Clan Dunbar Scotland Tour 2024
Registration Information
Every five years Clan Dunbar returns to Scotland, not only to introduce our members to the country’s glorious scenery and fascinating history, but also to explore the castles and private estates of our ancestors. Our next trip will take place in June and July of 2024. Within this package you will find all the information you need to sign up and join us. These trips are very popular so if you are interested, I would urge you to read the material quickly and sign up at your earliest convenience to secure your place. The opportunity to sign up will close on or before December 31st.
Summary of the Trip
The tour will begin at Glasgow International Airport early in the morning of June 23, ending on July 4th with your delivery to Edinburgh Airport. We will first travel to the scenic port of Oban, from there taking a ferry to the stunningly wild and beautiful Isle of Mull.
Our second day will be spent touring the magical island of Iona, where Saint Columba brought Christianity to Scotland in the 6th Century. From Iona we will head north to Moray, where you will be introduced to our Dunbars there, both past and present. Moray once extended from Inverness to Banff, and was one of the most productive farming areas of Scotland, extending along the very scenic Moray Firth. Our Dunbar Earls of Moray and of Westfield lived here, where they owned many of the region’s largest farm estates. We will spend four nights in Elgin, where the historic Elgin Cathedral was once the center of religious life for our Dunbars. While in Moray we will also visit Clava Cairns, the Culloden Battlefield, Brodie Castle, Darnaway Castle, and Grangehill. We will also meet with our Dunbar relatives in the area, the Baronets of Northfield and the Laird of Pitgaveny.
From Moray we will head Southeast towards Perth to visit the lovely and ancient town of Dunkeld, where the country of Alba (Scotland) began. We will also visit the Abbey of Arbroath, where two of our ancestors signed the famous Declaration of Arbroath, declaring Scotland’s independence from England, over 700 years ago.
Our tour will end in Edinburgh. You will have ample time there to explore this wonderful ancient city on your own. All the museums – and there are many – are free to the public. The shopping is spectacular as is the scenery, and some of the most visited sites in Scotland are there – Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Castle, and the Royal Mile that connects one to the other.
While in Edinburgh, as we always do, we will take the time to visit Castles in East Lothian once held by the Earls of Dunbar. We always visit Dunbar Castle, once one of the largest and most defensible structures in East Lothian, but on this trip we will also see parts of Luffness and Whittinghame.
An ITINERARY, with more detail of the venues and hotels, is included for your review. As for all our trips, we will see many places that are very Dunbar specific, some in private hands and not open to the public.
Special Events
For this tour, we have planned four special events:
Our 2024 AGM AND DNA AUCTION, which will take place at our hotel in Elgin;
Our first ever CLAN DUNBAR GATHERING, to be held at the Moray Golf Club in Lossiemouth, where we will welcome our Dunbar friends, known and new, in the area;
A FAREWELL DINNER at the Amber Restaurant in Edinburgh;
A possible BOAT TOUR, either to the back of Dunbar Castle, to the Isle of May to see the Puffin colony there, or both; your interest in this boat tour would be appreciated as it is still tentative.
How To Sign Up
All the information you need to sign up has been included:
Itinerary prepared by Cashel Travel with our input
Terms & Conditions, which is a statement of price per person; what is included and not included in the price, payment schedule and cancellation policy.
Online Secure Payment. Make your Scotland Tour payments online directly through the Clan Dunbar website using a credit card, a debit card, or PayPal account.
Please read each item carefully before signing up.
Timeline for Registration and Payment
We must close all registrations before December 31. You will be allowed to register until then, on a first-come first-served basis. You will need to complete the application and pay a $650 deposit per person in order to secure your place.
Your final payment will be due on or before March 22nd. We are contractually obligated to pay Cashel the balance of the tour cost on that date.
Registration Instructions
We ask that you access the clan website (www.clandunbar.org/scotland-tour-2024-form) to complete the application form. You may pay either by check, debit card, credit card, or PayPal, but please read the payment instructions below as electronic payment will incur additional charges.
We stand ready to answer any questions you may have. Please see the Application for contact information regarding assistance.
Completing the Application
Please note that you are asked to read the Terms & Conditions and review the status of your passport before completing the application. You must have a passport that will be valid for at least 6 months after you return from this trip. Please check your passport and apply for a renewal immediately if needed. The renewal will likely take many months.
You have been asked to advise us if you plan to arrive earlier than June 23, or leave later than July 4th. Plane reservations are not included with your cost, but if many will arrive on June 23, we may be able to recommend a flight into Glasgow. More to come on this. Once everyone has signed up, we will review arrival and departure information to see if we can offer suggestions. As we move closer to departure date, we will ask for your arrival information because we will track your plane’s arrival time. Our bus must leave for Oban at a pre-determined time early in the morning of June 23rd. If you make plane reservations early, please ensure that you will be ready to join the tour bus by 9:00 a.m.
Please closely review the information for the Blue Wild Boat Tour. This side trip, if there is sufficient interest, will be optional and the cost is not included in the tour price. It would be extremely helpful to know your interest before we proceed further.
Making Payment
We ask that you submit an initial payment of $650 with your application. You may pay be check, credit card, debit card, or PayPal account, but if you pay by debit or credit card you will be assessed a 3% fee on the total amount. Electronic payments must be submitted via the website.
Given that December mail delivery may be capricious, we ask that payments by check be mailed in sufficient time to be received NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 22ND. We must be able to wire the funds on December 31st. Checks should be payable to ‘Clan Dunbar International’ and mailed to:
Mr. William Dunbar
Treasurer, Clan Dunbar International
13809 N Edison Ave
Tampa FL 33613
Without payment your position is not secure.
As people sign up, the list will be monitored by Karin Dunbar and Sue Gill who are on our planning team. Questions about use of the website should be directed to Tony Dunbar, our webmaster. Questions about the itinerary should be directed to me. Contact information for each can be found on the Application.
We hope to see you in Scotland next year!