Exclusively Scottish Golf Vacations
Either focus on a region or combine them
Scotland's Best
Scotland probably has five golf playing regions (with an emerging sixth).
St Andrews/ Fife (east coast)
Ayrshire (west coast)
Highlands
Aberdeenshire
East Lothian (Edinburgh)
The Western Isles (the emerging sixth)
It’s possible to spend a week in any of them if you wanted a lower intensity experience, but most visiting golfers will look to merge two or three of them together over a 10-12 night duration.
Most of them are capable of routing St Andrews into their itinerary
Click from the Menu below to explore in greater detail
This tour has been specifically designed to capture Scotland’s Open Championship rotation, including a couple of historic courses at Prestwick (and even Musselburgh) which have long ago dropped off the pattern
Duration
Typically about 9 nights
Features
St Andrews, Muirfield, with (Musselburgh?) Carnoustie, Royal Troon, Turnberry, Prestwick, Kingsbarns, North Berwick, and the St Andrews New and Jubilee Courses
‘Best’ is inevitably subjective since it’s always possible to defeat such a claim by simply name checking another course and saying you’ve improved it. Fair enough. We could do that too. All we have to do is add Royal Dornoch and say the ‘best just got better’. What we’ve tried to do therefore is balance the duration and the mileage demands and base the claim on that.
Duration
Typically about 9 nights
Features
St Andrews, Muirfield, North Berwick, Turnberry, Royal Troon, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, Gleneagles, Royal Burgess, with St Andrews New Course
It’s not quite possible to replicate the ‘best’ summer vacation in the shoulder season due to visitor playing seasons, but if we wanted to achieve a little bit of relief in our budget, then the scope exists to play in the months of April and October
Duration
Typically about 8 nights
Features
St Andrews, Turnberry, Carnoustie, North Berwick, Kingsbarns, Gleneagles, Elie, Royal Burgess & St Andrews New Course
Traditionally, the West Coast of Ayrshire might have been considered Scotland’s ‘second region’ after St Andrews and the East Coast. It was perhaps no surprise therefore that as visiting golfers expanded their dragnet beyond Fife, that they started to take in Troon, Turnberry and Prestwick. The Coast to Coast tour is therefore quite an old one too, and linked by Gleneagles at the halfway point
Duration
Typically about 9 nights
Features
St Andrews, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, Dumbarnie with Turnberry, Royal Troon, Prestwick & Gleneagles
This vacation is probably the oldest of the lot and with a sense of nostalgia, is probably the one to which Scottish golf travel resolves. It’s the traditional ‘St Andrews golf week’ which set the whole thing off and is based largely in the town itself with some of the less expensive supporting links of Fife
Duration
Typically about 7 nights
Features
St Andrews Old Course, New Course, Jubilee Course, Castle Course, with Crail, Elie, and Lundin
If St Andrews was the cradle of Scottish golf travel, it wasn’t long before visitors began to expand their ambitions. Carnoustie was quickly added, and when Kingsbarns was built in 2000 and followed by Dumbarnie in 2021 it quickly became possible to add serious quality without necessarily having to hit the road to find it.
Duration
Typically about 7 nights
Features
St Andrews, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, Dumbarnie, Gleneagles, with the St Andrews New Course, Castle Course & Jubilee Course
Golf arrived later to Ayrshire and owes its expansion to the railway boom of the 1880’s that brought in money from Glasgow to develop courses like Troon, Turnberry, and Prestwick. Ayrshire quickly established itself as a credible alternative to St Andrews and could be considered Scotland’s ‘second region’. A tour of the west coast is one of the few which doesn’t need St Andrews to reinforce it.
Duration
Typically about 8 nights
Features
Turnberry, Royal Troon, Prestwick, Machrihanish, Western Gailes, Machrihanish Dunes, Dundonald and Shiskine
The Highlands and St Andrews with Edinburgh Golf Vacation follows a long parabolic loop and is proving particularly popular with non-golfers, featuring the three regions (Highlands, Edinburgh and St Andrews) that has the most non-golf interest to offer. This is definitely an itinerary we’re seeing more and more interest as non-golfers increasingly join golf parties, and is probably the one which best lends itself to this arrangement
Duration
Typically about 10 nights
Features
St Andrews, Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, Dumbarnie, Muirfield, North Berwick, Gleneagles, with the St Andrews New and Castle Courses
The Highlands is where landscape, history, and myths collide in fusion of quintessential Caledonia, and is another itinerary that should suite any non-golfers. Our exposure to St Andrews should probably be considered ‘a chance’ rather than a target, but then the focus of this vacation needn’t really be St Andrews anyway. There are six golf courses on this programme which score world top-100 rankings, which actually gives it the strongest depth we have
Duration
Typically about 9 nights
Features
St Andrews, Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart, Cruden Bay, Trump Aberdeen, Royal Aberdeen, Carnoustie, Nairn, St Andrews Jubilee Course and the Boat of Garten
The Lothian Coast is really dominated by Muirfield and North Berwick, with Gullane in a supporting role. This trip invariably needs reinforcing with St Andrews however. One of the most appealing characteristics of this itinerary is the proximity of Edinburgh which when combined with St Andrews affords any non-golfers a strong offer to run alongside the golf
Duration
Typically about 7 nights
Features
St Andrews, Muirfield, North Berwick, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, Dumbarnie, with the St Andrews Castle and New Courses
The Highlands and Islands Golf Vacation cruises at a slower tempo to any of the others. We work our way up the western isles with a series of car ferries to remote locations in pursuit of golfing Shangri-la. Needless to say however, there is a little bit of a transport risk involved to poor weather with car ferries, and this is perhaps a trip we normally only encourage the more experienced traveller to undertake who is able to go with the flow and adjust to any disruption we might encounter. It’s otherwise a tranquil and peaceful experience
Duration
Typically about 14 nights
Features
Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart, Prestwick, Machrihanish, Machrie, Machrihanish Dunes, Askernish, Brora, plus nine-holers including Shiskine (12), Traigh, Isle of Harris, Isle of Skye & Durness
Testimonial
From BB Canada
“I told Alun the courses I was interested in playing and he prepared a stay and play package with 14 days of outstanding golf, but also tremendous site seeing opportunities for my wife.”
From JC Illinois
“His attention to detail is amazing--I think our travel plan booklet ran to forty-eight pages, with gorgeous descriptions of cities and sights, plus maps showing where to go to catch trains, or walk from trains to hotels, sights and golf courses, etc.”
From DF Alabama
“I will cherish the memories for a long time- especially the wonderful times spent on and off the golf course with two of my brothers and brother-in-law. None of the memories and golf would have been possible or enjoyed without your tremendous planning and logistical support.”
AS from Colorado
“Alun and Faraway Fairways created possibly the most memorable golf trip we have ever experienced. EPIC is the only word that comes to mind.”
AC, From Florida/ New York, 2025
“We were hopeful to secure a 4 ball at St. Andrews while avoiding the massive expense other operators had quoted. He was very clear about the plan for achieving a tee time at the Old Course through the ballot, including detailed instruction on how it could be done, and what our odds were. He suggested mid- to late April as the best chance of success and advised that this is also the least rainy part of the year. We took his advice and trusted the process. Well, he was right on all counts!”
From SB, Minnesota
“We wholeheartedly recommend Alun and Faraway Fairways if you’re looking for a golf trip that is effortless, enjoyable, and truly unforgettable—even for a non-golfer in the mix! My husband and I will be daydreaming about this trip for years to come. 5.5 stars!”
From JB, California
“The best part was that the service was surprisingly affordable. They were thousands of dollars below other quotes that I received, in fact the prices were very similar to what I would have paid if I would have booked everything on my own.”
From JCA, Maryland
“I would and will highly recommend your company to anyone looking to plan an unforgettable golf trip. Thank You for putting together a fantastic trip for J.C. and me”
From WF Connecticut
“I think all eight of us would agree that Alun at Faraway Fairways did an absolutely wonderful job of putting this “golf vacation of a lifetime” together for us. His focus on the details was extraordinary from the choice of courses and the timing of the tee times, the amazingly beautiful accommodations along with some excellent meal selections, and the transportation options he provided to get us from place to place.”
From DR South Carolina
“You are about to tee it up in your Major. Seek wisdom, integrity and professionalism. Alun Davies and Faraway Fairways will not disappoint you. They cannot assure a calm sunny day with temperatures in the 70’s on the Old Course.”
From MM, California
“One fantastic trip you organized, and more importantly took ownership of in terms of daily communication and stewardship during our 2+ weeks in Scotland and Ireland. The logistics were spotless…100% of the transports were on time and excellent, the lodging choices spectacular and the golf was off the charts in terms of quality and arrangements made”
DH from California
“You cannot go wrong with the support Faraway Fairways offered. I did this trip solo and all last minute but I have already begun to plan the next trip which will include my best golfing buddies.”
Enquiry
We don't need to make this an ordeal by 101 filtering questions! In reality there are probably little more than half a dozen things we need to know to build out a proposal. The guidance below might help you frame answers
Duration - usually best expressed as a range up to a maximum
Time of year - can be anything from a specific date range to a named season
Travel class - Faraway Fairways uses 'Luxury', 'Premier' or 'Affordable' for generic purposes. You might choose to reference the international 'star' rating system. We're only looking for something to help steer us into the right sector
Self drive or hired driver - In broad terms, self driving is normally less expensive, and much more flexible, but some folk just don't want to do it
Must play courses/ must do places - a few name checks is all that's needed