My sister and I (both active seniors) are looking for a place to bus/train to away from the crowds after 2 weeks of being in the hustle of cities. We would like to have a place up to 3 hrs away from either Glasgow or Edinburgh. We will NOT have a car and are Not interested in seeing the top 10 places in Scotland. We just will want an r&r and some day walking before we head home. Any suggestions here? thank you in advance.
Posted by
Delaware
1476 posts
Hi, sarahseb52,
So many places fit in to what you're looking for! How many days do you have for your R&R?
Just off hand I'd recommend somewhere in the Borders or the East Neuk of Fife. Or even a small town like Kirriemuir. Most of the towns in the Central Belt are going to be pretty busy, but a little farther north are towns like Aberfeldy, Crieff, etc.
Let us know how many days you have, and we can come up with a plethora of possibilities!
Best wishes,
Mike (Auchterless)
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Love that. We just need 3 days. We have stayed in Aberfeldy on a past trip, so wanted to try somewhere different. I will look where you suggested.
Posted by
Delaware
1476 posts
Hi again, sarahseb52,
I forgot to ask when you are travelling. You could try somewhere up the East Coast, like Stonehaven (easily reached by rail or bus). Ballater would be good, but that's closer to four hours. Melrose, Galashiels, or Selkirk, in the Borders, would be good, or even Rothesay, on the Isle of Bute (accesible by train and ferry). Dunkeld or Pitlochry would be another possibility, as would Millport, on Great Cumbrae.
I'm trying to think of towns that would be good to relax, but would yet have enough activities like hiking and places to eat. There are so many towns in Scotland that would fill those requirements.
I'm sure that many others will have suggestions.
Best wishes, and good luck!
Mike (Auchterless)
Posted by
Lake District, England
8134 posts
Quite a few places in Dumfries and Galloway would suit you. Dumfries itself is not that big, and lots of little known history and walking within easy reach (2 hours by train from Glasgow), but nearby Annan is the next town (with a station), rather smaller, but still lots of facilities including a little independent and quite quirky movie theatre. Dumfries of course has it's Rabbie Burns connections.
Connecting into the bus at Dumfries Station there are smaller, but still well equipped places like Castle Douglas, Dalbeattie and Kirkcudbright. Kirkcudbright especially is a very nice coastal town to stay. All the towns are well connected to public transport.
You could even connect by day trip to the Isle of Whithorn from there through the book town of Wigtown and the old port of Garlieston (where some of the WW2 Mulberry harbours were built).
If in this general area you may want to visit Arbigland where John Paul Jones- was born and there is a small museum to him.
D and G has very good public transport, a lot of good walking and a lot of history to be explored. But is one of the great undiscovered parts of Scotland.
Stranraer is another great town to visit- within your time limits by direct train and Citylink coach. Whithorn is also accessible from there, and also day trips in the Rhins of Galloway, or up the Ayrshire Coast. Even possible to day trip to Northern Ireland from the nearby port of Cairnryan on the Stena line ferry.
The coach is the one for the Belfast ferry but it is little known that it then extends to Stranraer, where the ferries used to run from.