Best side trips from Edinburgh

A day trip or for a few nights?

With or without a car? Time of year? Interests?
I enjoyed a lovely day out to see the Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel, followed by lunch and a wander around Linlithgow. My hosts drove.
I wouldn't call it a side trip, but I walked the Water of Leith Walkway from Leith to Modern One to see Antony Gormley's Six Times. I was staying in Leith, so it made sense to walk it in that direction, but the "correct" way to do it to start in town and finish in Leith.
Dunbar is a nice town with a working harbor and beautiful paths to walk along the cliffs. Accessible by train or bus. Less touristy than North Berwick, but North Berwick has the ferry to Anstruther, so you can get two-for-one there.

If you just want a short trip for an afternoon, there's Rosslyn Chapel. There is regular bus service, and a 5 minute walk from the bus stop.

Craigmillar Castle was nice. It’s a bus ride then a short 1/4 mile or so walk to reach it. If you had a vehicle you could visit the borders abbeys (Melrose, Dryburgh, Jedburgh, and Kelso).

Sorry, I should clarify, I’ll be travelling by public transportation!

• St Andrews (doable by train to Leuchars and then bus. Ruined Castle,and cathedral, golfing, seaside, nice town to walk round

• Dunfermline (train ) Abbey (burial place of many Scottish kings) , ruined palacce, Andrew Carnegie Museum, Pittencrieff Park

• Day trip round the Borders (car ) to include Melrose, Jedburgh and Dryburgh Abbeys, Smailholme Tower, Abbotsford (home of Sir Walter Scott)...

We did St. Andrew’s with Rabbies last May. It was an enjoyable day trip and my husband got to see his “Mecca.”

My suggestions is to look at the offerings from Rabbies

They offer numerous day trips from Edinburgh. Many to places difficult to get to by public transportation.

Dunbar

North Berwick

Queensferry

Any day trip by Rabbie’s. My favorites are Loch Ness, Glencoe & the Highlands AND Hadrian's Wall, Roman Britain & the Scottish Borders AND St Andrews & the Fishing Villages of Fife.

Another endorsement for Craigmiller Castle. We also took a bus and walked about 15 minutes. It was in December, there was a light dusting of snow and we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.

From Edinburgh there are many options. In April, I visited Rosslyn Chapel by bus, the Scottish Tapestry in Galashiels by train, and Hadrian's Wall/Vindolanda as a long day tour with Rabbies Tours. Though I did it as a layover before onward travel, Dundee is an easy train ride with a branch of the Victoria and Albert museum, rich maritime and rope making history.

I recommend visiting Rosslyn Chapel. It's very easy from Edinburgh, and there is public transportation.

Some of my personal favourites include:

-Glasgow- only about 45 mins away, lots to do there including museums and art nouveau architecture, a very different feel to Edinburgh
-Stirling (as you mentioned)
-Linlithgow- very nice palace ruins, the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots
-Rosslyn Chapel (on the fringes of Edinburgh)
-Jupiter Artland- for outdoor artworks you can walk thru- similar to Storm King in the Hudson Valley of NY state (also on the fringes of Edinburgh)
-St Andrews
-North Berwick, or other places in East Lothian- nice beaches and sea bird viewing
-Peebles- or any of the nice towns in the Borders- this is the easiest one to get to on public transport from Edinburgh in my experience
-I've done much longer day trips to places like Inverness/Loch Ness, the Speyside area for whisky tasting, and up into Arbroath (you could also visit Aberdeen), but these are very long days

Good luck with your planning and enjoy beautiful Scotland.