Viking Coast and Alnwick Castle Very Small Group Tour from Edinburgh
Recommended by 94% of travelers
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Edinburgh, Scotland
- 9 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Discover Northumberland’s fascinating past on a stress-free, small-group day trip from Edinburgh. Avoid the hassle of navigating buses or tide schedules as you cross into England and visit the island of Lindisfarne (also known as Holy Island). There, explore its ancient Christian roots and Viking history. Continue to magnificent Alnwick Castle, famed for its real-life royal heritage and film appearances in "Harry Potter™" and "Downton Abbey"—and return to Scotland having checked off two fascinating historic landmarks.
- Explore beyond Scotland without having to tackle the roads yourself
- A small-group tour ensures a relaxed, crowd-free experience
- Gain insight you might otherwise miss thanks to the insider knowledge of a local guide
- Round-trip transport ensures a seamless experience
What's Included
- Very small group tour - average group size of around 12 passengers
- Live commentary on board
- Local guide
- Driver/guide
- Transport by air-conditioned Mercedes mini-coach
- Food and drinks
- Gratuities
- Attraction Entrance Fees
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Waterloo Pl, Edinburgh EH1 3BQ, UK
This tour departs from (and returns to) Bus Stand ZE, Waterloo Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3BQ (opposite Howie's Restaurant). Please arrive no later than 08.45.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Start time.9:00 am
Itinerary
Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve (Pass By)
1
Lindisfarne Priory
1 hour 15 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
2
Lindisfarne Castle
1 hour 15 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
Bamburgh Castle (Pass By)
Farne Islands (Pass By)
3
Alnwick Castle
2 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
4
The Alnwick Garden
2 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
5
Northumberland National Park
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
6
Coldstream
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Very small group tour - average group size of around 12 passengers
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Minimum age is 5 years old
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Service animals allowed
- Operates in all weather conditions (unless it is unsafe to do so), please dress appropriately
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- Please inform us 7 days in advance if you are bringing a service animal
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
This was the tour with great history, wonderful beauty, and a lot of fun. Angela, our guide, was warm, fiercely, proud of her country, well informed and knew how to be a fabulous hostess. Her stories, facts and music made the day fly by. The contrast between Holy Island and Alnwick Castle were perfect juxtapositions. It added great interest to the day which seemed to fly by.
Reviews
4.7
based on 177 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Our group of nine had a fantastic tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable and was happy to answer all of our questions about Lindesfarn and Scotland. All of our group had a great time and we are glad that we selected the tour that we did.
Response from Host, Aug 2026
Thanks for your 5 star review which is fantastic to read
This was an excellent tour and a great length, as we left at 9 am and were back ik Edinburgh around 6pm. Our guide Callum was so friendly and gave is such detailed information throughout our drive. After about an hour and a bit of driving we stopped at a cute cafe for the bathroom and coffee before heading to Alelwnick Castle, where we had 2.5 hours to tour the castle and gardens (this was about $30/person but worth it! We didn't feel the need to go into town as we had lunch at the cafe in the gardens. Then we drove to the Holy Island castle, which was incredible! It was about a mile walk from the car park to the castle, which was beautiful. We opted not to pay the extra $$ to walk up the castle as it was about $18/person. After wandering in the town a bit we had an hour and a half drive back. Overall an excellent day! Definitely glad we wore sneakers as there was a lot of walking.
Response from Host, Aug 2026
Hi Ashley, thanks for choosing Heart of Scotland Tours and I'm glad to hear you had a cracking day out with Calum.
Great time, Great castles and priory, beautiful country.
Our guide was wonderful and full of lots of information.
Response from Host, May 2026
Hi Ashley, it's great to hear you enjoyed our day trip across the border into Northumberland. It's a bonnie part of the world...
we had a beautiful weather day, there is not enough time to go to the priory ruins and the castle, it is a long walk. we did the priory and we were there on a sunday, things were closed. Alnwick castle was gorgeous! By changing return routes our guide Euan was able to give us more time to explore. Well worth it, the interior rooms are stunning and a working castle.
Our guide, Angela was a wealth of information about the area. We chose Lindisfane castle as there wasn't tine to visit the priory or museum. The tour of Alnwick castle was great, so much to see. All in all, this was a great tour.
This was the tour with great history, wonderful beauty, and a lot of fun. Angela, our guide, was warm, fiercely, proud of her country, well informed and knew how to be a fabulous hostess. Her stories, facts and music made the day fly by. The contrast between Holy Island and Alnwick Castle were perfect juxtapositions. It added great interest to the day which seemed to fly by.
Heart of Scotland tours are just exceptional. This was the second of two we took and both were so well organized and comfortable. Our guide/driver was Angela and she combined history and knowledge of the area with music in a marvelous way. The pace, sites and value of this tour were unsurpassed. You absolutely cannot go wrong with this company. The vans are perfect as is group size. What a great way to enjoy the Borders area. Recommend!
The host was so friendly and dedicated to I making us understand the history. The tour was well worth it.
This was an excellent tour for exploring the Viking Coast and Alnwick Castle. Our tour guide, Callum, was so passionate and made the stories he shared come alive. We felt like we had traveled back in time! We had numerous stops throughout the tour and plenty of time to explore the various sites. We had a smashing time!
If you do the castle and gardens - start with the gardens, we ran out of time. Great vistas and our guide Callum was amazing!!
We had a terrific trip to Alnwick Castle and Lindisfarne Priory. Our guide, Angela, was wonderful. I highly recommend this excursion!
This tour was a wonderful day trip out of Edinburgh! Howard was a knowledgeable and accommodating guide. There was just the right amount of time at each stop. We enjoyed walking across the border into Northumberland, and Alnwick castle in particular was spectacular. Keeping on schedule was important because crossing to Holy Island is dependent on the tide, but Howard did a good job or organizing the schedule. The day sped by because there never seemed to be overly long stretches on the bus. The small group configuration worked well for us, and we would highly recommend this tour.
Wonderful tour! The right amount of time in the different spots, great insights and history. It was refreshing that Keith shared the right amount of facts, music, making the tour a great and relaxing time. Highly recommend! From all 4 tours (from 3 different companies) most definitely my favorite.
Great tour. They tour guide was amazing and very knowledgeable. The views from holy island and Alnwick castle are stunning.
My friend and I have a great time. It was a last minute booking and thank God we found you guys. The driver is very accomodating and very smooth driving. I will definitely will go on to this tour again when we get back to Scotland.
We had so much fun getting acquainted with Northumberland through this tour. Our tour guide was Keith who is very knowledgeable of the history of the region and he made the drive very fun and interesting! Tips: With Lindesfarne be sure to see the the Church and grounds. The outside of the priory can be seen and explored without admission. Be sure to also take a few minutes and capture some good views of Lindesfarne castle while on the island. With Alnwick choose either the castle or Alnwick Gardens. IMO, While each is equally fantastic there isn’t enough time to do both.
First off, Angela was a dream. She was friendly, funny and made the tour extra special. We had plenty of time at the sites. Clean and comfortable coach. No complaints at all!
Angela is an absolute gem and she definitely made the trip more memorable with her humour and stories. The sights are really pretty, the history interesting- even the notoriously indecisive weather doesn’t take away from the charm of the trip
The tour operator was very nice and she did a great job, but we got half a tour. The bus broke down halfway. They called alternative transportation to take us back to the starting point, and nothing was offered as consolation.
Response from Host, Jun 2023
Hi Drew, this was a challenging afternoon but I think stating you got a 'half a tour' is somewhat disengenous. Conveniently our bus broke down at Alnwick Castle itself which meant you still got to spend all your allocated time (circa 3 hours) at the Castle in beautiful weather (plus you had visited Holy Island earlier in the day).
Alternative transport was arranged to take you back to Edinburgh which is effectively the final leg of the tour under normal circumstances albeit you didn't have a driver/guide accompanying you.
Overall I think a 2 star review is extremely harsh, sorry.
The Alnwick Castle was exceptional. The tour guide/driver was great with many discussions of Scottish culture, politics, history and literature. The one downside is that it is a long bus ride coming and going from Edinburgh.
It was a great, well paced trip. I wish we could spend more time on Lindisfarne but I also understand why that’s not possible given everything you get to see on this trip. Alnwick was fascinating, I recommend doing one of the guided history tours.
Excellent information we had a ball can’t wait to come back again. The driver gave excellent information on the tour and answered all her questions.
We had a great time on this trip, but the tour guide, Kevin was an older gentleman that really wasn't very nice or helpful. If we had a different tour guide, we would have had a better time. Also, nothing was said about the Viking Coast, we wanted to hear about the Vikings, a bit disappointing.
Good tour. Take pictures early on the holy island. Fog rolls in quick and hides the castle from view.
Response from Host, Nov 2022
Hi Carol, thanks for taking the time to leave a review. Pity about the fog...
We had a great time on this tour. Our guide was excellent. The travel and experience was relaxing and easy.
Nice one day excursion. Guide knowledgeable and flexible to changing conditions. Met the neefs of all tourists.
The castle was very good. Needed more time for the gardens. Tours at the castle were good but not enough time to take advantage for more than one. Could have skipped the last castle “Etol.
We were told Interesting historical tales provided by respectful, knowledgeable guide. We had quiet time to relax, heard some Scottish music but again it was quiet enough for us to talk to each other. The walk through the village of Alnwick was lovely.
Calum was knowledgeable and friendly. A great enthusiast and it made the trip that much better. The scenery is incredible.
Response from Host, Jun 2022
Hi James, thanks for taking the time to review Calum and Heart of Scotland Tours. Much appreciated.
Our tour guide. Keith, was very knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor. The tour was well paced. We enjoyed all the sights we visited. Very worthwhile day of experiences!
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