Our Story

What we do

We relieve you of your travel worries.

Our friendly guides ensure you don’t miss-out on the fascinating facts.

Our carefully-crafted routes take you to both the classic sights and lesser-known locations.

And our business model reduces your journey's environmental impact.

It sounds good, doesn’t it? Find out more about our award-winning experiences below.


Here’s how we deliver travel experiences you’ll love:


You learn from the best storytellers.

And this is no overstatement. Our driver-guides are world famous for their knowledge, facts, quirky stories, history, and fairy-tales. They truly take you beyond the guidebooks and into your adventure.

You explore in 16 seat mini-coaches.

This means you never get lost, you always take the scenic route, you have great views through large windows, and you’re free to sample the local tipple without worrying about driving.

You support the local communities.

You do this because we take you to the lesser-known attractions and recommend locally-owned accommodation. What’s more, for every ton of carbon we use, we donate £10 to environmental and community projects.

You make your trip your own.

We provide the timetable; and you can choose where you want to eat and which attractions you pay to see. So, if you want to skip a castle and read your book by a mountain view, you can.

Guaranteed departures: you book, you go.

When you choose to book with us, you’re going - no minimum numbers.

Guaranteed experience or your money back.

If you feel you’ve not had the experience you deserved, and we’re at fault, we’ll give you your money back.


Why we only travel in small groups

We’re going to be honest with you.

A long time ago we tried larger coaches.

In theory, it would have been good for our bank accounts.

But in the end, we stopped using them because of three simple reasons.

Firstly, we received worse customer feedback. It turned out you guys preferred mini-coaches and didn’t appreciate trampling over a peaceful forest with 20, 30 or 40 other people.

Secondly, we found it harder to give back to the local communities. It’s not as easy to stop at that local bakery when you need to bring 30 other friends with you.

And thirdly, the big buses made it hard to go down the small roads that lead to your favourite hidden-away local treasures.

So, we went back to our 16 seat mini-coaches.

And we won’t ever go back to big ones. Because we’re never going to value anything more than your enjoyment, our environment, and the world’s best-kept secrets.

 


How we started

Robin Worsnop started our tour company in 1993.

All he had was an old sherpa van and a few people telling him it would never work.

Robin likes to think he started the company because he ‘saw a gap in the market’, ‘wanted to create an ethical way to travel’, and ‘knew what independent travellers wanted’.

But we know the truth.

He simply wanted to spend his time travelling around gorgeous places, discovering his homeland, and enjoying a dram with friendly faces from around the globe.

He could have carried on doing this forever.

But there was a gap in the market, he had created an ethical way to travel, and he showed people a really, really good time.

So, people started to talk about Robin’s quirky tours.

Robin had to hire more people, buy more mini-coaches, start working with spreadsheets, and concentrate on building the company so more people could live his dream.

Now we have award-winning small-group tours departing from all over the UK & Europe.

Sadly, Robin is too busy to see all these beautiful places as much as our guides. But he’s happy others are now seeing the places he loved in the way he loved seeing them.

Throughout his journey, Robin has been guided by his vision to make the world a better place through travel.

 


Our name

Our name is unusual.

People have mistakenly called us ‘rabbits’, ‘rabbis’, and a few things we daren't say.

But there’s a good reason why we’re called Rabbie’s.

It’s the affectionate nickname of Robert Burns, Scotland’s most famous poet.

He told the tallest tales. He roved all over the land. He loved nature. And he was never afraid to indulge in a bit of the local tipple.

He embodies the things we’re passionate about. Our guides are poets, our routes are inspiring, and we’re not scared to have a little fun while we explore our beautiful planet.

Hopefully now our name makes a little more sense to you.

And one more thing: It’s pronounced ‘ra-bees’. It rhymes with abbeys; not with babies.

 

Green Tourism Award Scottish Thistle Awards Winner 2015/2016 Scottish Tourist Board 5 Stars