Alnwick Castle Day Tour

Explore the Viking Coast & the Holy Island of Lindisfarne

Alnwick Castle Day Tour from Edinburgh

Book a private Alnwick Castle Tour from Edinburgh and explore the magical world of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts – Travel the beautiful coastline of Northumbria – Walk in the footsteps of Vikings on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne – Fly a Broomstick like a Wizard – Experience one of the finest Castles in England with Scottish Guided Tours – Enquire about Guided Tours of Scotland

Private guided tours of Scotland depart from any location - Contact us

Alnwick Castle Day Tour

Book a private guided day tour to Alnwick Castle & the Viking Coast

‘Niall is an experienced Scottish tour guide. Raised in the mountains and glens of Scotland and inspired by his father, renowned Scottish author and historian Dr Rennie McOwan, Niall feels passionately about his role as a bespoke private tour guide.

Directly descended from legendary Highland stalker Donald Ross, Chief Stalker to the Duke of Portland, Niall aims to give clients the best possible experience whether it be heritage related , historical, cultural or perhaps a mixture of all three – the best that Scotland has to offer’ Read more….

Private Day Tour
Coast & Castles
Harry Potter Tour from Edinburgh
Scottish Borders
Holy Island of Lindisfarne
7th Century Priory
Lindisfarne Castle
Northumberland
Alnwick Castle & Gardens

Your Journey

Kings and Queens and epic sieges are all part of the private Alnwick Castle day tour from Edinburgh. Conjure up worlds of wizards and dragons as Alnwick Castle mixes make-believe with real history.

Alnwick Castle Tour from Edinburgh

The Scots and English have battled over these lands for centuries. The Castle has starred as a plush home for powerful Dukes and Royalty. Alnwick Castle has the lead role in the Harry Potter Movies, starring as Hogwarts.

Walk in the footsteps of Vikings on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. A unique opportunity to explore Christian and Viking history with your Private Tour Guide on this wonderful Alnwick Castle tour from Edinburgh – Contact us

Why Scottish Guided Tours?

Door to Door Service

Your private tour guide shall greet you at your chosen location. Hotel, B&B or even Cruise Ship Terminal. The most convenient start possible to your private tour of Scotland. Complete Door to Door service from Scottish Guided Tours.

Your Tour Guide

‘Niall is an experienced Scottish tour guide. Raised in the mountains and glens of Scotland and inspired by his father, renowned Scottish author and historian Dr. Rennie McOwan,Niall feels passionately about his role as a bespoke private tour guide.

Transport

Our brand new vehicles ensure great views, comfort and plenty of room for all travellers and luggage. Private Tours of Scotland exclusively for your group of travelling companions.

Private Tours

Scottish Guided Tours deliver fantastic private tours of Scotland exclusively for your group of travellers. No travellers shall be mixed with any other private groups. Bespoke tours of Scotland designed around your time frame & interests.

Covid-19 Precautions

All vehicles are meticulously cleaned. Face masks and sanitiser are provided. Private guided tours are exclusively for family or fellow travelling companions. Private tours of Scotland are the safest way to travel.

More info & FAQ

Alnwick Castle Tour Itinerary

(Route can vary depending on departure point)

Our fantastic, fun-filled private Alnwick Castle day tour from Edinburgh follows the North Sea coastal road south.

As a result, stunning views of the ocean, rugged cliffs and castles await.

The short journey takes us south across the border into England. Northumberland is an ancient kingdom, and because of centuries of battles with the Scots, it is the most fortified part of England.

Many castles and ancient fortifications dot the coastline of Northumbria.

*The Bass Rock sits in the North Sea and can be viewed from the coastal route on our private Alnwick Castle Day Tour from Edinburgh.*

You will hear tales of the many battles between Scotland & England on your private Alnwick Castle tour from Edinburgh and 8th century Vikings to 18th century Jacobites.

Tales of Witches, Saints, heroes and villains.

All have travelled this route and as a result, an entertaining journey south with your private tour guide.

Walk in the footsteps of Vikings.

Our first stop is the beautiful Holy Island of Lindisfarne.

In AD793, Viking longboats slid onto the shores of this small Northumbrian island and changed history forever.

Private tour from Edinburgh to Alnwick Castle — *A walk to Lindisfarne Castle is a great way to view the Holy Island on our Alnwick Castle Tour from Edinburgh.*

The Holy Island

Lindisfarne is known as the ‘Holy Island’ because of its links to early Christianity and is a truly wonderful little island to visit.

Reaching the beautiful island is only possible when the tide retreats and as such, one of the more unique roads with Scottish Guided Tours.

Every month, at least one vehicle gets caught out with the tide after attempting to reach the island despite the clear warnings.

Lindisfarne Priory dates back to the 7th century and is close to the heart of the village.

St Aidan’s Winery visitor centre is home to Lindisfarne Mead and a great visit on your private guided tour.

Apparently, a bottle or two of Mead can bring you closer to God!!

Lindisfarne is a very peaceful island.

The magnificent 16th-century Lindisfarne Castle sitting on a cliff above the ocean is a sight to behold and a great walk and photo opportunity.

Scottish Guided Tours — *The old pier on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne*

The village has lovely cafes, award-winning coffee at Pilgrims Coffee and access to wonderful coastal walks.

As a result, Holy Island makes for an ideal first stop on our day tour.

Lindisfarne Castle

Lindisfarne Castle sits on a rocky outcrop like something from a fairy tale. Because of this, a great walk is rewarded with coffee and snacks from one of the lovely wee shops in the village.

Alnwick Castle Tour from Edinburgh — On our Alnwick Castle day trip, the first stop is the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. The Viking Coast of Scotland.

The small island is very peaceful and beautiful. Early Christianity and bloody Viking history make Lindisfarne a fascinating first stop.

Alnwick Castle Day Tour from Edinburgh

Alnwick Castle can only be described as a classic and stunning English Castle. Private day tours to Alnwick Castle are great for all the family.

Home to the Duke of Northumberland, his family for over 700 years, our Alnwick Castle Day Tour from Edinburgh is fantastic.

Attractions, eateries, entertainment are all within the grounds resulting in making this a fun, private tour.

Alnwick Castle is a truly spectacular destination to visit on our private day tour.

The Poison Garden at Alnwick Castle

Magnificent gardens await at Alnwick Castle, as well as the Poison Garden. Everything in the Poison Garden can potentially kill you, and a guide must accompany you.

Private Guided Tours from Edinburgh — *Entrance to the Poison Garden at Alnwick Garden, Northumberland,*

Alnwick Castle Art Collections

Alnwick Castle itself is breathtaking and full of wonderful art collections.

Admiring Alnwick Castle from a bench in the grounds of the castle. — *Alnwick Castle, bathed in sunshine on a lovely spring day.*

The art collections at Alnwick castle are described as ” …one of the most important collections..outside the Royal Collection..” Take time to explore the Castle, its rooms and art collections.

Fans of Downton Abbey may recognise some of these rooms! Alnwick Castle has been used in various movies and TV shows.

Fly a broomstick at Hogwarts

Many movies & TV shows have been filmed at Alnwick but most famously, Harry Potter !! Alnwick Castle doubled as Hogwarts in the movie franchise, and you can tour the film’s locations throughout the Castle.

Alnwick Castle & Viking Coast Day Tour — *Alnwick Castle doubled as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter Movies, and you too can fly a broom*

Harry Potter Tour from Edinburgh

You can even take part in Broom Stick Training.

Attending a Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry class is hilarious and a must for any Potter fans young and old.

We return to our drop off point around 18.15

You Won't Regret a Tour with Niall! In the spring of 2018, our party of 3 adults visited Scotland for the first time. We arranged a day-long private tour outside of Edinburgh with Niall McOwen. Before arrival, we exchanged emails about our expectations. Some attractions the three of us asked to see were probably the usual tourist fair for first time visitors, but Niall also took us to places we didn't even know to ask about! Mr. McOwen was considerate, interesting, knowledgeable and truly concerned about the desires of our group. Around mid-day, the restaurant he chose provided us with good food, a bit of shopping and some time for us to get to know each other better. Getting to see this beautiful country through his eyes helped me to understand more of Scotland, its history and its citizens. If we are ever blessed to visit Scotland again, Niall will absolutely be included as part of our trip.

An Epic Day to Remember! Scottish Guided Tours offers some preplanned itineraries, but their specialty is in working with you to customize a single or multi-day tour to fit your specific needs. We’d been to Scotland in the fall of 2017 and started planning our second trip as soon as we got back. We wanted to go to places a bit off the beaten track this time, so contacted Niall McOwan of Scottish Guided Tours. Niall built on our “must see” request, and suggested some other sites that worked well with our schedule. He picked us up from our hotel, and gave us an absolutely epic day to remember! One highlight was visiting an Old Kirk that is the final resting place of the famous Highlander Rob Roy MacGregor. Just behind the Kirk, we hiked up a trail that took us to a rallying point overlooking Loch Voil. A stone cairn at marked the place where Clan MacLaren would have lit a fiery cross to summon their men to battle. The view from this spot was just breathtaking! Throughout the day, Niall filled us in on the significance, history, and lore related to our stops. In addition to taking us to absolutely stunning viewpoints and ruins, he knew the best places to stop for lunch, coffee, and restrooms. 🙂 Our entire experience with Scottish Guided Tours from planning to the drop off back at our hotel was smooth, professional, friendly, knowledgeable and fun! I can without any hesitation recommend this service to anyone looking for a custom tour in and around Scotland.

First guided tour, Don’t often write reviews but felt the need to for our trip. We live in Spain and decided on a little trip back to the motherland,we were not disappointed and our trip was made even better by Niall,his knowledge and passion for his country and what he does is evident,not your bog standard repitive tour guide,there was not one day of our trip that he didn’t have us laughing. Can highly recommend Scottish guided tours,we will return and when we do,we will definitely be booking with Niall.

Best of Scotland & Edradour Distillery Day Tour We spent a really entertaining and informative day with our guide, Niall ( Neal in Gaelic). He took us north to see the three bridges from different eras that span the Firth of Forth. It was fun to see a train go over the old one. Then we were off to Dunkeld, the river Tay, a wee hike in the woods to find a salmon ladder (alas,, no salmon running at that moment), coffee at a charming shop in Dunkeld, a tour at Edradour Distillery, the only remaining hand made single malt whiskey in Scotland, and the smallest to boot. We had a quick look at the village of Pitlocry, and ended the day at Loch Tummel to see The Queen's View. One more coffee stop, and it was back to Edinburg. But the best part of this fine day was the time we spent with Niall, who was a font of information, jovial and witty. As one does, we compared cultures, talked about everything under the sun, and laughed together much of the time. If you are looking for a tour guide with a warm demeanor and a kind and helpful personality, Niall is the best.

Best Day Ever!!!! My family and I had the good fortune to have Niall as our personal tour guide for a day during our vacation to Scotland. We found that one day wasn't enough! Niall taught us more about his country in 10 hours than a professor in History could have done in 10 weeks. He was an absolute pleasure to be around. He made sure our day was spectacular from beginning to end. We can't wait to go back and let Niall show us more!

Extraordinary and outstanding! With all the great tour guides I have hired, Niall stood out. He was with our family from Nov. 21-25. He picked us up at the Edinburgh airport and we started touring immediately. seeing the Kelpies, South Queensferry and the Forth Bridges all in the first afternoon. After that, we spent four more days together while he regaled us with history, legends and fairy stories. He listened and did not interrupt. Niall seemed to know how much to talk and how much to listen. He played the most beautiful Scottish music as we drove. We felt immersed in Scottish history and culture. He even wore his kilt for two of the five days. He went out of his way to accommodate our dietary needs. (It really helped that he is vegan himself.) We traveled through ancient woodlands, burial sites, battlefields, castles, fairy pools and fairy glens, mountain ranges, Outlander, Harry Potter and other film sites. We ended up enjoying him so much that we considered him part of the family and wanted him for the rest of our stay. Finally, we all noticed how kind Niall was with not only us, but with everyone including other drivers, restaurant staff and hotel staff. I only hope that he will be available when we return. We thought that Scotland was magical and that magic was mainly because of him. We would never tour with anyone else. Niall is the very best.

Prices

Private Day Tour prices: 495 GBP per day (not per person)
Exclusively for your group of up to 8 passengers (for larger groups please contact us)
Multi-day tours. Please add 100 GBP per day for your tour guides overnight expenses

Whats included?

Private guiding Services
Private Transportation
Scottish Spring Water is provided

Transport

Transport is in a brand new air-conditioned vehicle with plenty of room for you and your group.

Do I Need Cash ?

Credit & debit cards or contactless payment are accepted all over Scotland. Its always handy to have a little cash for very small shops

Pick up & Drop off

Scottish Guided Tours offer private tours exclusively for your group. Tours can start and end in any location within Scotland.

Accommodation

Accommodation is not included in your quote. Payment for accommodation is made directly to Hotel or B&B on arrival, unless by prior arrangement.

Hotels & B&B's

We would be delighted to suggest Hotels or B&B’s for your trip. Some clients prefer to book their own but we are always glad to help. Please Contact us