Here are the provisional arrangements for 2011:

Singer and broadcaster Jack Beck will lead a two week trip to Scotland and Northern Ireland beginning June 19th 2011. Of course you are free to arrive in Scotland before the tour starts or to stay afterwards; but we will rendezvous in Edinburgh Airport on the morning of June 19th and finish back at the airport on July 1st. The tour will cover many parts of Scotland, including the Borders, Edinburgh, Fife, Perthshire, Galloway, Argyll, Mull, Iona, the Central Highlands and Glencoe – it will also include two days in the Antrim Glens of Ireland.

The cost of the tour is $2950 per person, based on double occupancy. This price covers all transport and accommodation in Scotland and Ireland, all breakfasts and dinners, entertainment and entry to most historical sites. It does not cover lunches, tips, single room supplement ($400) or airfare. Direct overnight flights into Edinburgh are available on Continental (from Newark); while several other companies have flights via London, Amsterdam etc. If you plan to use frequent-flyer miles towards buying your ticket, please book very early as only a few spots are allocated for such programs.

The basic aim of the tour is to give people the chance to enjoy and learn about Scotland and Ireland through experiencing its traditional culture and landscape. You will meet and hear performers on their home ground, visit the contexts from which the tales, songs and music have come, and have the chance to enjoy occasional hikes in both the Lowlands and the Highlands. This is not particularly a search for the Scotland of Brigadoon, Braveheart and the Loch Ness Monster (though you never know!) - rather it is a unique opportunity to learn about the traditions, people, history and landscape of this amazingly varied country, as well as their close cousins in the Antrim Glens.

The tentative itinerary for the trip includes 1 night in Peebles, 2 in Blair Atholl, 2 in Stranraer, 2 in Glasgow, 2 in Oban, 2 in Fife and 1 in Antrim (more to be finalized). There will be free days in Edinburgh, Pitlochry, Glasgow, Glencoe and Antrim and hiking will be possible, with other activities for non-hikers. Some of the performers and experts you will meet and hear include fiddler Pete Clark, storyteller and singer Jock Duncan, Pictish stones expert Marianna Lines, Fife farming couple Alan and Linda Beveridge and Irish storyteller Liz Weir.

It’s in the nature of our tours that they remain flexible up to and during our travels.

Throughout the tour Jack will be informing, singing and telling stories assisted by Aberdonian singer and raconteur Colin Stuart.

Please note – the group size will be strictly limited to 10 maximum. The first 10 to firmly book and pay their deposit will be confirmed. A further 4 will be accepted onto a waiting list in case of cancellations before the February 1^st deadline (see booking form).

See a photo album of the 2008 trip –

http://picasaweb.google.com/memain6/TheGrandScottishAdventure2008?authkey=YfmPf-9Y18c

Mary Mainous, who took the pictures, enjoyed the 2008 tour so much she went back in 2009! Here is her 2009 slide-show –

http://picasaweb.google.com/memain6/GrandScottishAdventure2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCOecwZuDwObQ9gE#

and here’s more of the 2009 visit from Barbara and Jack McGeachy -

http://picasaweb.google.com/mcgeachy42/ExperienceScotland2009PhotosByJackMcGeachy?feat=email#