September 17 - 27, 2026
A unique tour of the most important and evocative sites of Scottish prehistory. Starting on the Orkney Islands, then on to sites on mainland Scotland, journeying west to Kilmartin Glen before taking the ferry to the Outer Hebrides, traveling up from South Uist to our final destination on the Isle of Lewis.
An Educational Tour Designed for ALI and Led by Standing With Stones Filmmakers Michael Bott and Rupert Soskin!
Our guides for this unique tour of Scottish sites are The Prehistory Guys, Michael Bott and Rupert Soskin, who have served as ALI's guides for our previous megalithic tours in Britain, Ireland and Brittany. Michael and Rupert played a principal role in designing this tour, intended to highlight the most significant and impressive megalithic sites of Scotland.
This ten-day tour crosses northern Scotland, beginning and ending in two of Scotland's principal island groups, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides. The journey begins in Kirkwall, in the Orkneys, where we spend three nights and visit a surprising group of sites comprising the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Heart of Neolithic Orkney. The Ring of Brodgar is the third-largest circle henge in Britain, while Skara Brae is Europe's most complete Neolithic village and Maes Howe is one of Britain's most majestic passage graves. Although excavations have ended at one of Europe's most significant Neolithic sites, the Ness of Brodgar in Orkney, our tour includes a presentation at that site by its chief archaeologist, Nick Card.
After a ferry ride to the Scottish mainland on Day 3, our bus wends down the east side of Scotland, along the way visiting chambered cairns, Grey Cairns of Camster and Clava Cairns. We end the day at a boutique hotel within Cairngorms National Park, not far from Inverness. After visiting the Crannog Centre on Day 4 to learn about the ancient and mysterious lake dwellings there, we find ourselves on Scotland's west coast, where we spend Day 5 exploring the wonderful variety of sites in and around Kilmartin Glen, including stunning displays of rock art.
After a long and breathtaking ferry ride on Day 6 to the Outer Hebrides, we zero in on some of the most remote and fascinating sites of our tour, beginning on the isles of South Uist, Benbecula and North Uist. After seeing Barpa Langas, the best preserved Neolithic chambered tomb in the Outer Hebrides, and the ruins of the Iron Age Broch (stone fort), Dun Torcuill, we take another ferry on Day 8 to the Isle of Harris, stopping at sites there on our way to the Isle of Lewis, where we will spend all of Day 9 at the wonderful sites (they cannot be rushed!) and visitor center at Callanish. After a final dinner together at the storied Dunan Hotel on the west coast of Lewis, we make our way the morning of Day 10 to Stornoway Airport and flights back home.
Total Price (double occupancy): $7265/person. Single supplement: add $830.
Registration fee: $1,500 to ALI. This amount is included in the total price above. Spots are limited, so register today!
Included Costs: All lodging and all meals from arrival in Kirkwall until delivery to Stornoway airport, private ground transportation, all entry fees, expert tour guides (Michael Bott and Rupert Soskin), evening lectures, and local guides.
Costs not included: alcoholic beverages, gratuities for service providers (guides, waiters, drivers, maids), personal travel insurance, and airfare to and from Scotland (flights into Kirkwall and out of Stornoway).
Dates: September 17 - 27, 2026