Great Scotland MINI Cooper Tour June 2027

Thirteen nights in a MINI Cooper, from Heathrow to the top of Scotland and back – Dunrobin, the north coast, Kylesku, Bealach na Bà, Skye and Glencoe – with two guides and the hotels arranged.

It begins at Heathrow arrivals, where a driver takes you to a country house hotel in Hampshire for a champagne reception. The next morning you pick up the MINI and start north, by way of the British Motor Museum, where the first and last MINI Coopers off the production line are on show, along with Paddy Hopkirk’s Monte Carlo Rally-winning 33 EJB. By evening you are just over the border.

From there it’s two weeks of Scotland – the Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel, castle hotels in the Cairngorms, Balmoral, Dunrobin and the far north, then the north and west coasts, Kylesku, Ullapool, Applecross, Skye, Eilean Donan and Glencoe, and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs. You head south through Gretna Green to the Lake District, then back to where it started.

Day three starts at Helix Park with the Kelpie sculptures and the Falkirk Wheel, the rotating boat lift, then drives on into the Cairngorms to a castle hotel tucked away in its own grounds. The next morning you explore Balmoral Castle and its grounds before carrying on north to another castle for the night.

Day five follows the coast further north to Dunrobin Castle, with its French-style architecture and gardens above the sea, and a falconry display in the gardens. The afternoon reaches the top of mainland Scotland and Dunnet Head, with its seabird nesting grounds, plus a small gin distillery and a hotel facing the sunset.

Day six runs west along the north coast. Stop for Smoo Cave, the big sea cave with a waterfall inside, hot chocolate at Cocoa Mountain or an arts and crafts village. You stay two nights at a west coast Highland hotel.

On day seven you meet local skipper Steve at Kylesku Bridge for a boat trip across the water – look out for seals, and the waterfall UDA calls the UK’s tallest – and lunch beside the estuary. The afternoon is single-track roads past lighthouses and villages. Day eight takes you to the fishing village of Ullapool for coffee by the harbour, then onto the Atlantic coast road to the Russian Arctic Convoy Museum.

Day nine climbs Bealach na Bà to Applecross, which UDA calls one of the most dramatic and challenging roads in the world, then crosses to the Isle of Skye and Portree, with its coloured harbour houses. Dinner that night is your own.

Day ten starts at Eilean Donan Castle, then heads to Fort William for a private tour and tasting at the Ben Nevis Distillery – drivers can take their drams away. The road then runs through the Glencoe mountains, past a James Bond film location, to a hotel in the heart of the range.

On day eleven you take the old military road to Inveraray, its harbour and its castle, then stop at the Rest and Be Thankful on the way to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, crossing the Dukes Pass on the way to a spa hotel. Day twelve says goodbye to Scotland at Gretna Green and ends at a secluded hotel on the banks of a reservoir in the Lake District. After a slow morning by the water, the last drive goes back to the starting hotel for a final dinner together. A transfer takes you to Heathrow the next day.

This is a guided group tour. Two UDA guides travel with you from start to finish, and each guest gets a printed travel book with route maps and notes on each stop. The MINI Cooper is included, with main driver insurance and breakdown cover. An additional driver costs £20 a day.

Thirteen nights in hotels are included, with breakfast and dinner every day except one free evening in Portree. Also included are the Heathrow transfers, the Ben Nevis Distillery tour and tasting, the Kylesku boat trip, and photographs and film of the trip.

The price is £6,150 per person, based on two people sharing. A non-refundable £2,200 deposit (one per couple) secures your place.