Ullapool Tours was created in 2022 to share our love for the rich history and heritage of Ullapool, Lochbroom, Assynt and the Scottish Highlands with you. We are a small local business run by two women. We are best friends, story lovers, history geeks and love to paint a vivid picture of the past.
If you want to get real insights into the area’s past and heritage and love good stories, we got you covered! Our experience in the tourism industry includes guiding tours in Ullapool, the Highlands and the whole of Scotland, working in Ullapool Museum, and managing one of the local bookshops. For these roles, and also out of personal interest, we have read every bit of local information that we could lay our hands on.
We want you to really enjoy our tours. To give you the best possible experience, each tour offers a mix of insightful facts and entertaining stories. We cover a broad range of topics, from people to history and heritage, folklore, geology and archaeology. We will bring along maps, sketches and old photographs to illustrate events and connect you to the people who used to live here. We encourage you to make good use of your private tour guide – ask us anything you like and let us know which subjects matter most to you. We are always happy to satisfy your curiosity!
Some of our research has gone into our ‘This is Ullapool’ guide book which we published in 2020. You can find a in Ullapool’s bookshops and the VisitScotland iCentre (tourist information). Right now, we are working on a new book project, available from spring 2023.
When we are not reading a book or searching an archive, you can often find us at a beach or up a hill exploring geology or archaeological remains, or just wallking and enjoying the breathtaking beauty of the landscape. And, on a lazy Sunday morning, we enjoy having home-made oat bannocks, eggs and home-blended tea for brunch, doing Kakuro puzzle competitions, and studying maps to plan our next outings.
Sustainability is at the heart of what we do. We advocate slow, eco-friendly tourism that creates a deep connection between you, the visitor, and the places you visit. We also try to keep the carbon footprint of our business and tours as low as possible. Besides being good for the environment, walking in these beautiful surroundings is a great way to be active, get some fresh air and exercise, unwind, and leave all your stress behind.
We are excited to meet you on one (or more :-)) of our tours!
Learn about the history of Ullapool from its creation as a planned fishing village to the popular tourist destination that it is today. Follow our self-guided Walk through Ullapool that combines a detailed route description with information on the local history. Step back even further in time to discover the remains of the area's rich archaeological past. Find out about the geological events that shaped this beautiful part of the world. Two walks with accompanying maps, the River and Hill Walk, take you on a journey to explore the natural setting and savour the breathtaking views Ullapool has to offer. Experience the surroundings of Ullapool by venturing out on our short excursions that can all be reached within 30 minutes from Ullapool by car. Things to do in Ullapool and useful information are also included in this travel guide. Enjoy your visit to our lovely village!
'This is Ullapool' is stocked by the Ceilidh Place Bookshop, Ullapool Bookshop and the Visit Scotland iCentre.
We are happy to post our guide book to you if you live in the UK, please send us an email for details.
New for end of 2023 is our fabulous collection of selected stories from Lochbroom, Coigach and Assynt. Years of research, lots of passion, sweat and a few tears, as well as many chocolate cakes led to this book of our favourite tales of the past. Many of these fantastic stories sound like folklore, but in fact they are all true! Meet the extraordinary people who lived here and follow their colourful adventures. Some tales will amaze you, some will make you smile, some are tragic - a mirror of life in the area. An unmissable read full of stories of courage, mischief, resistance, vanity and lies. If you love a good story, are interested in local characters and history, and want to find out about life through the centuries at the northwest coast of the Scottish Highlands, this is the book for you - great for a rainy day by the fire with a wee dram!
'Characters & Tales from Lochbroom, Coigach and Assynt' will be available from late 2023.