You might know we recently returned from one of our small group trips to Scotland. It was such a good time, and we’re hopeful you might be thinking about joining us on an upcoming trip! Speaking of our small group trips, we’ve received a few questions about what we do and what makes our trips different. Great question! Read on, friends.
What We Don’t Do
It might seem a little weird to start with what we don’t do, but it’s a shorter and important conversation. The biggest thing we don’t do for our clients is book their airfare between the US and wherever we’re going. Why? Well, different people like traveling in different cabins (business v. economy, for example), from different kinds of airports (small v. large), and prefer to travel with different amounts of luggage (we strongly recommend a rolling carry-on and backpack, but you do you, friend – you have to carry it 😊). As you might guess, each of those influences the price of your flight and potentially your itinerary. But most of all is the points! We’re big advocates of playing the credit card points game, as we’ve explained before, and if we book your flight you don’t get the miles or points (we do).
Other than your flight, we also don’t include travel insurance (though we always recommend getting it, just for your peace of mind) or schedule your activities during your free time, which we explain a little later. We do cover some of your meals, but we also leave time to try places you want, which you cover on your own.
What We Do
Okay, with that out of the way, let’s talk about the broad structure of how we build our small group trips and why we’re different. First, doing things The DeBode Way means choosing your own adventure and charting your own path, though we understand not everyone is as comfortable jumping into the unknown as others, or at least not yet. At the same time, most people we know don’t want a fully-planned itinerary that doesn’t leave time to explore at your own pace or interest. We fit in between these two extremes, building an overall structure that takes care of the major things but leaves lots of unstructured free time to create the trip of your dreams. Interested? Excellent; let’s use our most recent trip as an example.
Scotland, October 2024!
Our most recent Scottish small group trip started in Edinburgh, traveled to Oban, and then back to the outskirts of Edinburgh. Let’s talk about each part of the trip to give you a better sense of what we do.
Edinburgh, Part 1
Most folks in our small group flew from the US into Edinburgh, though a few flew into London and took the train from King’s Cross Station up to Edinburgh. Why? Flights into London are often considerably less expensive than into Edinburgh, so you can save some cash if you fly into London and take an easy 4-hour train ride with stunning scenery up to Edinburgh (don’t worry; we’ll give recommendations for how to do this). Even with first-class train tickets, you can save a bundle. For the folks who flew into Edinburgh, Jason met them at the airport and arranged cabs directly to our hotel. For those who took the train in from London, Tasha met them at the train station and walked with them a couple of blocks to the hotel. We also took care of the hotel accommodations, finding a hotel with an excellent location in the middle of the Royal Mile. This hotel included breakfast each morning, meaning one less thing our group had to worry about.
During our three days in Edinburgh, we arranged for a small group dinner and had pre-booked a two-day Hop-On/Hop-Off bus pass that included entrance to Edinburgh Castle, the Palace at Holyrood House, and the Royal Yacht Britannica – all the major attractions along the Mile. This also provided a great way to get around the city. Everything else during our stay in Edinburgh was up to our travelers. Before we left, we shared a document with tons of suggestions for things to do in Edinburgh and day trips to nearby locations. Our clients could book whatever sparked their interest (and the interests were far and wide). Some were content wandering the picturesque cobblestone streets along the Mile looking for gifts, having a cup of tea (or a dram of whisky), or people-watching. Others had done some family genealogy research, rented a car, and visited the lands of their ancestors. One group booked a private driver and headed to St. Andrews for the day and stumbled upon the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at the Old Course – what luck! We opted to book a professional photographer and take the train to the stunning Scottish countryside for some photos. The options are endless and everyone got to do what they wanted!
Our group dinners were designed to introduce our group members to each other, as not everyone knew one another. These were casual meals where we got to know each other and shared our day’s adventures. These meals were often followed by a poke into a pub or fancy hotel bar on the way back to our hotel for a dram of choice – we had a good time!
Oban
After getting our fill of Edinburgh (kidding, that’s not a thing), we had arranged for train travel up to the Highlands and our next destination: Oban. No need for cabs this time, as our hotel in Oban (which we took care of) was across the street from the train station. Here, as in Edinburgh, our hotel included a fabulous breakfast and we also covered two group dinners, one that included an evening of learning traditional Scottish dance.
As we were now in the Highlands, there were new things to do and countless day trips to some of the most stunning scenery you’ve ever imagined. Here again, some couples were happy to stroll along the main street in this fishing village. Others rented cars to visit where their ancestors walked. Some even booked a sightseeing tour. We opted to rent a car and head to Ardanaiseig Hotel, one of our favorite places in the Highlands. There we had tea, caught up with some friends, and took a walk on one of the magical paths through the woods. We had given our small group a list of suggested things to do in Oban and the surrounding areas, but everyone booked what they wanted, went at their own pace, and had a fantastic time. We even had a group venture out to the islands – which we highly recommend!
Edinburgh, Part 2
As our time in the Highlands ended, we walked everyone back to the train station for the 4-hour train ride back to Edinburgh (which we’d arranged) and cabs to the oasis that was our hotel for the night (which we’d also arranged). In our free time before dinner at the hotel, some of the small group headed to the spa while others relaxed in their expansive, luxurious rooms until dinner. We took care of a three-course dinner at the hotel’s amazing restaurant for a final round of tales and goodbyes.
The next morning everyone parted ways, with some heading to the airport to go home and others heading to London via train to continue their adventures. In each case, we took care of the cabs to the airport or train station.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, this gives you a better idea of what we do. Ultimately, we want you to have the trip of your dreams. Could we build a more structured itinerary? Sure. But just because we think something is a must-see doesn’t mean you do. Certainly, we’re happy to give you recommendations for things we’ve done in the past, but our goal is to take care of the things you don’t want to or might not think about, freeing you up to focus on what matters the most: making memories.
After dinner on our last night in Edinburgh, most folks called it an early night, exhausted from seeing all the things over the prior eight days. For us, that’s a victory, and we think it was for them, too.
Curious to learn more? Interested in joining us on our next group trip? Stay tuned for more details. We have more trip options coming soon!
Happy travels, friends!
1 Comment
[…] I nearly completely screwed up our first adult trip to Scotland in October (read about the trip here). The short version: two weeks before flying over to prepare to meet our group, I fell down a hill […]