Your arrival day in Scotland

At some point get some snacks and a bottle (or three) of wine and Scottish whisky.

Ha! BigMike, you're my kind of traveler! :) Sadly, I do not arrive in Glasgow until a little after 16:00 so I will probably head to the hotel and check in, get in a short walk around the city a bit and then stop for dinner. After that, head back to the hotel for an early bedtime (I never can sleep on a plane so I'm sure I'll be ready for bed by 20:00). The next day will be spent seeing the various sights around the city and the following day, I'm taking a Rabbies day trip to Stirling.

Are you in Scotland when I am? I arrive on May 4th and will be there through the 26th.

First project would be to check if your lodging will let you drop off your bags early (most will). Having come from the East coast, you shouldn't be too much of a zombie, but towing your luggage all day is the worst.

A taxi will only be a few minutes faster than the bus or tram, depending on where you're staying. The taxi from EDI to Old Town is about £24? (£28 for four last summer).

In October, with tip, the taxi ride to the airport from our hotel in town was 30£. For the HMY Britannia, we picked up local bus #35 in front of Canongate Church and it took us to Ocean Terminal, within a five minutes walk of the yacht. As an aside, if you’re an Outlander fan, the Museum of Edinburgh across the street from the church was used as the print shop when filming the series. Also across the street is Bakehouse Close, also used in the filming. In the series Jamie walks up the stairs to enter the print shop, but in reality it’s just a staircase. The close is worth a short photo stop.

After touring the yacht we had tea and pastries at the restaurant on board.

Same thing every where I travel. Go through immigration. Get to accommodation. Unpack. Hydrate. Freshen up. Take a picture of the exterior of where I’m staying. Wander about the neighborhood making mental notes of street names, markets and Bus stops locales. Allow my senses to get accustomed sights, sounds and smells. Have a meal. Hydrate. Charge phone. Stay up till 9 or 10. Plan next days itinerary. Fall asleep.

FYI, in Scotland, Scottish whisky is known simply as.....whisky. To get something besides "Scotch" you'll need to specify.

Frank II, I love the moxie. It's like The Open. No need to write or say British Open.

Mardee, I sort of wish we were arriving around 1600, as it's a long day trying to stay mostly awake from the early morning arrival. Like you I can't really sleep on a plane and it's a bit maddening. We'll be there from July 3-11. I'd prefer to go in May but school doesn't get out until Memorial Day, and then we're spending time in Boston in June, doing the history stuff.

jaimeelsabio, thanks for the info. We'll ride the bus but sometimes I get confused even with the app. Like, am I on the right side of the road? Is this the right bus or should we wait for the next one? What should be easy can be complicated by jet lag. That's why we may take the taxi as I don't have to think.

If I land in Scotland at that time I will get home, order a McDonald's breakfast, and probably vegetate for a while before anything else!

However in your situation I'd probably suggest find out if you can get your luggage to your accomodation, if not the room(s). Then I'd probably suggest breakfast somewhere if only to take stock and decide. The hop on hop off bus has the benefit of you are not doing much apart from going 'ooh' a lot and you can choose your stops accordingly.

As for the taxi and tram, remember by the time you have passed immigration and customs, gotten back your luggage, worked out where the stops are, you will be hitting Edinburgh in rush hours and expect the trams and buses to be packed at that time.

Where are you staying? We took the Tram back towards the airport and got off one stop before it to get our rental car. It was, cheap, easy and convenient. You will still have a walk uphill if you're staying on the Mile.

We arrive in Edinburgh around 16:00 on a connecting flight from the US via LHR. I figure by the time our luggage arrives and we get our bearings we should arrive at our apartment around 18:00. Time to get the lay of the land, find a place for dinner, and (hopefully) sleep soundly. Ready to begin exploring the next morning!

Allan, we're staying at Hanover House Hotel on Windsor Street. We don't mind walking within reason, except for the fatigue that hits more quickly with jet lag on arrival day. The St. Andrews Bus Station is only 0.6 miles from our hotel, so we'll just walk that.

Den, nice timing. That's about perfect.

MC Glasgow, solid advice. Thanks, buddy.

One thing about the breakfast is it does not need to be fancy. Just a regular coffeeshop or fast food place, Costa or McDonald's for instance. All you want is a table, food and drink. A chance to see the city wake up and go to work.

Have used McDonald's this way in France coming off a flight or the ferry in the morning. Also used the coffeeshops at supermarkets, my best travel breakfast was the small counter in the E Leclerc commercial centre in France. Great for people watching.

It is also a very good way of getting change and getting used to the coins.

Regarding the Edinburgh tram, do you still have to go to the kiosk to purchase tickets or can you just use a contactless card as you board? I understand contactless is fine for the buses.

Believe you need to go to the kiosk. I don’t recall seeing anyplace to tap on the tram. There was a person checking tickets at each stop.

The ticket machines are on the platform, there is no way to purchase or validate on board.

Buying tickets at newspaper kiosks is a very European thing.
Machines on each platform.
Each tram system in the UK is different. On the West Midlands trams they don't even have machines. There you pay the conductor after you have boarded. I don't think there's any UK system where you validate a ticket, if it's been purchased from a platform machine. If you have purchased beforehand on an app you often have to validate/activate before boarding, the same as on many UK train services.
That includes Edinburgh trams where you activate your M ticket (if you choose that method of purchase) no sooner than 30 minutes before boarding.

Thank you Allan and isn31c. Looks like the app is the easy way to go.

I live in a small town without much public transportation, so when I have to use it in a city it's complicated. I recall the long lines for train tickets from CDG to Paris, and nearly everyone had to ask the ticketing officers hovering around the machines what to do. There has to be a simpler method nowadays.

Mardee - I think I am there overlapping your trip (22 Apr - 13 May)
Our flight arrives in Edinburgh at 0740. We pick up car at airport and head towards our first night's stay in Stirling. When I travel I'm all about "hit the ground running"! At least our total drive time should only be about an hour direct. Although, I'm sure we are going to stop at other sites along the way.
Countdown - 60 days!

@jeep-girl hope everything is ok. At least you will be going opposite to the rush hour traffic if heading to Stirling. What I would suggest is GSV the journey through from Edinburgh Airport to the M9. Just for familiarity. I would have loved to have GSV a few times in the past.

Jeep Girl, it sounds like it. :) Where all are you going to?

Our flight arrives at 10:45. After we drop our bags, will go to an outdoor store to buy a set of hiking poles, then after lunch, hike up to Arthur’s seat. That should keep us awake and wear us out for a good 1st night’s sleep. Last trip we only walked part way up. Hopefully we can stay awake until 9.

And since we are hiking 39 miles of Hadrians wall 2 1/2 weeks later, need to plan some good hikes into our trip before.

@Mardee - We will be making a circle the first week from Edinburgh - Stirling - Oban - Inverness - Dufftown - Pitlochry - Edinburgh.
Then we drop off our friends at airport and head to Lochgilphead to tour Kilmartin area - ferry to Islay - then back to Edinburgh.
I drop off my husband and car and spend another week in Edinburgh. I'll do some day trips from there.

Jeep-girl, I won’t get to Edinburgh until the 22nd or 23rd of May. Too bad. It would’ve been fun to try and meet up with somebody from this forum in Scotland.

Mardee-just a quick hello and have found your posts informative! I’m from Bucyrus Ohio and my daughter lives in Duluth. They love it there. We are on the RS Steve’s 13 day Scotland tour beginning 1 August. We were married in Edinburgh in August 1998 do going back for our 25th anniversary.

Kilmartin is a disturbing name. I have a good friend named Martin.

Mardee-just a quick hello and have found your posts informative! I’m from Bucyrus Ohio and my daughter lives in Duluth. They love it there. We are on the RS Steve’s 13 day Scotland tour beginning 1 August. We were married in Edinburgh in August 1998 do going back for our 25th anniversary.

Hi, Patty - nice to see a fellow Ohioan! And that's interesting that your daughter is in Duluth! I love it here, too, although I will admit I'm ready for spring. The snow just doesn't stop. :) Your trip sounds wonderful - this will be my first trip to Scotland (in May) and I'm really looking forward to it.

Mardee - i hope you post what you like! I am coming to Duluth in June to get my granddaughter! I haven’t been since before Covid! If you need anything from Ohio let me know!!

Patty, sending you a PM. And yes, I will definitely be posting a trip report when I get back!

I'll be visiting Scotland for the first time this June, with Edinburgh as my base. Based on personal experience and received wisdom, I am not planning any scheduled activities for my arrival day.

My official landing time (which will undoubtedly be later) is 10 am. After I retrieve my luggage and go through customs, I'll take the Airlink bus into town, walk to my hotel and drop off my bags. After that, my plan is to tour the neighborhood for a couple of hours, then check in to the hotel, take a shower and put on fresh clothes. I'll eat a good dinner at the restaurant next door to the hotel, and then retire early to get a good night's sleep before my first full day in Edinburgh.

I too am taking the Rabbie's day trip to St. Andrews and am really looking forward to it!