Day trips from Edinburgh using public trans/tours

Elaine, We have spent more than four days in Edinburgh taking day trips from Glasgow. If you want to get out of town you can take the train from Waverly Station over to Glasgow Queen Street Station. That puts you in the main shopping district. The ride takes an hour. If you travel after about nine in the morning there is an after rush hour reduced fare. Get yourself a Rough Guide if you can. The Touris information office is in the little plaza abovr Waverly Station and the people there are extremely helpful. You might find you like Glasgow more than Edinburgh, we do.

You could take the train to either Aviemore (in the Caringorm moutains) or Inverness for a do-it-yourself day trip. There are several companies (Rabbies has a good reputation) that do day trips of the Highlands from Edinburgh.

We really enjoyed Rabbie's day trip to the Highlands. If you don't want to spend that long, they have shorter day trips as well. The groups are small, and our guide knew tons of interesting Scottish history (when asked she told us she had majored in Scottish history at university). It's a stress-free way to really get to see the countryside.

When I do day trips I like to spend more time at the location and less on transportation. Bearing that in mind, I recommend going to Stirling to see the castle and other sites. Less than an hour on the train. ; ) Another day trip would be to Glasgow, again less than an hour on the train and lots to see and do. St. Andrew's is a bit further, but still allows you to spend most of your time exploring. You could take day trip tour to the Borders. All that said, you could probably fill four days in Edinburgh. Pam

We actually stayed in Linlithgow (we had a car) and took the train into Edinburgh. We loved Linlithgow and plan to go back one day. Our favorite thing was Linlithgow Palace, birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots. The castle is in ruins but you can still work your way up to the top of the castle for a beautiful view and see quite a few of the rooms that give you an idea as to what the castle was like. Its surrounded by a beautiful park and loch. The town is small but was great. Its an easy train ride between the two cities, I don't remember it taking very long and its an easy walk to the castle. Well worth the ride out in my opinion.

Don't forget Stirling!

If you go to Stirling, make sure to go to the William Wallace monument and climb to the top. Beautiful views. But my favorite is St. Andrews.

I agree that Linlithgow makes a nice day trip as well.
Pam