Day trips out of Edinburgh, Scotland

We stayed in Linlithgow, just outside of Edinburgh and loved it! Its a great small town with train service or areas for parking. Within the town is Linlithgow Palace, where Mary Queen of Scots was born. Even though it is in ruins it is an excellent place to visit and has excellent views of the surrounding area from the top of the castle. It was one of our favorite stops while in Scotland and would like to return one day with our daughter.

South of Edinburgh are the four border abbeys. Dryburgh is the most atmospheric of the group. Also in that area are three ruined castles, the picturesque fishing village of St. Abbs and nearby in England is Lindisfarne Abbey which is connected to the mainland by a tidal causeway.....Closer to Edinburgh (accessible by city bus) is Rosslyn Chapel with the famous apprentice's pillar and the "supposed" resting place of the Holy Grail

Those are some good suggestions. Here are a few more. Stirling: It has a great castle and the town is nice too with other thing to tour such as Argyle's Lodging. And, since you have a car you can visit Bannockburn on the way in and check out the Wallace Monument on the way out. The views of the town and castle from the Wallace Monument are terrific. The geography of the area will show you why this was a key castle in Scottish history. You could go to Fife. The village along the north coast of the Firth of Forth are quite lovely. You could end up in St. Andrew's or visit Falkland's Palace. I quite liked it and it's lovely little village. You could drive to the Trossachs. Since it's winter and you sight seeing time is limited I think I would only do this if you're a real fan of Rob Roy McGregor. Another good trip is to Culross on the Northwest side of the Firth of Forth. You could stop off in Dumfermline and see the castle there if you wanted to. If you are a Monty Python fan, then go to Castle Doune. It's a bit past Stirling but doable from Edinburgh. Lastly, you could go to Glasgow. It's an interesting city with lots to see and do. I'm not sure if I would do the car though. Just take the train unless you had your heart set on seeing the Pollock Collection which is harder to get to public transitalthough it is doable. There are probably more, but that's a good list to get you started. (If you do a border's trip don't miss Hermitage Castle. Very menacing. And of course, Abbotsford, Sir Walter Scott's home and Traqhair House is very good. Pam

I agree with Pamela. Stirling Castle and the William Wallace monument are great. And St. Andrews is one of my favorite places on earth. It has everything: golf, fun college town, history, religion.