A Taste of Scotland
with Mark Donald

You board at Edinburgh Waverley after lunch and the Royal Scotsman heads north to Perth, where it joins the Highland Main Line. This is one of the great railway journeys in Britain. The line follows the Tay and the Garry past Dunkeld, Pitlochry and Blair Atholl, then climbs over the Pass of Drumochter, which at 452 metres is the highest point on the British rail network. Beyond the summit the land opens out towards Aviemore and the Cairngorms National Park.

Tea and scones are served as the scenery unfolds. Later the Observation Car becomes the setting for an exclusive wine masterclass with L’Art du Vin, who specialise in organic and biodynamic wines and share practical advice on matching wine with food.

In the evening the train comes to rest at Boat of Garten on the Strathspey Railway, a heritage line of about ten miles that runs from Aviemore to Broomhill along part of the old Highland Railway route. The station buildings at Boat of Garten date from 1904. A champagne and canapé reception starts the evening, followed by a four-course dinner prepared by Mark Donald. Afterwards there is live entertainment in the Observation Car, along with stories from Mark about his life in the kitchen.

After breakfast a coach takes you the short distance to Rothiemurchus Estate near Aviemore. The Grant family have owned Rothiemurchus since the 1540s, and the estate holds a precious remnant of the ancient Caledonian pine forest, home to ospreys, capercaillie, crested tits and Scottish crossbills. The Cairngorms National Park around it is the largest national park in the United Kingdom and protects more than half of Scotland’s surviving Caledonian forest.

The morning is yours to shape. Choose from clay pigeon shooting, fishing, a tour of the estate or a guided hike through the pinewoods. Everyone then gathers at Drumintoul Lodge for a barbecue lunch with Mark, with the mountains filling the view.

The train picks you up at Carrbridge and runs north to Inverness, then east along the shores of the Moray Firth to Forres. From here the Royal Scotsman Whisky Ambassador leads a tutored whisky tasting as you travel through Speyside, home to more than half of Scotland’s malt whisky distilleries. The journey then turns south along the east coast through Aberdeenshire and Angus to Dundee.

Dundee sits on the Firth of Tay and is a UNESCO City of Design. Its waterfront is home to V&A Dundee, Scotland’s first dedicated design museum, which opened in 2018 in a building by the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, and to RRS Discovery, the ship built in the city that carried Captain Scott on his first Antarctic expedition. Tonight is the gala dinner, so dress for the occasion. Mark joins guests in the Observation Car afterwards for farewell drinks, music and toasts.

A last breakfast is served as the train leaves Dundee and heads south through the Kingdom of Fife. The finale is the crossing of the Forth Bridge, the great red cantilever bridge that opened in March 1890 and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015. Shortly afterwards the train pulls into Edinburgh Waverley and the journey ends.

Itineraries and timings shown may be changed for seasonal or operational reasons.