Historian Stephen Hay Welcomes You

Private Tours of Scotland

Multi day tours to and from anywhere via anywhere.

Stephen will fascinate you with his historical lingo.

Your own private vehicle with driver and no sharing.

Scenery, history, secrets, stories and more.

A truly unique experience away from the crowds.

Laughter and joy from the beginning to the end.

Private Tours of Scotland

Hello, welcome to my website, Targe Tours. My names Stephen Hay and I’m a Scottish historian and private tour guide setting off on adventures all over Scotland from Edinburgh. I specialise in private tours of Scotland which means no vehicle sharing.

We can go where you want, stay as long as you want, you can change your route and itinerary at the drop of a hat, unlike our larger competitors who stick to rigid time tables and often on a fixed route, going to one tourist trap after another.

We take great pride in Scotland and its history, we delight in bringing it to life for you, as basic or as in depth as you like, as ever the choice is yours.

A True Scottish Experience

Exploring Scotland with a private guided tour is the best way to get the absolute most out of your time. From single day tours where Targe Tours make sure you get the most out of your short time up to mega multi-day tours. I’m an experienced Scottish Historian who’ll deliver the most upbeat, knowledgable and adventurous private guided tour of Scotland you can possibly wish for.

So get in touch today and start planning your adventure of a lifetime as we explore some of Scotlands Historic Castles, Mountains, Lochs, Monuments and let the story of Scotland unfold in front of your own eyes as Stephen dazzles you with his knowledge of all things Scotland, past, future and present.

Tours of Scotland

Pick up and drop off at any location
No vehicle sharing
Learn about Scotland’s history
You decide where you want to go
From one day tours to multi-day tours
Island hopping to whisky tours
Full custom private tours

We are 3 adults who wanted to explore Scotland in 9 days without having to drive on the left side of the road. Steve Hay was our driver/tour guide extraordinaire. His car was very comfortable. He is an excellent driver on the one-lane roads with pullouts for passing oncoming traffic! After spending a day in Edinburgh on our own exploring the Royal mile, Steve picked us up at our hotel to start our travel in the Highlands. We had many highlights on the trip including Braemar Highland Games (Queen Elizabeth attended), Culloden Battlefield, 5 hikes through the Isle of Skye, and 6 castles visited. Steve entertained us with songs, poems and Scottish history during our drives.

He is fiercely proud of Scotland and an excellent historian. He was very flexible with our preplanned itinerary. Each morning he suggested excellent places to explore and was genius at substituting alternative activities when the rain prohibited our planned hikes. It always rains in Scotland so come prepared with foul weather gear. But wait a minute and the sun will shine. He made extra efforts to our delight especially with the chase we did to have the best view of the Hogwarts Express train when our late ferry made it impossible to see the train go over the famous Glenfinnan Viaduct! We highly recommend Steve as your driver and tour guide! You won't be disappointed!

We had 3 couples and Steven Hay in a very comfortable van!!! We left from Edinburgh and traveled the highlands and the Ille of Skye for 8 days. We learned so much history from Steve, saw castles, amazing landscapes, small villages, and many historic sights. The hotels and B&Bs were very nice and the dinner reservations were top notch. Steve was flexible and quick to figure out the things we were most interested in seeing and doing. So fun!!! I would highly recommend Steve and this company!!!

Trip Advisor Review

We had three days to see as much as Scotland as we could, Steve accomodated wonderfully to our wants and needs and adjusted amazingly to all the bumps in the road that travelling on the other side of the world, AND in the middle of Winter can bring up! We visited Lochness, battlefields, castles, explored the Highlands, immersed ourselves in famous Scottish Whisky, explored the isle of Skye and threw our first snowballs at each other!
Steve is an extraordinary historian, singer and proud Scotsman – providing endless entertainment and making our trip to Scotland a trip that will stick very close to our hearts forever. There was 7 of us on this trip including our nan (who is over 70 years old!) who was wonderfully catered for and looked after well. Thank you from the bottoms of our hearts, Steve!

This is one of the most memorable vacations & learning experiences of my life. Stephen Hay was our private tour guide but really & truly he was our brother from another mother.

He joked & sang & switched gears at our discretion & taught us all & I mean all of the most interesting historical facts about Scotland & it’s history & about our family name, McIntyre.

We were 5 sisters older in age & well travelled and even though we knew better we overpacked. He hauled those suitcases in & out of the van in a sweat grinning like he might toss them in a ditch at any moment. It was so humorous but also rediculous how much luggage we had.

Then we collected rocks & bought another suitcase to put the rocks in. He almost fell over with laughter. Things undoubtedly go a bit haywire from time to time when traveling & he handled it like a professional. We never worried about a thing, we had Stephen.

We had more frequent stops because we are girls, we talked about things he would probably rather not hear but he had such a great sense of humor that we felt very comfortable. We all teased him & he teased back and nicknamed us & treated us as you would your family.

It was so sad after 14 days to leave him but even then before dropping us in Edinburg he gave us a tour so we had the lay of the land. I will miss him.

He has a historical book coming out & our family will be the first to buy it and read it hearing his voice & waiting to hear him break into song. Rita Bourbon

Scottish Whisky Tour

Private Scottish Whisky Tours with Targe Tours. We Scots have been producing whisky or, Uisge Beatha (oosh – kabah) the water of life since the dawn of time. Discovering your favourite can be an exciting & illuminating journey. Here in Bonnie Scotland we have well over 100 distilleries so you are truly spoiled for choice. From Lowland to Highland, from Islay to Speyside we can visit as many distilleries and whisky outlets as you like.

Let Targe Tours take you on a journey of discovery around this whisky lover paradise, as well as organised distillery visits we will take impromptu stops to sample a wee dram, on us, with the awesome backdrop of the Scottish Highlands as our pub. Simply magic.

Loch Ness Day Tour

If you want to see as much of Scotland as possible, but have limited time. We can take you on the most scenic route to Loch Ness and back with the added bonus of purposely avoiding tourist traps and at the end of the tour, being safely delivered to your accommodation or destination of your choice.

Don’t like Monsters, that’s Ok. I can do any type of day tour you like. All you have to do is share your ideas and together we can come up with the most incredible day tour you could ever dream of.