Day trips from Edinburgh

While in Edinburgh, we did day trips to Dunnottar (drove), Stirling and Roslyn Chapel. Stirling we drove but the rail is easy. To Roslyn, we took the train but found no taxi's waiting at the platform. We walked about an hr until we found one (this was late November). I had asked guest services about the taxis when we reached the Chapel. They apologized for the website being out of date and gave us a free book on the history of the chapel, which we thought was very kind even though it wasn't their fault. It wasn't one of our best travel moments, but we can laugh at it now. We took the bus back to Edinburgh from the chapel.

Glasgow is also within easy reach: less than an 1 hr on the train.

Hello Jim,

Thank you for your interest in Rick Steves' Europe!

Here are some suggestions for day trips from Edinborough from our Scotland guidebook:

From Edinburgh by Train to: Glasgow (10/hour, 50 minutes), St. Andrews (train to Leuchars, 2/hour, 1 hour, then 10-minute bus into St. Andrews), Stirling (2/hour, 1 hour), Pitlochry (6/day direct, 2 hours), Inverness (6/day direct, 3.5 hours, more with transfer), York (3/hour, 2.5 hours), Durham (hourly direct, 2 hours, less frequent in winter), Newcastle (3/hour, 1.5 hours), Keswick/Lake District (8/day to Penrith--more via Carlisle, 2 hours, then 40-minute bus ride to Keswick). Train info: Tel. 0345-748-4950, www.nationalrail.co.uk.
By Bus: Edinburgh’s bus station is in the New Town, just off St. Andrew Square, two blocks north of the train station. Direct buses go to Glasgow (Citylink bus #900, 4/hour, 1.5 hours), Inverness (express #G90, 2/day, 3.5 hours; slower #M90, 6/day, 4 hours), Pitlochry (Citylink #M90, 3/day, 2.5 hours), Stirling (every 2 hours on Citylink #909, 1 hour). To reach other destinations in the Highlands--including Oban, Fort William, Glencoe, or Portree on the Isle of Skye--you’ll have to transfer. It’s usually fastest to take the train to Glasgow and change to a bus there.

Hopefully this helps!

We did this tour and would do it again. It covered a lot of area, the driver was a great guide with lots of stories, history, facts, etc. We were worried that there might be some catch - but there wasn't. You tip what you think the tour is worth, but there was NO pressure at all. In fact, the driver didn't even pay attention to who was putting what in the hat.

https://www.thehairycoo.com/tour/1-day-free-scottish-highlands-tour-from-edinburgh/ If their other tours are as well done, you shouldn't go wrong.

I should add that we took a bus to Rosslyn, walked down the hill, had a wonderful free tour, then back up the hill to the bus. I loved every minute of it. We spent a lot of time there, spoke with one of the guides one-to-one. It was fascinating. Highly recommend it!

Thanks for the excellent information. Just purchased Rick G. Britain guide book.