Proper 5 Star Tours to help clients experience Scotland
John Stevenson
C.E.O. &
Scotland Tour Guide
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We aim to give 5 Star Tours so that your time exploring Scotland is as good as possible
It still excites me knowing that we provide visitors to Scotland with a 5 Star experience when they explore Scotland!
When we received our 5 Star Accreditation from Visit Scotland on the first time of asking, we were one of the first companies in the whole of Scotland to offer a 5 Star Accredited Experience outside the city of Edinburgh and the first company to offer a 5 star experience in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.
Fast forward a few short years and we also offer many different 5 Star Tours from Glasgow, Balloch, Edinburgh and soon to be Inverness.
Why I started Experience Scotland’s Wild
When I first started Experience Scotland’s Wild, it was because no other company in the whole of Scotland was providing visitors to Scotland with an actual experience.
In my eyes, they were doing tours that didn’t let clients get off the bus for long. They travel for 1 hour, get out for 15 minutes, get their pictures of the stunning Highland landscape and then get back on the bus.
It was great if you just wanted to see lots of land from a bus window but not actually get out to explore. I know lots of visitors really enjoy this style of travel, though I just thought there was much more to offer than “checklist” tours
So I thought, I’d love to do something about that, and then came the birth of Experience Scotland’s Wild. I wanted to do tours to Scotland differently, I wanted to provide visitors with an experience they’d remember for all the right reasons.
What makes our Tours Different from the rest?
So you might be asking, what makes Experience Scotland’s Wild any different from any other tour company?
Great questions!
Off the Bus for short walks in the Highlands of Scotland
What makes Experience Scotland’s Wild different is we actually encourage you to get of the bus, we make a point of getting out for at least one short walk in the Highlands of Scotland on every tour.
It may be a lovely 30 minutes scenic walk at a Nature Reserve or a 1 hour walk in a National Park to get stunning views of the Highlands of Scotland.
All our walks are fully guided by our wonderful Scotland Guides and we also try to make them accessible to most clients. We want you to have more than just a picture stop, we want you to have an Experience!
Trusted and approved by Visitors to Scotland
Since we received our 5 Star Award from Visit Scotland for the first time in 2017, we’ve continued to be awarded every year when we are tested with random accreditation.
We never know when it’s happening or what tours will be checked, though due to a combination of our Guides wanting to give the best service and make sure visitors genuinely have the best time, modern, comfortable vehicles, great touring routes and quality of product, we always receive our 5 Star Award.
Consistently awarded 5 Stars by Visitors on TripAdvisor, Viator, Get Your Guide, Facebook and Google
It’s always great when we get the “official” Visit Scotland 5 Stars, though nothing is more pleasing than when you receive a new review from a client.
I honestly remember the very first review I got from a client in 2016, I did my first tour for 2 visitors and at the end I asked if they could review their tour on TripAdvisor, if I’m honest I didn’t know if they had a great time or if they were just being polite and I also didn’t expect them to leave a review.
Wow! when I got that review it was like winning the lottery, I was so delighted! I don’t know if I removed that smile from my face for a week. I was on a high! It was so personally rewarding knowing that all that effort I’d put into studying, visiting many different locations, creating an itinerary, deciding on a uniform, building a website, creating contacts to try and get the word out there that there was a new kid on the block, not knowing if the business would work or if it was just a dream that had no actual chance of success.
It was all so worth it! And, from that moment, I made it a mission to ensure that every time I a tour goes out, that I or one of our guides goes above and beyond to ensure that clients have the best time!
So as of now, January 2023, we have 99.9% 5 Star reviews on TripAdvisor, that’s 214 5 star reviews from 216 plus many more 5 star reviews on Viator, Get Your Guide, Facebook and Google!
Travel on Very Small Group Tours
We wanted clients to be comfortable, get more time talking and hearing from our wonderful Scotland Tour Guides and not feel like they were being herded onto a huge Coach. Most other tours have large groups, some coaches for tours have over 50 visitors and even the “small group” tours are 16 clients minimum.
So we made our tours “very small group” tours with a maximum of 8 clients on each tour.
We did this to ensure;
you get more time with the guide, as we believe the guide, more than anything else is responsible for helping provide the experience
to help visitors feel comfortable talking in a very small group experience
to help visitors feel like more than just a number
have an overall more comfortable experience
Thank you for trusting us to help you Travel & Experience Scotland
If it wasn’t for our amazing clients, we would’’t be able to live the dream and help visitors have amazing experiences all over the Highlands of Scotland and from the very bottom of my heart, I thank you very much for spending your hard earned money and taking the time while trusting us to provide you with a great tour in Scotland. I promise to keep trying to improve the tours we offer and create amazing experiences for all you great visitors to Scotland.
My Interview after getting 5 Star Accreditation for the first time
Grant Anderson from Visit Scotland Interviewed myself, John Stevenson and was interested to find out what I thought about Experience Scotland's Wild receiving Scottish Tourism's highest award.
5 Star Tour Award Interview
Q: How does it feel to receive a five-star tour award on your first attempt?
A: To receive a five-star tour award on the first time of asking was extremely awesome. Getting this fantastic recognition is very exciting and shows that all the hard work is paying off. We'll certainly kick on from this though and we'll keep striving to improve.
Hopefully now that we have the recognition, this will encourage more visitors to join us for a great day out.
It's all about #Sightdoing
Q: Tell me a bit about the company in your own words.
A: Experience Scotland’s Wild is not about sightseeing, it’s about sightdoing. We like to take people off the beaten track so they can truly experience and immerse themselves in Scotland’s beautiful landscapes.
It's different from your usual bus tours, which stop of briefly for visitors to take photos. That does serve a need, though I really wanted to create something different and provide an alternative experience.
So when we arrive at a destination, we go out on foot and go for longer, more scenic walks and truly immerse ourselves in the Scottish landscape.
Q: What made you want to start Experience Scotland’s Wild?
A: I remember being very impressed by the way they did tours and catered for tourists when travelling around Australia and that really inspired me.
I was lucky enough that in my early 20’s I worked hard and saved up to go travelling for a year. During my travels I visited so many stunning places, driving around for 2 months exploring New Zealand, seeing their fjords and mountains.
Travelling around Australia, scuba diving, hiking and working in youth hostels, plus meeting so many amazing people from all over the world. I spent some time exploring the beaches and volcanic regions of Hawaii and fishing the lakes and rivers of Alaska. Even though I was blessed enough to visit all of these stunning lands, there really is no place in the world like Scotland.
It was during this time, where I first came up with the idea of Experience Scotland’s Wild.
I really wanted to create something to show visitors how spectacular our country is and help provide them with experiences and memories that they would cherish for the rest of their lives.
Amazing Loch Lomond
Q: Is there something particularly special about Loch Lomond for you?
A: Loch Lomond's my favourite place in the world. I grew up in Balloch and I’ve also been lucky enough to be a Ranger in the National Park. Now I want to provide amazing and memorable experiences to as many visitors as possible and help them discover just how incredible Loch Lomond and the rest of Scotland really is.
We want to improve your Vacation
Q: How do you manage the whole company, clearly to a very high standard, all by yourself? What drives you?
A: It’s really liberating to start my own business in something I feel so passionately about. Every visitor is different and every tour is unique. The feedback I get is a huge boost as well. To know that you’ve made someone’s holiday is really special and makes early starts and working until late worthwhile. I’m constantly learning and striving to grow & improve in every area. The whole experience has been really enjoyable and I'm excited to continue providing wonderful experiences for Travellers from all over the world.
“Best Day in Scotland
— Angela
“Best Day Tour Ever
— lily
Q: What's the most satisfying part of running your company?
A: For me, there genuinely isn't a more satisfying feeling than when someone comes up to me at the end of a tour and tells me something like, “that was my best day in Scotland”, or “I’ve been on lots of tours around the world and this is the best Tour I’ve ever been on”.
Or simple things like “I had a wonderful day, thank you”. Showcasing Scotland and providing great experiences to visitors was the dream when I started Experience Scotland's Wild so it's awesome knowing that I'm living that dream.
