Yup, that's me! Last minute travel planner, need help please.

Have you got your ETA?

I think you need to book to go up the Elizabeth Tower.

I'm not an expert, but a quick Google re: Kilmun shows the train from Edinburgh going through Glasgow. With the lower accommodation costs there, I'd say you definitely want to spend part of the trip there. Half? More? Add another stop? As you say, it's late to be booking, so see what you can get.

Sorry forget the Elizabeth Tower thing.

Hi, candi, it sounds like a great trip!

I agree that you should split your time between Edinburgh and Glasgow in some way. It will be cheaper, but will also save you time and be more convenient. Stirling Castle is an easy day trip from either city, although it's closer from Glasgow. And if you're taking the train to Kilmun, it would definitely be a shorter trip from Glasgow. When I was in Scotland in 2023, I stayed in both places, and I'm very glad I did.

If you want to go to Loch Lomond, I would consider taking a day tour with Rabbies. They have tours from both Glasgow and Edinburgh, and it's a great way to visit these places without a car. They are highly recommended here on the forum. You can find info here:

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

I would also recommend visiting Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, which is an incredible museum. Not really big but lots of good things to see. And I also wouldn't miss the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, another gorgeous museum. Even if you're not a museum person, both of these are worth seeing.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) that is mentioned above is a necessity for anyone traveling to the UK. It just started this year. You can apply online using an app (recommended) and you receive the authorization usually within minutes. It will be digitally attached to your passport, so you won't get an actual physical copy. Here is a link to the official site (do not use any other, as there are scams out there). It will give you instructions on where to find the app. Have your passport handy when you are ready to apply. It will last for 2 years and costs £16. https://www.gov.uk/eta/apply

I assume we are talking Kilmun, Cowal.

If so you want the train Glasgow to Gourock , ferry to Dunoon, local bus to Kilmun.
Bus 489 to Ardentinny, hourly on a weekday, two hourly on a Sunday. Run by West Coast Motors, ensure you board it in the correct direction as the other way it goes to Toward.
The Church is now closed and I believe you need a guided tour to see the Mausoleum, or you did until Covid.

With the Church closed its not clear who is now running the tours.

I have no idea what this mythical Kilmun station, mentioned by others is.

In Glasgow I really like the Premier Inn St Enoch, very handy for Central Station.

If you take the McGills bus #901 from Glasgow Buchanan Bus Station to Gourock McInroy's point Western Ferries terminal that ferry runs every 20 minutes, and the 489 stops at the ferry terminal at Sandbanks, where there is also a very nice cafe.
Ferry tickets on that route are cheaper bought on line.

I've never been to Kilmun but have been past it several times on my way to Blairmore Pier for the few times a year boat to Glasgow.

According to the website, Stuart, it looks like the church is open for visitors from what I can see: https://www.historickilmun.org/visit

I didn't mean to imply that you can take the train ALL THE WAY to Kilmun, only that getting there from Edinburgh appears to involve going through Glasgow, which makes starting from Glasgow make all the more sense.

ensure you board it in the correct direction as the other way it goes to Toward.

It should be illegal to have a place called "Toward"!!!

I mean, really, it's WHO'S ON FIRST all over again !!!

Well, you take the bus to Toward

yes?

"To Toward...."

"Yes, where to ??"

"take it to Toward"

"TOWARD WHERE ??"

"To Toward !"

"Oh well if you won't give me directions, I'll bloody find them myself !!"

Kim, I've known Toward for probably close on 30 years and been there several times

The last time I was down there was probably about 3 years ago.

I've never seen that issue with the name as the first syllable is pronounced to rhyme with a Tower, as in something a Castle has.

I remember Kilmun Church being closed. Apologies for the incorrect initial access information. I took that from IWM records, now updated.

Kim, you have me laughing. I totally agree with you. Doesn't matter how it's pronounced when you're not a local and you don't know the correct pronunciation.

I don't think how you split Edinburgh/Glasgow is that important, or indeed whether you stay in one or the other.
With 4 rail routes between the cities, and the 24/7 Citylink bus costing £10 return and not significantly slower than the train, transport is not the problem.
You can be out in either city until 3 or 4 am If you want, and still be back in the other an hour later.
20 years ago there wasn't the 24/7 bus service, and only really two rail routes.
If budget was the primary driver then normally Glasgow would be the choice, but it doesn't seem to be so here. Availability in Glasgow may be better in Glasgow.

Stirling is a bit easier from Glasgow than Edinburgh, due to more frequent trains and buses- direct and the hourly scenic but long bus route through the Trossachs.
Falkirk for the wheel and the Kelpies is as easy from Glasgow as Edinburgh. In fact McGills/Midland Bluebird claim to have a direct bus every half hour from Glasgow to the Wheel, even if it is in reality a bit of a walk from the road end to the actual wheel. A teeny bit of artistic licence.
Anywhere up the Highland main railway line towards Inverness is as easy and fast from Glasgow as Edinburgh, or Dundee. From either city you change at Perth half the time.

Even going to Glencoe or Fort William for the day is as easy and fast from Edinburgh as Glasgow with the new Ember Bus direct route avoiding Glasgow.
Where Glasgow does win is for Island adventures - in the Clyde Arran, Bute and Cumbrae are all good islands, and all have good public transport. Bute is better than Arran in that regard.
With a very early start and late return even Mull and Iona is a possible day trip from Glasgow by train. Not ideal by any means, but far from impossible.
At a price it is easy to fly from Glasgow to Islay for the day (and use the pretty decent island buses to get to a distillery or two). A couple of the island taxi companies will also do day tours for you.
Or even fly to the Isle of Barra for the day, and go round the island on the island bus service, which meets the flights.
The Scottish Borders (for the Abbeys) or East Lothian (North Berwick etc) or day trips to Northumberland is obviously better from Edinburgh.

All of this I know is easy as I've done the trips, in many cases multiple times.

Millions of other people are direct descendants of Robert the Bruce?

Thank you for this information. Due to becoming sick on buses (my spouse needs to be in the very front seat) a bus trip is out of the question. Anywhere we travel needs to be done via train or personal vehicle but of course we’re not renting a car.

This is merely a numbers game regarding genealogy. You have two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, and so on. But this ancestral expansion is not borne back ceaselessly into the past. If it were, your family tree when Robert the Bruce was alive was more than a billion ancestors – more people than were alive then. What this means is that pedigrees begin to fold in on themselves a few generations back, and become less arboreal, and more web-like. In 2013, geneticists showed that all Europeans are descended from exactly the same people. Basically, everyone alive in the ninth century who left descendants is the ancestor of every living European today, including Charlemagne. That being said, my father carries the FTB15831 marker. This discovery means that anyone living today who tests positive for the marker is descended from the same family as the famous king.

Kilmun is around 6 miles from Dunoon, and 3 from Blairmore, although there are no further sailings to Blairmore this year.
It had its own pier until 1971, with sailings from Glasgow, and is around one of 80 closed piers on the Clyde. Western ferries still use it for overnight berthing.

To the Falkirk Wheel you use Camelon station, about 1 1/2 miles away and to the Kelpies Falkirk Grahamston station about two miles away.

Linlithgow Palace is another good half day trip from Edinburgh, as is Inchcolm Island (once called the Iona of the East)'- from South Queensferry (use Dalmeny station).
Galashiels (train from Edinburgh) has the Great Tapestry of Scotland. Stay on one more stop to Tweedbank and you can walk to Melrose Abbey in half an hour or so.

Stirling is an easy day trip from either Glasgow or Edinburgh. I strongly prefer its castle over Edinburgh’s. A day trip to Roslyn Chapel can be done as part of a tour or on a local bus. If you have watched DaVinci Code, you saw the Chapel near the end. It now requires timed tickets due to its popularity.

Millions of other people are direct descendants of Robert the Bruce?

That’s maths for you.