Day Trips from St. Andrews

I definitely recommend Dundee for the V&A Design Museum (closed Tuesday) and the McManus Art Gallery and Museum (open daily, but not Sunday morning). I didn't go to Discovery Point or the Verdant Works, but both are supposed to be good. It's easy to take a bus to Dundee if you don't want to fiddle with the car one day.

I just walked past the restaurant in the V&A, but it seemed to offer an interesting menu, and I see that it also does afternoon tea (for which reservations are recommended): https://www.vam.ac.uk/dundee/info/tatha-bar-and-kitchen. It's open every day except Tuesday from 10 AM till 5 PM. I haven't checked reviews.

I opted for buses through the East Neuk villages on the way from Dundee back to Edinburgh. I couldn't do much exploring since I had my luggage with me, but it was an attractive area. Check to see which specific villages the guidebooks recommend, because some of the buses are sort of expresses and may skip some or all of the nicest ones.

A week isn't going to give you enough time for Edinburgh, Glasgow, Oban(?), Skye and Inverness. I think you need to prune that list. Skye isn't the sort of place to go for one day. Oban's a place folks go primarily in order to take the trip over to Mull and Iona--and maybe also Staffa. That's a full-day excursion, so it sort of calls for two nights in or near Oban. Really, you should add time to this trip if you can.

Keep in mind that western Scotland tends to be very wet, which can affect your enjoyment of outdoor activities. It's quite risky to plan a blitz trip to that area. Edinburgh and Glasgow, of course, have indoor sights available.

Lodging on the islands and in key coastal towns in western Scotland is very, very tight. It's quite late to be looking for rooms for June or July. Assuming you plan to keep the car for the entire trip (but you won't want to use it in Edinburgh or Glasgow), that may save you, because you won't be limited to lodgings in tows with public-transportation access. In any case, I'd recommend going to booking.com immediately to see what you can find.

Hi, April,

Just a quick note for a starter - A good day trip (or two) from St Andrews would be to head north to Arbroath for the Abbey, smokies, the Arbroath Cliff Walk, and the Signal Tower Museum. If you enjoy beach walking, the beach at Lunan Bay is great for that. It's between Arbroath and Montrose.

In Montrose, you can visit the Air Station Museum and the Montrose Museum, and visit the memorial to Bamse the seadog.

North of Montrose is the Fowlsheugh Nature Reserve, where you can see over 100,000 seabirds of all types, including puffins. It's an easy walk out to the end, although it can be a bit muddy after a heavy or prolonged rainfall.

Just north of Fowlsheugh, and just south of Stonehaven, is the very dramatic Dunnottar Castle. This one of the best ruined castles in Scotland.

If you enjoy Scottish literature, there is the Lewis Grassic Gibbon museum in the village of Arbuthnott. Gibbon's gravesite is about a mile south, in a very pleasant location.

As far as places to eat, any of the shops near the harbour in Arbroath can provide you with a smokie pie. They are delicious eaten cold - the shops are not allowed to heat them for you. There is also the Creel Inn, in Catterline, just south of Stonehaven. As with many places in Scotland, it's in a dramatic setting. There is the Ship Inn, in Stonehaven itself; the Bervie Chipper, in Inverbervie; and the Carron Fish Bar Fish & Chip Shop in Stonehaven, which holds the claim to have invented the deep fried Mars Bar (which is possibly why Scotland has been dubbed "The sick man of Europe"). If it's a pleasant day weatherwise, you could get a fish supper (and a deep fried Mars Bar) at the Carron, and take your meal down to the beach/harbour. (Watch out for those marauding gulls!)

For Dundee itself, I'd recommend the Tailend Restaurant, which is just up from the railway station.

Hope that gives you a good start. It's "Oban", by the way, not "Oden". (Unless you were thinking about the Norse god)

Happy travelling (and eating)!

Mike (Auchterless)

p.s.: To add to acraven's recommendations,the R.R.S. Discovery is well worth a visit while you're in Dundee. Be sure to see the introductory film. Also, if the frigate Unicorn has reopened, that's worth a visit as well. It's the oldest British warship still afloat.

Dundee is nice day trip from St. Andrews. It's only 13 miles away

The V & A and the Discovery museum are next door to each other on the waterfront and across from the rail station.

If you don't want to drive, the #500 bus will take you to the Dundee Bus Terminal which is about a 10 minute walk to the two museums. But there is plenty of parking near the museums.

Verdant Works is a little further away and the McManus is in the center of town.

Dundee is not known for its culinary experiences. Trust me on this. I spend a lot of time there.

Going into Edinburgh is easy on the bus- there is a frequent and pretty fast service from the bus station, or bus to Leuchars for the train in. If you have a car drive to Leuchars and take the train.

I think Balmoral, Crannog Centre, Blair Castle and the Highland Folk Museum is far too tight for one day. I doubt it's even possible but even if it is, you wouldn't be doing justice to any of them.

What about Dundee and Glamis on day 1.
Day 2- Wind up through Arbroath and Stonehaven etc per Auchterless. maybe continuing on to Braemar (though you may be too late for a hotel), so might have to settle on Aberdeen. This could probably be broken up differently, like overnight in Montrose/Arbroath....

[Days 1 and 2 could equally be done as stand alone day trips, as could days 4 and 5, although day 3 feels a bit long to me as a day trip]

Day 3- Balmoral then up to the Highland Folk Museum. Stay overnight somewhere like Newtonmore/Blair Atholl/maybe Aviemore;

Day 4- Blair Castle and Scottish Crannog Centre then down to Stirling area

Day 5- Stirling/Falkirk Wheel/Kelpies (both very well worth it) area.

Thanks so much for the great replies! Lots to consider!

To be clear - we have to stay in St. Andrews for five nights as part of my husband's conference. So that's why I need day trips.
Also, I already have all of my lodging booked except for our last night in Edinburgh before we leave, so no worries about that.

One question - I had assumed we would need a car in order to do day trips from St. Andrews. Do I? It would be nice if we could wait to get a car until we leave Glasgow for Oban (thanks for the correction on that spelling Mike!). I had assumed I would need a car if I was going to tour out of St. Andrews.

As far as the rest of our itinerary - I am following the Rick Steves Scotland tour book almost exactly:

June 18-22 St. Andrews

June 23: Edinburgh (sleep in Edinburgh - BOOKED)

June 24: Edinburgh (sleep in Edinburgh -BOOKED)

June 25: Drive to Glasgow (sleep in Glasgow -BOOKED)

June 26: Glasgow then drive to Oban (sleep in Oban -BOOKED)

June 27: Side-trip to Mull and Iona (sleep in Oban -BOOKED)

June 28: Drive through Glencoe this morning, then to Isle of Skye (sleep on Isle of Skye -BOOKED)

June 29: Isle of Skye (sleep on Isle of Skye -BOOKED)

June 30: Drive along Caledonian Canal and Loch Ness to Inverness (sleep in Inverness -BOOKED)

July 1: Inverness and side-trip to Culloden and other sights (sleep in Edinburgh)

July 2: Fly home

You definitely don't need a car for a day trip to Dundee. For the East Neuk villages, you'd need to check the schedules to see what's possible as an out-and-back trip. I haven't been to the other destinations you're considering in the area, so I don't know about them. https://travelinescotland.com/ is a good source for bus schedules. It will also show trains, but when I was planning my 2019 trip, I noticed its train schedules sometimes differed from those on nationalrail.co.uk, which is my Bible.

I would argue you don't need a car.

Public transport information is here-
https://www.gostandrews.org/trains/

The station for St Andrew's is Leuchars a few minutes away, with a bus every 10 minutes.

Those trains would also do Edinburgh, and easily let you go to Montrose or Aberdeen, and do a large part of the Arbroath and Stonehaven itinerary, with the odd bit of bus assistance.

I was going to say you could get to Glamis easily from Dundee- you could, but the service has now ended

There is a good bus service around the East Neuk, into Dundee and down to Edinburgh.

Stirling and Falkirk is not a good idea without a car, but the city of Perth is very do-able by bus throughout via Dundee, or train likewise.

More than enough day trip opportunities by public transport, if you would rather not have a car.

Braemar is not impossible in the day but would be a very long run- by train and bus via Aberdeen. Probably not adviseable.

the R.R.S. Discovery is well worth a visit while you're in Dundee

If you do decide to see The RRS Discovery , read this article for perspective background - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Falcon_Scott I've read a number of books about polar exploration over the years and this expedition from 1901 - 1904 is essential for understanding the expeditions of 1907 - 1909 ( Nimrod ) and 1910 ( Terra Nova ) that led to the first attainment of The South Pole .

At the risk of running off the general topic here , I can't resist this - Places that I visit also come alive due to my reading and a lifetime of indulging my innate curiosity about myriad subjects . Over forty years ago , this book by Roland Huntford , " Scott and Amundsen " ( better known by the title " The Last Place on Earth " ) and later made into an extended film a few years later , expanded my understanding of the 1910 South Polar expedition.If you are so inclined , here is the film , about eight hours long ( watch it in manageable bites ) will also expand your perspective about this subject . Here it is , complete - https://youtu.be/P8hB3TPEJcQ

Hi again, April,

Will you be taking these day trips while your husband is attending this conference, or is he free during the day to go with you?

If you're taking solo day trips by public transportation, I'd recommend Dundee and Arbroath, Stirling, and the East Neuk. All can be done easily from Leuchars. That's four days right there, and the other day could be spent exploring St Andrews.

If you end up visiting Arbroath, the Declaration of Arbroath, signed at the Abbey in 1320, was supposedly an inspiration for the Declaration of Independence.

Best wishes once again!

Mike (Auchterless)

p.s.: UNC, NC State, Duke, or Wake?

Hi Mike,
My hubby should be able to travel with me at least a couple of days -- he'll have to be there for his panel talk, so I might go somewhere solo that day.

Thanks for the info about Arbroath - I had not heard about it! Are you suggesting that it should be a trip in itself or could it be combined with Dundee?

I really want to see Glamis -- so I'm looking to see if I can get there without a car.

I also would really like to do something on the third bullet point: Highland Folk Museum, Blair Castle, Scottish Crannog Centre or Balmoral. Would you have a recommendation of which of those would be worth it? Again, I am going to look to see if any of these are accessible on public transportation.

Finally, not renting a car at first does complicate when we would get it. We wouldn't need it in Edinburgh or Glasgow, but we would need it to get from Glasgow to Oban. If we pick it up in Glasgow -- we would have to return it there, but we are leaving out of the Edinburgh Airport. Still thinking this through. This would definitely complicate our last day and getting the car returned.

Thanks again for all of your help!

PS UNC Tar Heels all the way! Go Heels!!!

To get to the Scottish Crannog Centre- the only public transport runs on Monday, Thursday and Friday-
this is the timetable, as you will see you have to get to Aberfeldy first, the Centre is 1 minute beyond Kenmore-
http://www.sweeneysminibuses.co.uk/classified/service91timetableapril2019.pdf

The full route is-
St Andrews depart 0735 (Bus 99), Perth Station arr 0800, Train depart 0815 Perth a 0845, 14 minute walk to Perth Mill Street, Stagecoach Bus 23 depart 0920 Aberfeldy a 1044, depart 1142 (Sweeneys bus 91) Crannog Centre arr 1219,
depart 1354 (Sweeneys 91), Aberfeldy a 1430, depart 1625
Perth 1724, Perth depart 1746 by train, Dundee arrive 1808, Dundee Station depart by bus 99 at 1830, St Andrews 1910

So a very long day. Outward nothing can go wrong, as it is the only possible connection, inward once you get back to Aberfeldy you can relax a bit.

For Glamis Castle- their website is plain wrong. Except for directional commuter journeys into Dundee service 22 has been withdrawn.
So you now route through Forfar-
this is the timetable from Forfar-
https://www.angus.gov.uk/sites/angus-cms/files/2019-06/125%20Forfar-Glamis-Eassie-Newtyle-Kirriemuir%201%20July%202019.pdf
To get to Forfar-
St Andrews BS d 0915, Dundee a 0946, depart 0955 Forfar arr 1033, depart 1040 Glamis Village arrive 1104, 23 minute walk to the Castle,
or St Andrews d 1115 Dundee 1146/1155 Forfar 1233/1257 Glamis Castle (by request to the driver) 1313.

Depart the Castle at 1530 or 1651 back to Forfar then as outward route.

This is the 21 timetable-
https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/East%20Scotland/Strathtay/ESCOT_Special_Strathtay_20_21.pdf

For Balmoral Castle (note that the train from Dundee to Aberdeen is too slow to make the connection-
St Andrews Bus Station d 0715, Dundee Seagate Bus Station 0746, depart 0800 Aberdeen Bus Station a 0920 (Scottish Citylink/Megabus joint service number M9), depart on Stagecoach bus 201 at 0945 Balmoral arr 1154,
depart Bamoral at 1436 Aberdeen 1648, dep 1655 on the M9, Dundee 1815/1827 St A 1855,
or
Balmoral 1646, Aberdeen 1848/1855 Dundee 2015/2032 St Andrews 2100

Note the connection at Aberdeen is far too tight for comfort, southbound- book the next service 30 or even 60 minutes later.
Book on Megabus for a far cheaper fare than on Citylink- this is a long distance coach so is highly recommended to pre-book
This is the stagecoach 201 timetable-

https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/North%20Scotland/Bluebird/Deeside%2016%20Aug%202021.pdf
This is the M9 timetable- as you can see services are half hourly, with the xx25 ex Aberdeen being numbered M92
https://www.citylink.co.uk/media/2cldrrnz/dundee-aberdeen-summary.pdf

Hi again, April,

There are several tour operators who offer full or half day tours of "Bonnie Dundee" and Glamis Castle. They are not cheap! A taxi from Dundee to Glamis Castle would run around 35 pounds, but that would give you more time at the castle and grounds. You could probably arrange with the taxi driver for a pick up at the castle. Or if you wanted to extend your visit, you could walk in to the village of Glamis (It's about a mile) and arrange to be picked up there. I don't know if Uber service is available in Dundee or St Andrews. Perhaps someone with local knowledge could chime in here.

If you're going to be using public transportation during your week in St Andrews, I wouldn't try to do Dundee and Arbroath in one day. There's just too much to see in each town, and you'll be on foot once you get to each town. Having said that, it will be broad daylight until about 10:30 p.m. in June. You should check out the sites which close early (5:00 to 6:00 p.m.) first, and save the outside scenic sites for after closing time.

As far as car hire goes, had you considered renting out of Dundee? Most of the majors have rental facilities in Dundee. Arnold Clark, in particular, has received many positive reviews on the forum, through Celtic Legend. You could pick up in Dundee, then either arrange for a one way drop off, or bring the car back to Dundee and take the train to Edinburgh. However, if you're heading directly to Edinburgh after St Andrews, this would only work if your lodging in Edinburgh includes free or low cost parking.

You may want to travel out to Edinburgh Airport on your way over to Glasgow and hire your car there. That way you can drop the car off at EDI before your flight back to Tarheel country. The cost to park in Glasgow should be less than the cost of a one way drop off at EDI. Just a thought.

Hope that helps.

Best wishes once again!
Mike (Auchterless)

p.s.: Go Heels, indeed!

Note that with all these longer day trips, although Leuchars is the station for St Andrews, it is not viable to use it, due to the high frequency bus to Dundee, and the connection time at Leuchars.
Also note that Auchterless' advice to use Leuchars for the East Neuk is not correct. There are no stations in the Neuk.
The bus timetables from St Andrews which I gave you a number of posts above are the correct ones.
Yes everybody's advice is that Dundee and Arbroath warrant their own separate day trips.

For the Highland Folk Museum the railway station is Newtonmore.
Unfortunatly it has pretty infrequent service- see here- https://www.scotrail.co.uk/sites/default/files/assets/download_ct/20221201/Bv3zxE_iD3-nADkX17QvNlo9nrlcjt5pIM0DTsuzIiY/sr375_glasgow_edinburgh_inverness.pdf
Unfortunately timetable vagaries mean that you cannot combine it with Blair Castle (it would take 2 hours plus to get there as you have to train to Pitlochry, then get a bus back north)
0635 Bus to Dundee arrive 0700, depart 0712 by train Perth arr 0737 dep 0811 Newtonmore arrive 0931,;
OR St Andrews 0915 Dundee Station 0940, depart by train 0959 Perth 1019, walk across to Leonard Street Bus Station depart 1030 Newtonmore arr 1210 on Citylink Bus M91 (IMHO this is a high risk connection at Perth)
then Newtonmore depart at 1351 and 1651 for train to Perth, change for train to Dundee, and bus back.

Blair Castle is rather easier by train-
Bus to Dundee , Dundee depart by train at 1115, Perth arr 1139, depart 1156 Blair Atholl arrive 1238, the Castle is a vey short walk away Blair Atholl depart by train at 1725 Perth a 1808 then forward train and bus.
Some other connections to the Castle are available by Elizabeth Yule's bus from Pitlochry, as Pitlochry has a far better train service to Perth-
https://elizabethyulecoaches.co.uk/route-Pitlochry-bull-Faskally-bull-Killiecrankie-bull-Blair-Atholl-bull-Bruar-bull-Calvine-id1

Note that this 1139 train from Perth does also stop at Newtonmore for the Folk Museum at 1314 but that is a long way into your day.

This has taken the better part of two hours to think about and recheck everything (as timetables change) to ensure you have current and corrcect information. Hopefully you can now see why these longer day trips were originally advised against.

Hopefully your Bullet Point 3 has now been fully addressed. It is easy to under estimate distances in Scotland, and actually most of these longer trips would be far easier from Stirling or Perth, but of course that is not an option for you.

I wasn't joking originally when I said that all four locations in bullet point 3 were entirely unviable in a day.

Driving it is SA to Balmoral 75 miles, 2 hours 10 minutes;
Balmoral to HFM 85 miles, 2 hours 10 minutes;
HFM- Blair C- 35 miles, 45 minutes;
BC - Crannog 27 mile, 45 minutes;
Crannog to SA 74 miles, 1 hour 45 minutes

So that is 7 1/2 hours in the car + 4 site visits, in a day.

isn31c,
Yes, you have definitely convinced me that that is too much for one day! I will work on figuring out specifically where I want to go.
Thanks so much for all of the detailed information about public transportation around the area. That was helpful.
I appreciate it!
April