Tours International - Mary Queen of Scots Group Tour

Mary Queen of Scots Group Tour

A romantic yet tragic figure, Mary seemed destined for glory, succeeding to the Scottish throne at only 5 days old, crowned Queen of France as a teenager and hailed by many as England's true Queen, yet she died a lonely figure, exiled from her country and the son she last saw as a baby. Involvement in a series of ill-fated plots resulted in imprisonment for over half her life and execution by her cousin Elizabeth I. Visit the Scottish castles and palaces important during her dramatic reign and the English stately homes where she was kept prisoner.

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Tour Highlights

Edinburgh, where Mary was jeered at for her Catholicism and where her husband Darnley was brutally murdered.
Palace of Holyroodhouse, Mary's main Scottish home when she returned from France aged 18. Mary's Secretary David Rizzio was murdered here. See Mary's bedchamber.
Edinburgh Castle where James I was born. See the Honours of Scotland, Britain's oldest Crown Jewels, first used together at Mary's coronation.
Linlithgow Castle, where Mary was born and St Michael's Church where she was baptised.
The site of the 1547 Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, the last pitched battle fought between England and Scotland.
Stirling Castle, one of the most inhabited Scottish castles, where Mary was crowned as a baby and where she lived for the first 5 years of her life.
Blackness Castle. When Mary was born, a plan was hatched to guard her at Blackness Castle durng the War of the Rough Wooing (when Henry VIII was trying to force the Scots to accept the betrothal of Mary to his son Edward). This castle also featured in the 2018 film Mary Queen of Scots.
Falkland Palace, Mary's beloved country home, where she enjoyed hunting and falconry.
Inchmahome Priory where as a small child she lived in sanctuary and in hiding, for fear of abduction by Henry VIII.
Craigmillar Castle, where Mary stayed after her son was born. Also famous as the location for the 'Craigmillar Plot', the supposed pact signed by the Scottish Lords who plotted Darnley's murder.
Scone Palace, traditional crowning place of Scottish monarchs. See the bed hangings made by Mary during her imprisonment.
Perth Museum and the Stone of Destiny.
Dumbarton Castle, where Mary and her mother stayed after the English victory at the Battle of Pinkie.
Mary Queen of Scots Visitor Centre at Jedburgh, where she scandalously lived during her affair with the Earl of Bothwell. See Mary's famous Death Mask and the notorious silver casket of letters used in evidence against her at her trial.
Loch Leven Castle, where her Scottish nobles held her prisoner.
Melrose Abbey, the first Cistercian monastery in Scotland, which was severely damaged by Henry VIII during the War of the Rough Wooing.
Chatsworth, famous seat of the Cavendish family, where Mary was held for many years in the custody of the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury and Hardwick Hall.
Fortheringay Castle, where Mary was tried and executed.
Her English prisons of Carlisle, Bolton and Tutbury Castles.
Westminster Abbey in London, where James I buried her remains in 1612.

Picture Gallery

What Our Clients Say

I was very fortunate to be on their 70th and 75th D-Day celebration tours. The service and attention to details was exceptional. It was very moving to go back.

As a Jane Austen enthusiast, this tour was perfect - and the Jane Austen Festival in Bath was just fabulous to see!

Words fail me...The Downton Abbey was a perfectly wonderful travel experience! We did not know we would be the ONLY guests at the Abbey. When we realised how truly exclusive our tour was we were speechless! Surreal being there and actually meeting Lady Carnarvon.