Day trips from Edinburgh

Glasgow could be another good destination with, as a former commercial and industrial city, an atmosphere totally different from genteel Edinburgh. The Kelvinstone and Riverside museums are both very well worth a visit. It is only 1 hr from Edinburgh on frequent trains.

Thank you for that information. Something we hadn't considered.

Aberdeen is about 3 hrs both way by train. Unless it's on your golf shrine list, I think there is not enough bang for the buck. Stirling with the Renaissance Palace is just an hour each way with a number of interesting sites. Glasgow has many world class things to see and visit...don't miss the Necropolis. I might give Glasgow 2 days with an overnight.

I'm planning my own trip to Scotland, so I cannot vouch for these places yet, but they're on my planned itinerary:

The villages of East Neuk can be visited (or at least passed through) if you take the bus back to Edinburgh from St. Andrews instead of using the same train/bus combination you'll probably use to get there.

Dundee is close to St. Andrews and has the relatively new V&A Design Museum, plus some art museums. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if St. Andrews itself totally fills your day.

Rosslyn Chapel in Roslin, south of Edinburgh. I think the bus takes something like 45 minutes (lots of stops along the way).

Also, I won't get there this year, but the small town of Dunkeld is not too far from Pitlochry (I assume there's decent transportation) and sounds worth a visit. I gather there's a nice walk along the river.

Rabbies Tours offers many one day or multi-day tours with a small group of about 16 people. I used them twice and was very pleased with the guide/ drivers and the itineraries.

Liked the look of the Rabbies Tours. Thanks

You might also look at Heart of Scotland tours. We went on a day tour with them from Edinburgh and it was quite nice. Many different choices. Safe travels.

Be aware that some folks find the wider-ranging bus tours out of Edinburgh to involve very little time actually off the bus. I think with extremely limited time in Scotland, I would be tempted to do one, but I have a high tolerance for long bus rides if the scenery is nice. Not everyone agrees.

Thanks for the information. We are confident all will work out. Sometimes the best memories are the ones unexpected and spur of the moment!

Rosslyn Chapel is indeed an easy 45 minutes bus ride from downtown Edinburgh. If you enjoy castles, also an easy 45 minutes ride with a short walk afterwards, is Craigmiller castle.

Here are some additional suggestions.

• You can take the train to Stirling and explore that city and see the castle.
• You can take the train and then a short bus ride to St. Andrews.
  
• You can take the train to Dunkeld and go for walks in the hill, along the Tay River, and explore the village and cathedral. You can also the Beatrice Potter wee garden in Birnam. Have lunch at the Taybank.
• There are day tours that you can sign up for. They include the Borders--Roslyn Chapel, the Abby's, Sir Walter Scot's house, etc. There is likely one for the Trossachs and Loch Lomond as well.
• It's a bit further north, but you could probably take the train as far north as Blair Castle and back.
• You can take the train to Dunfermline and check out that castle.
• Linlithgow is an easy train ride from Edinburgh.
  
• You can take the train to North Berwick and visit the Scottish Seabird Centre. From there you can take boat trips to Bass Rock.

At any rate, as you can see, there are lots and lots of things that you see and visit from Edinburgh.

Pam

Thank you for taking the time to offer so many suggestions for day trips. We will look into them all & make some decisions!