Clan Chisholm 3 Day Tour – Itinerary

Clan Chisholm 3 Day Tour – Pick up and Drop off

The Clan Chisholm 3 Day Tour will pick up and drop off at your chosen locations near Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Clan Chisholm 3 Day Tour – Accomodation

The Clan Chisholm 3 Day Tour will stay for two nights in the Highland Capital Inverness. After booking we will be in contact directly to discuss accomodation options and to help craft the perfect journey for your group going to and from Inverness. (Day 1 and 3) Your second day will be your Chisholm Day Tour!

Clan Chisholm Day Tour

The Clan Chisholm Day Tour takes us first down Loch Ness Side. After visiting Urquhart Castle we leave the loch, at Drumnadrochit, and head west for Strathglass. We will see the clanlands in Glenaffric, and the Chisholm sites of Comar and Cannich. Then we will visit the old estate office and take a photostop at Erchless Castle, the clan seat.Perhaps we will be able to walk the grounds (depending on who is in residence at the time). A walk to the Chisholm burial ground at Erchless follows, and then it’s onwards to Culloden Battlefield. Last drive-by of the day will be an important Chisholm location in Inverness – the Gellions Bar. This can be a photostop, or, if you’re feeling thirsty then we can leave you here.

Urquhart Castle

Urquhart Castle is one of the iconic castles of Scotland. Held first by Pictish tribal chiefs, it’s relevance on this tour is because the Chisholms were the Crown’s appointed keepers of Urquhart in the 1300’s. It later became a Clan Grant seat, and altogether saw at least 1,000 years of continuous occupation. Even its destruction, in 1692, did not end the story as it became a favourite of painters and poets in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, and as a result today it is one of Scotland’s most visited castles.

Glen Affric

Glen Affric is one of the last remnants of the Great Caledonian Pine Forest. Ptolemy, in the second century AD first named it the Caledonian Forest – meaning “wooded heights” It was, for centuries, part of the heart of Clan Chisholm’s clanlands. Today Glen Affric is a nature reserve and a wonderful place to visit, with regular sightings of deer, osprey, red squirrel, heron, foxes, golden eagle and pine marten. We enjoy both the Dog Falls walk and the River Affric walk, because they each run alongside some impressive cascades.

Comar and Cannich

We will pass Comar Lodge which was one of the early seats of Clan Chisholm, and the flat meadows by the river here were one of the main muster points when the clan was marching to battle. Cannich was the main settlement within the lands of Clan Chisholm, and is still a very traditional village to this day. They do still field a very good shinty team.

Erchless – Castle and Burial Ground

Erchless Castle was originally a Bisset stronghold and came to the Chisholms by marriage in the 1500’s. By the 1700’s it had become the clan seat, overtaking Comar in that regard. The burial ground sits on top of the mediaeval motte of Cnoc an Tighe Mhoir. It was constructed in the 19^th century as a private burial ground for the Chisholm family, who were then the owners of Erchless Castle and as a result holds the remains of a number of Clan Chiefs.

Culloden Battlefield

Culloden Battlefield, site of the last battle on British soil, stands atop a ridge, four miles from Inverness. Here, Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite army met a final and chilling end. We will take you on a walk on the battlefield. You’ll see the Well of the Dead, the Main Cairn and the Clan Graves. Your clan’s position on the field is marked by a stone on the blue flag line.

Gellions, Inverness

The Gellions used to have rooms, back in 1746, and the Chisholm brothers (lieutenants in the Royal Scots Fusiliers) were billeted there. Events unfolded in such a way that one of those brothers became responsible for the assasination of their senior officer, who was lodging directly across the road. We’ll fill you in on the details when we see you.

Some Clan Chisholm Snippets

The Chisholms may have been a Norman family, attracted to the Scottish Borders by David I’s policies. The first Chisholm recorded as living in the Highlands was Sir Robert Chisholm, in the mid-fourteenth century. He succeeded to the positions of Justiciar, Constable of Urquhart Castle and Sheriff of Inverness. We always hold the Chisholms up as the best example of how confusing the 1745 Jacobite Rising was. A father and five sons, and every one took a different course of action (for good and specific reasons) in the conflict.

Fern is the plant badge of Clan Chisholm. Feros Ferio (I am fierce with the fierce) is their motto. The Pipe Music is Chisholm’s March.

Clan Chisholm 3 Day Tour  – Price

£1770 – for the private tour and up to 7 of your favourite people