Glasgow/Greenock - Falkirk Wheel

[Dede F]

Will be docking at Greenock Scotland in April.   Looking for a non ship excursion tour which includes the Falkirk Wheel.  Any suggestions would be helpful.

[edinburgher]

3 hours ago, Dede F said:

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Not that helpful, but I will mention it anyway. 

 

I think it most unlikely that you will find a tour which goes only to the Falkirk Wheel from Greenock.  I think more likely that you would find it as one element of a longer tour which includes more locations.  You could internet search using the words both "sightseeing tours"and "tours"  and see if anything appears in the results.

 

You could consider a train from Greenock to Glasgow followed by another train to Falkirk (although Camelon station could be closer if trains stop there) followed by a taxi. I cannot help with any of that, but perhaps another member could, or you could research it online.

 

It is actually closer to Edinburgh, but even closer if you were porting in Rosyth or S. Queensferry.

Edited February 11 by edinburgher

[Thejuggler]

There are a number of tour companies operating tours from Greenock Port.  A google search will reveal them.

 

Contact them directly and see if they will quote for a tailor made day out to Falkirk Wheel.  They may also suggest a visit to The Kelpies as that attraction isn't far.

Journey from Greenock to the wheel is about an hour and the boat trip on the wheel is also an hour.

 

[mgcharleston]

We ported in Greenock last year and did this as a private tour. I booked a day trip through Martin Cairns at E2G travel and we visited the Falkirk wheel, the Kelpies and our driver found us some local heelan coos to pet (they were the highlight). while the Falkirk wheel is an engineering marvel, we found the tour on sight to be very underwhelming. In fact, it was our least favorite thing in 3 weeks of traveling. The staff at the wheel just didn't do a good job. Perhaps a different crew on a different day would yield different results! I can highly recommend the travel agency though. It says they do airport transfers but they will arrange a private all day tour with a local driver. We found them to be a good value and, overall, a good tour experience!

[CruiserMark74]

We have used Callum from Anderson Scottish Tours in the past - he works out of Greenock and created a custom itinerary for us. I'm sure he could do something with the Falkirk Wheel - would highly recommend! Found him on Facebook but has a website as well (not sure I can post links on here though.)

[onyx007]

Didn't know about that "Falkirk Wheel" and will travel in June on a land-based-trip to Scotland and will write that on my bucket list (will probably do it as part of a daytrip out of Edinburgh)

[John Bull]

On 2/11/2024 at 2:55 PM, edinburgher said:

Not that helpful, but I will mention it anyway. 

I think it most unlikely that you will find a tour which goes only to the Falkirk Wheel from Greenock. 

 

Agreed.

In fact I couldn't find any group tours from Greenock which even included the Falkirk Wheel

 

On 2/15/2024 at 7:11 PM, mgcharleston said:

........while the Falkirk wheel is an engineering marvel, we found the tour on sight to be very underwhelming. In fact, it was our least favorite thing in 3 weeks of traveling.

 

Agreed.

I guess well-worthwhile for engineering or canal enthusiasts, or as part of a road trip, but IMHO it's unworthy of the cost or time (an hour each-way) for a private tour from Greenock, even including the Kelpies.

 

Stirling and its castle are about 30 minutes further on. In the history of Scotland, Stirling Castle is far more important than the one in Edinburgh or any other Scottish castle - and it's very impressive.

If you're keen to see the Falkirk Wheel and don't mind the cost of a private tour, perhaps stop off at the Wheel for a few minutes on the way.

 

JB 🙂

 

[edinburgher]

On 2/11/2024 at 11:08 AM, Dede F said:

Looking for a non ship excursion tour which includes the Falkirk Wheel.

In addition to JB' s suggestions above, If you enjoyed the Outlander series, within a short drive of the Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies, there are some locations including Linlithgow Palace, Blackness Castle,  Doune Castle and Midhope Castle (Midhope was "Lallybroch", the ancestral family home of Jamie) which could be combined into a private tour. Yes, we have many castles in Scotland and they are all different).😀

 

For GOT fans, note that Doune Castle was also a setting for some  scenes and could be combined with Stirling Castle...

 

[onyx007]

19 hours ago, edinburgher said:

In addition to JB' s suggestions above, If you enjoyed the Outlander series, within a short drive of the Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies, there are some locations including Linlithgow Palace, Blackness Castle,  Doune Castle and Midhope Castle (Midhope was "Lallybroch", the ancestral family home of Jamie) which could be combined into a private tour. Yes, we have many castles in Scotland and they are all different).😀

 

For GOT fans, note that Doune Castle was also a setting for some  scenes and could be combined with Stirling Castle...

 

Doune Castle is not only Outlander and GoT-Winterfell but also the french Castle of the Monty Python Movie...

[edinburgher]

2 hours ago, onyx007 said:

oune Castle is not only Outlander and GoT-Winterfell but also the french Castle of the Monty Python Movie...

I wrote the post from memory and local knowledge. Sorry for the  Monty Python  ommision which I didn't remember as it was so long ago, actually a few decades.

 

The historic and interesting village of Culross and Falkland Palace were also used for some scenes in Outlander, but I didn't mention them as I thought that from Greenock the ones I listed were already more than enough and more suited for inclusion in Outlander  private tours from S. Queensferry or Rosyth. There are also a small number of minor locations in Edinburgh itself.

Edited February 22 by edinburgher

[edinburgher]

On 2/21/2024 at 11:35 AM, onyx007 said:

a land-based-trip to Scotland and will write that on my bucket list (will /probably do it as part of a daytrip out of Edinburgh)

 

For additional suggestions for possible inclusion in your day trip from Edinburgh, see posts #8 and #10. Note that you do not need to be an Outlander fan to visit any or all of these.  And do look at Culross online for info and images.

Edited February 23 by edinburgher