How to Add Playing Golf in St. Andrews to a 9 Day trip.

You definitely won't want to have a rental car in Edinburgh while lodging there. Driving is difficult as there are many bus lanes with cameras and fines if you stray into a bus lane. There are also trams to be avoided! Parking is prohibitively expensive too. I would recommend heading to St Andrews on the evening of the 2nd. You could take the tram to the airport and pick up a car there to avoid driving in the city.

As Skyegirl says picking up a car the day before to allow an early start means that you will have to find somewhere to park it at or near your accommodation for a night. Not an easy task in Edinburgh without staying well outside the centre which will mess up your Edinburgh stay.

You could easily just take the train on the evening of 2nd. That would give you a full day in Edinburgh on 2nd and leave you in the right place for golf on 3rd.

I hope that you get your opportunity to golf St. Andrews. If, for some reason, the regular course doesn't work out, then consider just having some fun on Himalayas putting course there. It is located between the Old Course and the water and has lovely views.

It's quite feasible to travel Edinburgh Waverley to Leuchars by train and then get a taxi for the short drive into St. Andrews. I traveled with both my hand luggage and golf bag on the train with no difficulty.

I did not get a spot to play (handicap is terrible) but I have slotted a day trip to Dundee and St. Andrews using the train and buses. It was faster than driving and remarkably affordable. I got a anytime ticket on Scotrail. If compared to car rental, that $$ is chump change. St. Andrews is walkable and also buses run.

It's not been mentioned yet that there are several golf courses within the St. Andrews complex beside the Old Course. The "New Course" (est. 1895), the Jubilee Course and the Eden Course are all long-established courses on the main property, and much newer courses (Castle, Balgove and Strathtyrum) are also St Andrews LinksTM courses. And the nearby Kingsbarns course may be the most beautiful and fun to play of all, though pretty expensive. I highly recommend Kingsbarns.

Honestly, the New Course and the Jubilee might be better golf courses than the Old Course, and much less expensive to play. I was fortunate and privileged to play the Old Course, but I never need to play it again. (I feel much the same about Carnoustie, but that's mostly because playing there is masochistic. Immensely difficult and not the least bit scenic.)

Leftoutknitter....the #99 bus leaves from just outside the Dundee train station and goes to St. Andrews. (It makes a few stops along the way including about a 10 minute one at the Dundee bus station.) They run every 10-15 minutes and the trip from the train station is about 40 minutes). The good news is it's a lot faster on the return as it goes to the train station before the bus station.)

The V & A museum and the Discovery Ship and Museum are both across the street from the Dundee station.

I spend a lot of time in Dundee and if you don't venture into the center of town--walkable from the train station--you're not missing much.

You don't say how long you plan to be in Scotland. I have been there three times and two of those was in the past two years. In those trips I was with a friend on the first and my son last year. In both cases, we four nights in Edinburgh and then went to St. Andrews for golf. We rented an apartment there for four nights and played three rounds of golf, then went to Carnoustie for the best, and hardest round of the trips. My wife was not able to go on either, so we are going back in June for 10 days, four in Edinburgh and the rest in SA in the same apartment. If you want to play the Old Course you can go the starters hut early on the morning (5 AM) you want to play, and in October will probably get paired up with another group. I did that in 2012 and got a 7:30 tee time. The weather was horrible because of a storm going through, and when I ran into the starter the next day, he felt sorry for me and let me out with another American and the weather was perfect. For the other trips I applied for an Old Course tee time in August for the following year and, including next month, got an OC tee time (my 5th round and it never gets old). As mentioned above, you can probably get on the New Course and the Jubilee Course by calling ahead a few days. Scotland is on the same latitude as Alaska, so expect it to be very cold in October and pack accordingly.

If you haven't been to Edinburgh before, two days is not enough to do it justice. I think at least three and probably four days are required to see what the city offers. Can I suggest that you get a two-day pass for the City Sightseeing Hop On Hop Off bus tours. They run every 15 minutes and will travel throughout the city in about two hours, stopping close to all the major sites in Edinburgh. I'd recommend taking the whole route when you first arrive to get a feel for the city and determine what you want to get off and see later. You can also probably find a bus stop near your lodging. There is a route map on their website, which it:

https://city-sightseeing.com/en/91/edinburgh?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=bing&utm_campaign=bing-edinburgh-en&utm_content=edinburgh_city_english&utm_term=edinburgh&msclkid=72b02095643e1f24d99f46a2f2603969

Lastly, as for car transportation I would recommend that you stay your last night in Edinburgh at either the Doubletree by Hilton or the Hampton Inn, both at the Edinburgh Airport, and are literally across the street from the Enterprise/National rental car lot. You can book before you leave home. I've stayed at the Doubletree every previous trip and will again next month. You can get up the morning you leave for SA and walk over to get your car, then drive it back to the hotel and load up. I've also stayed there on the last night of my trips and turned in the car then. That saves an extra night of car expense and I catch the free shuttle to the terminal, which is only 1/2 mile from the hotel. The drive to St. Andrews is about 54 miles, and the first third is on the interstate which is easily accessed from the airport. There is a rest area/gas station/restaurant/convenient complex at the Perth exit where you get off to go to SA. Have a great trip.

Jim