for the next four nights, in good time to settle in before drinks and dinner.

Today’s driving is approx. 110 miles/180 km

D5 Saturday, 24 August

Our day starts with a drive along Royal Deeside, past Balmoral Castle, into the Cairngorm Mountains and over Glenshee to Glamis Castle, the ancestral seat of the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne since 1372. It was the childhood home of HM Queen Elizabeth The late Queen Mother and the birthplace of HRH the late Princess Margaret. We will explore this magnificent castle and its two principal gardens, the Walled Garden, built to grow fresh fruit and vegetables for large households for centuries, and the spectacular Italian Garden, laid out in 1910 by Countess Cecilia, mother of HM Queen Elizabeth The late Queen Mother.

We’ll have lunch at Glamis and continue on to House of Dun, the Erskine family estate from 1375 until 1980. The current William Adam house was finished in 1743, replacing the original 14th-century Tower House, and we tour this beautiful house guided by a member of staff, complete with period costume – the member of staff, not us. It is a great tour, made all the more interesting by the sheer knowledge of the guide.

Late in the afternoon, we’ll drive along the coast for photos of Dunnottar Castle, a ruined medieval castle surrounded by steep sea cliffs, famous as the stronghold where the Scottish crown jewels were hidden from Oliver Cromwell's invading army.

It’s then just five minutes into Stonehaven for dinner at The Tolbooth.

Today’s driving is approx. 170 miles/270 km

D6 Sunday, 25 August

Today is a little less adventurous, starting with a morning visit to Drum Castle, one of Scotland's oldest tower houses. It was given to the Irvine family by Robert the Bruce in 1323 and, like House of Dun, we have a guided tour of the house and explore the gardens on our own. In the walled garden is the Garden of Historic Roses, considered to be one of the finest rose gardens in Britain. Designed by Eric Robson and opened in 1991, the garden paints a picture of roses since the 17th century and planted to represent garden development.

We’ll have lunch at Crathes Castle, the acknowledged star garden of the National Trust for Scotland collection. Built by the Burnett family, on lands given to them by Robert the Bruce in 1323, Crathes is a 16th-century tower house that replaced an earlier timber crannog. The house boasts a significant collection of portraits and original, Jacobean painted ceilings, and the internationally renowned 4-acre walled garden was visited by none other than Gertrude Jekyll in the 1890s. Thirty years later Sir James & Sybil Burnett made the pilgrimage to Lawrence Johnson’s garden at Hidcote Manor and returned to Crathes inspired. Redesigning the garden, they cleverly utilised the existing Yew hedges to divide the garden into a series of eight rooms.

Dinner is at The Cowshed, in nearby Banchory.

Today’s driving is approx. 60 miles/100 km

D7 Monday, 26 August

At the risk of over-castling, we visit another two today, starting at Fyvie Castle, an imposing 800-year-old fortress, with an impressive art collection and some pretty decent antiques too. Its garden dates back to improvements made by General William Gordon in the late 18th century and they have recently restored the lovely Walled Garden, laid out in a pattern to mirror the stunning plaster ceiling in the castle’s Dining Room.

We have lunch at Fyvie’s excellent cafe before visiting nearby Pitmedden Garden, one of the best-loved gardens in north-east Scotland, famous for its elaborate terraces, pavilions and parterres, and not a castle in sight. The garden sits on the site of a much older formal garden and, although the original layout is lost, the NTS made the brave decision to 'invent' a new layout, based upon a number of authentic 17th-century designs. It is a labour of love, with some 6 miles of box hedging and 30,000 to 40,000 annual bedding plants!

We will return home to Douneside via Castle Fraser or, at least, its completely redesigned walled garden, planted with a huge range of plants, including some thought not hardy enough for inland Aberdeenshire. Castle Fraser, another huge Tower House, is famous for the 'Laird's Lug', a secret room designed to facilitate eavesdropping on Fraser's guests.

We return to Douneside House for a relaxed evening and our end-of-tour dinner.

Today’s driving is approx. 110 miles/180 km

D8 Tuesday, 27 August

We will punctuate our journey to Edinburgh with a visit to Pitmuies, one of Scotland's finest private gardens. The home of Ruaraidh and Jeanette Ogilvie, Pitmuies is a delightful 18th-century house, surrounded by parkland and, at its heart a beautiful garden, largely the work of Jeanette. There is a series of three rose terraces and long delphinium borders, stretching the entire length of the terraces, pink and white herbaceous borders, climbing roses and a massive yew hedge that protects the whole garden from the prevailing south-west wind, it really is a very beautiful garden.

Our final stop is for lunch, and where better than the local branch of the Victoria & Albert Museum – the V&A Dundee. It has a great cafe and, if you’re quick, you will just about have time to cover a couple of floors.

Then to Edinburgh Airport, where the tour ends and where we plan to be by mid-to-late afternoon, in time for evening flights. Please let us know if you need to be at the airport significantly earlier than this, and we will arrange transport from Pitmuies (at your expense).

If you are staying in Scotland, and don't wish to return to Edinburgh, but would rather be dropped off elsewhere, then please let us know, so that we may assist you in getting to your next destination.

Today’s driving is approx. 130 miles/210 km