From July 2024, as part of our Historical & Culture Bike Tours, there will be a new e-bike tour that starts in Perth; The Macbeth Tour.
Inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth Act IV, this tour will include a bike ride in Perthshire from Birnam Wood over to Dunsinane Hill.
Fun facts..
William Shakespeare visited Perth and Birnam in 1589 or 1599 (this depends on which reports you read) as part of a theatre production, or troupe of comedians, which it seems had been arranged at the time by King James VI of Scotland **
Shakespeare's Macbeth is set mainly in 11th-century Scotland, where King Duncan was the king of Scotland (Alba) from 1034 to 1040, and the character of Macbeth reigns over Scotland from 1040 to 1057.
Dunsinane Hill is a real location in Perthshire, Scotland. In the play, Macbeth has a fortified castle here, which is situated just above Birnam Wood. Macbeth had moved to the fort on Dunsinane Hill to protect himself from King Duncan's son Malcolm, who seeks revenge on Macbeth for the murder of his father. In reality, the distance from Birnam Wood to Dunsinane Hill is approx. 20 miles (30km), but the bike ride is along quiet country roads with fantastic views!
Shakespeare's 'The Tragedie of Macbeth' was first published in 1623, which was during the height of the witchcraft trials across Europe (where the highest concentration of witch trials occurred during the years 1561 to 1670). The real Macbeth was king of Scotland from 1040 until 1057, Shakespeare was in Birnam in the 1590's, and it is in his version of Macbeth that we first see the three witches/weird sisters (witchcraft) as part of the Macbeth storyline.
** King James VI was the King of Scotland from 24 July 1567, but also King Of England & Ireland as King James I from 24 March 1603 until his death in 1625 – prior to 24th March 1603 Queen Elizabeth I had been the last monarch of the House of Tudor.
The original spelling of the Shakespeare play was in fact The Tragedie of Macbeth, but these days Tragedie is now spelt Tragedy.
The Birnam Oak: has an age of around 600 years old, which would mean it was already a mature tree at the time of Shakespeare's visit to Perthshire.
If you would like to know more, then send us an email or use the Contact Us section here on the website, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
All photos of Dunsinane Hill and the Birnam Oak by HBT
In 2021,
the latest film version (The Tragedy of Macbeth) was by Joel Coen, and starred
Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
More details about this tour are available on the Visit Scotland website:
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How to book your Tour
There are no cash payments at the premises, so all tours must be booked in advance.
Please note that there are only a maximum of 4 places on any given tour.
To book and reserve your place on one of our tours you can use the Fareharbor Booking system (via orange BOOK NOW link), or for all enquiries send us an email to [email protected], or simply complete the Contact Us section. As there are only 4 slots on any of our tours we operate on a first-come first-served basis with all our bookings. Please also include the height of each person - We will then supply you with the correct frame size.
It is also worth mentioning that if the ‘private tour’ option has been booked in advance then there are no other places or bikes available on that day. For more info about the ‘private tour’ (from 1 up to a maximum of 3 people for the same fee) please see our Tours section, or simply contact us by email or via the website.
Highland Bike Tours (HBT) make use of Hybrid E-Bikes with a classic Dutch design, so suitable to use while wearing casual clothing. You can view images of these e-bikes on the FAQs page (see above), in our Blog section, or in some of our Instagram posts (see below).
Solo travellers wishing to take part in a Bike Tour: Although there is the 'private tour' option (for 1 to 3 people), all of our shared tours require a minimum of two people, so if you would like to take part in one of our tours and are travelling alone, then feel free to contact us with your preferred travel date, and we will do our best to match you up with others in a similar position.
Guided E-Bike Tours also in the Dutch language. NL: Samen met een Nederlandssprekende tourgids ervaar je al het moois dat de Schotse Hooglanden te bieden heeft op een unieke manier.
