Scotland & Northern Ireland for Rotary Curling Fans!
This Haliburton Rotary Tour offers an opportunity for curling fans to attend the Rotary World Curling Championships being held in Stranraer, Scotland in April 2026. This biannual event is organized by the International Curling Fellowship of Rotarians (and was last held in Peterborough, Ontario in April 2024).
Obviously, Scotland would be a long way to go for just a few days of curling, so we've added a 5 day tour in Scotland beforehand, and a 4 day visit to Northern Ireland afterwards.
Our tour begins with two nights in Edinburgh, where we will visit the sites. Afterwards, we'll head north along the West Highland Way to Glencoe before arriving in Oban for a couple of days. Afterwards, we'll visit Loch Lomond and Culzean Castle on our way to Stranraer, where we'll spend 3 nights enjoying the curling bonspiel. Finally, we will take the ferry across the Irish Sea to Belfast for 3 nights.
So, if cheering on our Canadian team at the Rotary World Curling Championships overseas sounds like fun to you, maybe you should join us!
PLEASE NOTE: Those participating in the bonspiel also have the option to join our group for the last 3 nights in Belfast. If you're interested, ask Ursula or Barry for details.
TOUR DETAILS
LAND PACKAGE: C$4,780
SINGLE SUPPLEMENT: C$1,760
TYPE: Active Sightseeing (lots of walking)
HOTELS: 4 star & 3 star
GROUP: Max 28 guests
DURATION: 11 days (10 hotel nights)
Tour begins in Edinburgh on Sat April 4, 2026
Tour ends in Belfast on Tue April 14, 2026
Rotary Tour Team
Rotary Tours are a fundraiser for the Rotary Club of Haliburton. Ursula Devolin (President 2021/22) chairs the club's Rotary Tours Committee, while her husband Barry (TravelMaven Tours) designs and operates them.
DAILY AGENDA
DAY 0 (Fri Apr 3) Depart Toronto
Trans-Atlantic flights are not included in this Land Package, but TravelMaven is happy to help clients book their flights. While flight schedules for April 2026 will not be available until May 2025, it's expected there will be direct flights between Toronto and Edinburgh (and/or Glasgow).
PLEASE NOTE: This is Good Friday.
Flying to Europe for adventure!
DAY 1 (Sat Apr 4) Arrive Edinburgh; Welcome Dinner (D)
Depending on arrival times, we will begin our tour with a gathering in our hotel, followed by a Welcome Dinner in a nearby restaurant.
DAY 2 (Sun Apr 5) Edinburgh Orientation Tour (B)
After breakfast, we will spend the day exploring Edinburgh together. Guests will have a free evening.
PLEASE NOTE: This is Easter Sunday (so some may want to attend a memorable church service).
Edinburgh skyline
DAY 3 (Mon Apr 6) West Highland Way; Glencoe, Oban (B,L)
After breakfast our private coach will pick us up at the hotel and take us north to the magnificent scenery of the West Highland Way and Glencoe. Our day will end in Oban with a tour of their historic distillery.
DAY 4 (Tue Apr 7) Mull and Iona Islands (B)
The highlight of this day will be our tour (by ferry, bus and foot) of two islands in the Inner Hebrides. During our mid-day hike, guests will enjoy the packed lunch they've brought along.
West Highland Way
DAY 5 (Wed Apr 8) Loch Lomand, Culzean Castle (B,L,D)
After leaving Oban, we will stop for lunch at Loch Lomand before visiting Culzean Castle. In the late afternoon, we will arrive in Portpatrick in time for a group dinner.
DAY 6 (Thu Apr 9) Rotary Curling (B)
Guests will have two days to attend the Rotary Curling Bonspiel and/or explore the Stranraer region. Details will be available closer to departure, but we will have a shuttle bus available to our group for the two days we're in this area.
Loch Lomond
DAY 7 (Fri Apr 10) Rotary Curling (B)
Once again, guests will have the choice of being a curling fan or a tourist. As the day before, we will have a bus available to shuttle us around for the day and evening. On this day, the Rotary World Curling Champions will be crowned!
DAY 8 (Sat Apr 11) Ferry to Belfast, Titanic Museum, Welcome Dinner (B,D)
After breakfast, we will catch the ferry from Scotland to Northern Ireland. After landing in Belfast, we'll visit the world-famous Titanic Museum before enjoying a Welcome to Ireland dinner. (PLEASE NOTE: Some bonspiel participants may join us at this point for the Northern Ireland portion of our tour.)
Belfast Titanic Museum
DAY 9 (Sun Apr 12) Giant's Causeway at Bushmills (B)
No trip to Northern Ireland would be complete without a visit to the Giant's Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the northern coast.
DAY 10 (Mon Apr 13) Belfast City Tour; Rotary Lunch, Farewell Dinner (B,L,D))
We will begin our last day together with a City Tour of Belfast before attending a Rotary Club meeting for lunch. After a free afternoon, we will gather for our Farewell Dinner.
Ursula at Giant's Causeway
DAY 11 (Tue Apr 14) End of Tour (B)
On this day, our time together in Scotland and Northern Ireland will end. Some guests will head home to Canada, while others may add more time on the Emerald Isle.