Itinerary - home base of Edinburgh

You won't be able to see all those castles in one day. :(. I have rented a car in city center and my advice is to get there early to pick up your car as there can be a queue!

Hoptoun House is very different from Stirling Castle. You can get to Stirling by taking the train from Edinburgh. I would say that Stirling, is a great day trip by train from Edinburgh. Don't miss Argyll's lodging. You can easily spend several hours at Stirling. Doune Castle is just north of Stirling and you might be able to catch a bus up to visit it from Stirling. Or just rent a car.

So playing with google you could do a trip that is Edinburgh to Blackness to Stirling to Doune and back to Edinburgh. It feels like a lot to me, but I think it is doable. I enjoyed all three of these castles. Blackness is right on the Firth of Forth; Stirling has massive historical significance and an amazing geographical location. Doune is marvelous and heck it's were Monty Python and Outlander have played.

PAm

Thank you Pam! I’ll rethink the Castle Day. Perhaps I can get Doune or Stirling on another day during a tour out to the Highlands. Looks like some Rabbies tours do that.

I have a feeling you have too much on your Edinburgh list for 2-1/2 days. I know people vary a lot in the time they spend at each attraction, but I suspect that you might be short on time even if you didn't need to get from place to place--and that part isn't going to be negligible here.

I've read that the Royal Yacht Brittania is definitely a multi-hour experience, and you have to get to Leith first--and later return. I believe the point of Arthur's Seat is to walk up it (which surely can't be a quick endeavor). Edinburgh Castle is large and quite time-consuming; the Edinburgh Castle folks say to allow at least 2 hours for the highlights; I think my travel mate said she spent at least 4 hours up there. I don't remember how much time I spent in the Scottish National Gallery, but it's not a particularly small place; the gallery recommends allowing 90-120 minutes, excluding time in the shop. Dean Village, Stockbridge and especially the Botanic Garden are a considerable distance from the Royal Mile. Don't forget that you'll have to pause at least once for sustenance each day during sightseeing hours.

To my mind, the Charles Rennie Mackintosh architecture is one of the top reasons to go to Glasgow--but only if you're interested in early 20th century architecture. There are several places in Glasgow to see his work; I liked the House for an Art Lover and the recreation of the Mackintosh House at the Hunterian Museum the best. Depending on your interests, the Pollok House definitely could be a better choice for you.

A one-day Highlands tour is going to have you sitting on the bus for a lot of hours. If you're going to leave Edinburgh twice, I'd spend a night out of the city to cut the back-and-forth travel time.

I think we'll be on the same train, the same day, from York to Edinburgh. We are planning five nights there with a further two nights at Dalhousie Castle just outside of the city. I have plans for Edinburgh Castle, a day on the Royal Mile, the Botanic Gardens, Dynamic Earth, the Museum of Scotland, Grassmarket, Arthur's Seat and a day at Portobello Beach.

Thank you @acraven for the advice! I definitely hadn’t timed everything out and we’ll have to make adjustments to what we want to do. Rethinking how we do things and may stay a night outside of Edinburgh like you suggest, maybe wrap a night into our Glasgow day and do a day trip from there. Your point about being on a bus is a good one, but I feel like if I want to see the Highlands at least a little bit and get out of the city on this trip so it might be our best choice if we don’t rent a car. Thank you too for the Glasgow advice!

@sherriwcline oh wow, what a coincidence! :) Are you staying those 5 nights all in Edinburgh? Doing any day trips? I was wondering if we were planning too much time in Edinburgh and that’s why I was thinking of heading out to the Highlands and seeing castles.

I think your travel time to the Highlands would be a bit less from Glasgow.

People have good things to say about Rabbies tours, but keep in mind that when you day trip to an area that's far away, no tour company can give you a lot of time with your feet on the ground. (But after your aggressive schedule in Edinburgh, maybe you won't mind sitting for a while!)

Your castles day is unrealistic - unless you are just intending to view from the outside in passing. Don't forget to factor in car parking and actually getting to the site and then back to the car. This can take up a surprising amount of time. You have 2-3 days worth packed into one day.

I've just checked the website for Doune Castle and the castle is still closed "as a precautionary measure while we undertake high level masonry inspections, there is currently no visitor access inside the castle." The grounds are open so you coiuld see the outside of the castle.

For Glasgow, bear in mind it's a markedly larger city than Edinburgh and many of the attractions are not in the city centre, but instead spread out across other neighbourhoods. The Botanics and the Burrell Collection/Pollock house are in totally different areas of the city and neither are in the city centre.

The Botanics are in the West End area and you need to take a subway train from the city centre to get there. The Burrell collection is in the Southside, which requires a train or bus journey from the city centre. Neither are that far, but realistically it'll probably take the best part of 30mins each way to get to and from the Burrell and maybe 20-30 mins each way to get to the Botanics

It depends how much time you want to spend at each place, but you might find that doing these as a day trip from Edinburgh is quite rushed, so overnighting is Glasgow might give you more time.

As acraven mentions, cause the Highlands extend much further south in the West of Scotland, Glasgow is closer to Highland scenery than Edinburgh, so if you're taking a Glencoe tour from there you're maybe getting a little more the in the Highlands. I would avoid Loch Ness trips from either city cause it's way too far for a day.

If you want something diy, you could take the train to Balloch and do a boat trip on Loch Lomond from there. Sweeney's cruises appear to be next to the station, or else from loch Lomond shores shopping centre.

If you're hiring a car I also wouldn't pick one up in Edinburgh city centre - it's not fun driving in Edinburgh city centre if you don't know it! Very congested, lots of oneways, bus lanes and enforcement cameras. I used to live in central Edinburgh and I still avoid driving there of I possibly can!

We just saw The Burrell Collection a few days ago and whatever else you do, go there! A stunning collection in an amazingly accessible space. Also, eat at Ka Pao in Glasgow. So good we went twice. If you are a whiskey person, the Pot Still in Glasgow has the largest collection of Scotch I’ve seen anywhere.