Edinburgh as a base

So much to see from Edinburgh! Check out my trip reports for some ideas:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/solo-in-the-uk-my-york-and-edinburgh-trip-report

I keep forgetting that I did not do a full trip report from my last trip there.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/three-days-in-england-s-lake-district-with-rabbie-s-a-mini-trip-report

Down in the responses you will find:

I just stayed in Edinburgh. I explored some past favorites (Dean’s Village and Dunbar) and saw some new things (Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Royal Yacht Britannia). I also did the following one-day Rabbie’s tours, which were all great: 1) Loch Ness, Glencoe & the Highlands (a repeat because I wanted to see the purple heather, which was still in season); 2) Hadrian's Wall, Roman Britain & the Scottish Borders; 3) St Andrews & the Fishing Villages of Fife; and 4) Outlander Adventure.

So you're not going to be taking day tours but just trains and buses? It will be hard to get to the Highlands in a day and back but I'm assuming you know that. I would definitely make a trip to Stirling Castle (and also the town of Stirling), the Kelpies and that area and also St. Andrews. Those are all easy day trips from Edinburgh via train/bus, and you can see a lot there.

Dundee is another wonderful place to visit and they have a V&A museum there. There is also Rosslyn Chapel, in Roslin. Oh and I almost forgot Dunfermline. That's a lovely place and well worth a visit. I stopped there on my way back to Edinburgh and really enjoyed it. They have the gorgeous Dunfermline Abbey ruins and there is also a beautiful park that was donated by Andrew Carnegie and it's huge. You can walk through and just see all kinds of cool things.

And of course there are wonderful places in Edinburgh that many travelers miss, like Leith, that have lots of history.

With Edinburgh as a base, the town of Stirling and the magnificent Stirling Castle (on a hill above town) is easy to reach with a direct train.

Coming back with more ideas. If you are so inclined you could head down to Northumberland, which is not that far and visit places like Holy Island, Bamburgh Castle, Berwick-upon-Tweed and so on. There are a lot of places there that are wonderful. North Berwick would be an even closer option.

ETA: If you wanted to head down further south, there is Carlisle in Cumbria, that is a very nice town with a beautiful cathedral. It's about a 60-70 minute train ride, and is fairly close to the Hadrian's sights, but I'm not sure how difficult it is to get around to the various Roman forts without a car (or a tour). Stuart will probably pop in and give some info there. I think it would take some time using public transportation to get around there, though, so it may not be worth it for just a day. I would probably stick to places that you can get to more quickly. There are a lot of them near Edinburgh.

Thanks for all these wonderful ideas. I will read up on them soon. We may take a one day tour and I have heard Rabies tours mentioned. I sometimes feel a bit claustrophobic in a bus with a bunch of people for an entire day. That is my hesitation. Maybe there is a half day tour? Or maybe we will just go ahead and do at least one all day tour.

Rabbie’s is max 16 people. They have a row of single seats where I always sit. I feel the same as you when it comes to people and crowds and I have done very well on the rabbie’s tours. They are a great way to get out of the cities if you do not want to drive.

https://www.rabbies.com/en-us/tours/scotland/from-edinburgh

And the Rabbie's tours are not guided tours. So, once you are off the bus, you can get far away from people. :-)

The Scottish Borders are less than an hour south. Charming villages beautiful countryside, riverside walking, magnificent abbey ruins, close by easy access
Brad

My favourite day in Scotland was Stirling Castle, it's an easy train from Edinburgh or Glasgow. I'll give another recommendation to use Rabbies Tours for some daytrips.

You have received some good suggestions above. I used to live in Edinburgh, here are some of my favourite places in day trip distance:
-Ones already mentioned- Stirling, St Andrews, and Rosslyn Chapel (altho to me that's part of Edinburgh)
-Glasgow is extremely easy as a day trip
-Linlithgow Palace
-On the outskirts of Edinburgh- Jupiter Artland
-The Borders- the easiest to visit from Edinburgh is Peebles
-East Lothian- Dunbar, North Berwick
-Fife- in addition to St Andrews, Anstruther
-For north/the Highlands- probably easiest to do a guided tour. I have done a day trip from Edinburgh to Inverness/Loch Ness- it's possible but a long day. You can get the train to Inverness and then a bus to Drumnadrochit on Loch Ness.
-I've also done a day trip from Edinburgh to Oban but that was when they were running direct trains- otherwise you have to go via Glasgow which makes it a longer day

Good luck with the rest of your planning.

We were based Edinburgh and Glasgow for 8 days in September. We did two full day tours, and a 3/4 day tour while there. One day we went to Durham, which was incredibly nice. It was a little over an hour train ride from Edinburgh. We saw the Castle, the Cathedral and just loved the city. Another day from Edinburgh we took the train to North Berwick and enjoyed the coast, the National Sea Bird museum (didn’t take a boat trip out to see the birds on Bass Rock, but it would be really fun to do if you could squeeze it in and they are running). The whole East Lothian area of Scotland is beautiful. You could take the train/ buses and go to Dunbar and then work your way back to Edinburgh. Another area we looked into for a day trip was the Scottish Borders. There’s a great train Scotrail train route - Borders Railway Line -from Waverly that goes down to Tweedbank. So many options to get off along the way. We hope to do that next time.

When we went to our second base in Glasgow we took the Rabbies Day trip to the Highlands, Glen Coe and Loch Ness. It was almost a 12 hour day from there. I honestly don’t think I would want to do that from Edinburgh bc it would add about an hour. We enjoyed the tour, but we did get a bit antsy the last hour, hour and a half on the van. I think Stirling would be a great day. That’s another place we hope to get to when we return.

Hope this gives you some more to think about. Scotland is amazing! Good luck planning!

Here is a link from Scotrail about the Borders. There are other suggestions if you hit the “Inspirations” link

https://www.scotrail.co.uk/inspiration-hub/great-places-to-visit/scottish-borders

Rabbies tours are done on 16 passenger vans and not large coaches. I've done a few from numerous cities in Scotland.

As stated earlier, these tours are really transportation and some guidance. When you get to a destination, you will be on your own to explore. The driver/guide will have given some information--history, tips on what and how to see, etc, but doesn't lead you around.

I'm also one that likes to explore on my own and found these tours to be just right. No need to be led around but armed with enough information to enjoy. They took me to a few places that might be more difficult to get to with public transportation and take a lot more time.

From Edinburgh this past September, I did two tours--one that included Stirling Castle and the Kelpies and another that included Hadrian's Wall and the Scottish Borders.

If you go to St. Andrews on your own, it's easy to visit Dundee the same day. The two most popular sights in Dundee are the V & A museum and the Discovery Point. Both are next to each other and across the street from the Dundee train station.

To do this, I would take the train from Edinburgh to Leuchars. Get off at Leuchars and catch the #99 bus to St. Andrews. (Leuchars is the closest train station to St. Andrews.) Returning, take the #99 bus but don't get off at the Leuchars train station. Stay on it for another 20 minutes and it will drop you at the Dundee train station. The train from Dundee to Edinburgh is the same train you would get from Leuchars just one stop further.

When we went to our second base in Glasgow we took the Rabbies Day
trip to the Highlands, Glen Coe and Loch Ness. It was almost a 12 hour
day from there. I honestly don’t think I would want to do that from
Edinburgh bc it would add about an hour.

The Highlands tour leaving from Edinburgh has a slightly different itinerary and is also approximately a 12-hour day. I agree it’s a long day. But if it’s your only chance to see some of the Highlands, it’s worth some consideration. I enjoyed this tour so much I have taken it twice. I don’t mind being on the bus/van. There is so much scenery to see while you are driving and the driver is either playing local music, telling interesting stories, or a combination of the two.

I was skeptical about taking group day tours as my tolerance for people is very low, but I have really come to appreciate and enjoy them as an often solo traveler who does not like to drive.

I did not enjoy Stirling. To me, that was just another city. I much prefer spending time out in the countryside and near the coast. I fell in love with both Dunbar and North Berwick, which are both easy train rides from Edinburgh if you do not want the long day tours.

There are so many great choices from Edinburgh. The one think you can count on is not running out of things to do.

Carrie, interesting that Rabbies tour is about the same time from Edinburgh. I would have thought it longer. Good to know. Your thoughts on that Rabbies tour were what prompted us to take it. We did enjoy it immensely and wouldn’t have been able to see near the amount of Scotland without going with them. It was just the last hour, hour and a half that I had a bit of “cabin fever”. I was a bit hungry as well. You don’t have dinner until returning and I eat early. Should’ve taken more snacks!

We eventually ventured beyond Edinburgh, but did a couple train day trips from there as a base. Glasgow was a fantastic change of pace. But my favourite for getting a totally different experience was Linlithgow. Beyond the palace and just being a very nice small tower 20 minutes away by train, the coolest experience was renting our own canal boat for the day from the Linlithgow Canal Boat Centre. They only rent one out, so need to plan ahead, but it was amazing to take it out ourselves, stop and dock half way at a pub for lunch, cross an aqueduct, etc.. Highly recommend as a memorable little adventure.