Scotland - Edinburgh

Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and five days there would be well spent.

If you really want to see more of rural Scotland, then there are plenty of day tours of the Highlands that leave out of Edinburgh. That might be a good option for someone who does not want to drive.

Take one of your days in Edinburgh and do a day trip to the Highlands. Your hotel can help you arrange this or give you suggestions. No need to drive.

If this is your first visit then you will see plenty by staying in Edinburgh. There is a lot more and if you like what you see in this visit, you can return. I would look carefully at the length of bus time on any trips to the highlands. You don't have to go to the far north to see some spectacular scenery. A day trip to the Trossachs, for example, would give beautiful scenery and is much closer to Edinburgh. Also, don't forget to think about the borders. There are likely nice day tours to the abbey's--Melrose,Jedburgh etc. Also, it's easy to catch the train to Stirling and see that city on your own. I do have to put in a plug for driving in the UK. It really isn't as terrifying as you might think. If you don't drive standard, you can request a automatic. With only 5 days, I wouldn't recommend driving, but I sure would recommend it for you second trip. Pam

I like Edinburgh, but I would not spend 5 days there. There is absolutely NO NEED TO DRIVE. The trains are wonderfuly convienent! Why not spend 2 nights in Edinburgh and take the train to either Aviemore (small village with lots of outdoor type activities) or Inverness( small city with lots of opportunites for exploring). Either would give you a taste of the highlands. Since this is your first Scotland experience I'd suggest Inverness. You could see Culloden battelfield and Clava Cairns, take a cruise on the firth and/or up the River Ness/Loch Ness, take a day trip to Eilean Donnan Castle and Isle of Skye or explore either Great Glen or Glen Coe.

Edinburgh is my favorite city, and I once spent a whole week there and loved every minute of it. However, you can see the highlights in a couple of days, so it would not be a bad idea to spend a couple of days elsewhere. I like the idea of going to Inverness. The train makes it easy, but once you get there you will need a car to see everything. Either that or you will have to arrange tours. There's a lot of great stuff to see in the area, as has already been pointed out.

I am planning to fly into Edinburgh as well at the end of May and beginning June and have looked at tours in the area, I first started with land tours from the US but they are too expensive, so I have come up with the following tour companies, who have 3 day tours to the Highlands and the Isle Of skye

http://www.rabbies.com
http://www.timberbush-tours.co.uk/
http://www.scotlinetours.co.uk

I havent' found a hotel to stay do you have one already? I guess I am going to post a question and also try to find out whether anyone has taken a tour through any of the companies

I love Edinburgh but think 2-3 days is enough to see the major sites and get a good flavor of the place.

My wife (who is quite familiar with Endinburgh) suggests 2-3 days would be adequate. Don't miss the rest of Scotland! Public transportation is dependable and available.

Michelle, we're spending 6 nights in Edinburgh but using it as a base for some day trips. We also refuse to drive while over there, and will be using public transport. We will be visiting Loch Ness and the highlands on a 12 hour tour. Probably through Heart of Scotland tours http://www.heartofscotlandtours.co.uk/. (I lookedat their site and they have a few other tours that look really cool.) Then we found that you can fly round trip to London for about $75.00/person, so we'll probably spend a day in London. We may go to Glasgow for a soccer match. And then the other days we'll enjoy Edinburgh. We've never been and cannot wait!

Edinburgh is my favorite city in the world. I still would not spend five days there. Driving is EASY in the UK; it is not at all hard. It gives you freedom to travel, etc. However, there are many tour groups, buses and trains.

I spent a week in Edinburgh and while I didn't feel shortchanged, I wished I had at least gotten to Glasgow, which isn't that far via train, or taken another day trip (I did one to Stirling/Loch Lomand). There is a lot to see in Edinburgh, so four or five full days should not be way too much.