| HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Welcome to 2024 and an exciting year of adventures ahead. We already have a number of slots booked in for this year, from Family groups exploring across Scotland, to Ancestry tours discovering family heritage, Mary Queen of Scots and of course our very popular Outlander immersive tours. Whatever, you would like from a trip to Scotland, please get in touch, and we will do our very best to make it happen. Review of 2023 This was the year we “returned to normal”. We were kept very busy, and it was wonderful to meet up with returning guests and making lots of new friends. Dave once again joined us guiding, and entertaining, and we welcomed Karen, who helped us out with some bespoke tours. Severine was busy with her Antonine Wall project (check it out here https://www.antoninewall.org but still helped us with some French and German tours. It is worth remembering, that even if Severine is not available, she has produced an audio guide to the main Outlander sites in French and German, should you need it for your tour. And of course, continued thanks to Paul and his team at Tayforth Travel for safely transporting our groups around. |
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| Diary Date Ancestry Zoom Session Following a recent post on Social Media, Anne agreed to host a Zoom session for those interested in Scottish Ancestry. This will take place on Sunday 14th January at 7pm UK time (2pm EST) This session is completely FREE. Email tours@marysmeanders.co.uk to receive the zoom invite. |
| Outlander We had five of our unique Outlander Immersive tours- and as is always the case, lifetime friendships were made. In case this is new to you- we have a maximum of 12 in the group and we all stay together in cottages in the countryside, just outside Linlithgow. It really is like your family home. We visit over 20 Outlander locations and in the evenings we live like locals, visiting some of our favourite eateries, or being entertained on site, including being joined by Gillibride MacMillan, the bard from Outlander. And this is all at a great value, all-inclusive price- accommodation, tours, most meals, entertainment and entry fees. For full details check out our website. https://www.marysmeanders.co.uk/outlander-tour-scotland/outlander-tour-5-day/ Spaces are still available on our tours for 2024, though you will have to be quick for the last few places in May. A £350 deposit secures your place. We also thoroughly enjoyed an unexpected “sideline” last year, being asked to help out temporarily at Midhope Castle. It was supposed to be until the end of April but carried on through the year. Thanks so much to James, the Keeper of Lallybroch, for the opportunity. It was fantastic to meet fans from all over the World. If you are coming to stay in the area you can’t go wrong with James and Angela’s fabulous B&B, Parkhead House www.parkhead-house.com |
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| Who comes on our 5 day tours – you might be wondering? Firstly everyone is welcome! Solo travellers, friends, couples, family groups. Are you a first time solo traveller? There is no need to worry about being on your own as we will become an Outlander family for the week, our guests find that living in the cottages really brings an extra dimension to the tour. We eat breakfast together every morning before heading out touring for the day and of course there are the chats at the end of the day over a dram or glass of wine. Each cottage has its own lounge area so you have space if you need it too – perhaps to write in your journal or maybe even enjoy a soak in the hot tub as you look out over the fields full of sheep and cows. Please do get in touch if you would like to find out more about the tour, we are happy to have a zoom call where you can see if this is the tour for you. |
| Scottish Ancestry We were privileged to share in a number of Ancestry experiences last year, which took us from The Borders to The Isle of Lewis- checking out, among others, weavers, miners, farmers, fishermen, shoemakers, blacksmiths and clergymen. Yes. most ancestry tours do not involve famous people or royalty, but the stories are always fascinating and often quite emotional. Though we did have a real James Fraser last year. We also visited the Glengarry and Fergus Highland Games in Canada to showcase our Ancestry tours and met lots of wonderful people. Over the past 10yrs we have now introduced over 100 families to their Scottish ancestors and have had the most wonderful journeys of discovery. From Kings to paupers, playrights (JM Barrie-twice) to poets (Robert Burns) and hidden family secrets, it is all there. And whether famous or not, every story gives an insight into social history at the time- and there is always something new to learn- I have loved finding out about salt panning last year, thanks to the wonderful team at the Waggonway Museum in Cockenzie. Our ancestry tours are carefully researched and tailored to your family. We will find places of significance, churches, sometimes the home and, if you are very lucky, a gravestone. But you will leave with a good understanding of what life was like for your family, and what made them leave. We have spaces available over the next couple of months for ancestry research. So, if you would like to find out more about where you come from, just send us the information you have, and we will do all we can to help. Email anne@marysmeanders.co.uk |
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| Family Group Tours Last year we led a few family group tours around Scotland. This all starts with a Zoom conversation to ascertain the make up of the group (from babies to grandparents) and how we can accommodate all the different interests. Last year as well as scenery, historic sites and castles, we had islands, hikes, whisky distilleries, boat trips, gondola ride in Glencoe, book shops and a football stadium tour. As these tours do take extra planning, we really need to get everything in place in the quiet Winter months, before we are busy out touring. And we do have limited availability. You do not have to be a family- we have welcomed groups of friends and special interest groups for bespoke tours too. Just get in touch and we are happy to have a chat. |
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| Partners At Mary’s Meanders we firmly believe in collaboration and work with the best suppliers we can find to help us deliver the best possible tours. Thanks as always to Paul and Bill and the team at Tayforth Travel for transporting us and our guests. And we could not have delivered some of our tours last year without the help of the amazing Jane from Capercaillie Escapes, who manages the planning, logistics and accommodation, especially for some of our more complex tours. www.capercaillieescapes.com We were also delighted to deliver a number of bespoke tours for guests of the Cromlix Hotel. www.cromlix.com Sam Thomson from Edinburgh Tour Guides always starts off our 5 day tour with her fabulous walking tour along the Royal Mile www.edinburghtourguides.com Also thank you to Finlay at Williamscraig Holiday Cottages and to Kenny at The Torphichen Inn for providing us with wonderful accommodation and entertainment during our 5 day tours. And we were delighted to offer guiding services for some select larger tours. |
| Look Forward to 2024 The simplest thing to say is that if you do want to come to Scotland this year, get in touch very soon. We have a small selection of tours on our website, which we can adapt, if needed, or curate a completely bespoke tour. We are now focussing on private tours, plus our 5 day immersive Outlander tours. Outlander in 2024 Filming for the Blood of My Blood prequel is due to start in Glasgow next week and S8 will also start filming shortly. We already know Doune Castle (Castle Leoch) will be closed for filming from the 8th Jan to 21st Feb.and it is likely that filming will take place at Midhope Castle in Feb. (It is closed for the winter and not due to re-open until sometime in March) They will have two crews out filming at the same time. The bulk of the filming should be complete by the time our tours start, but as always, just to reiterate, we do not attempt to visit “closed sets” while filming is taking place. If we are fortunate to see some filming in an “open” location such as Falkland or Culross, we will happily enjoy that. It is very exciting to have the buzz around again, and the prequel does mean a happy return to some of our classic locations such as Doune. Outlander Immersive Tours 2024 We currently have 5 dates on offer, two in May, one in Jun and two in September. We may consider another in July, if we get enough interest. You can also get your own group together and we can replicate the tour at a time to suit you. Just be aware, accommodation prices rise considerably in the Summer months. These tours are ideal for solo travellers and we do not charge single supplements. Just think, this time next year you could have made new lifelong friends, here in Scotland. https://www.marysmeanders.co.uk/outlander-tour-scotland/outlander-tour-5-day/ My Peak Challenge – MPC Gala We believe there will be a MPC Gala in Scotland in Spring this year. No dates as yet. As in previous years we will be organising special tours around the event time. Why not get a group of your Peakers friends together and get in touch to discuss what type of tour you would like? |
| Follow us on Social Media to keep up to date with all our news www.facebook.com/MarysMeanders www.instagram.com/marysmeanders twitter.com/MarysMeanders Best wishes, Emma & Anne www.marysmeanders.co.uk |
August 2022 Newsletter
