Sage411

My husband and I are in our late 30's and are heading to Edinburgh in two weeks. We have 4 days in Edinburgh before moving on to England. Not interested so much in Loch Ness or golfing can you suggest a reasonable day trip. We will be seeing Edinburgh castle and Stirling so that should cover the castle front too.

Is Glenlivet doable in one day?

danon

if you leave early, you can see a good deal of Glasgow in a day.

latedaytraveler

Sage, I would suggest a day trip to the charming city of St. Andrews. The University is beautiful and the historic golf course, with its signature club house, starts in the center of town. Shopping looked good too.

lch7326

Sage, I second the recommedation to see St. Andrews. We rented a car and saw some lovely coastal towns along the way. St. Andrews is a charming town even if you are not interested in golf.

janisj

You say you are "seeing Stirling Castle" - how? Do you mean a coach tour, or maybe taking the train?

If so - another option would be driving up to Stirling and then around the Trossachs seeing amazing scenery, lochs, waterfalls, Inchmahome Priory, etc. That is one day trip you could easily manage from Edinburgh.

If you still want to do Stirling Castle separately, then the Trossachs and Loch Lomond would be a good option.

Or, I second the St Andrews suggestion. Even IF you aren't in to golf, the course is an icon, plus the beaches, castle, Cathedral ruins and then drive around the coast of Fife through all the wonderful fishing villages (especially Crail, and Anstruther but others too) Also Falkland Palace/Gardens. Driving directly to St Andrews and then wandering back towards Edinburgh would be a great day trip.

Both of those day trip would be really full but certainly doable.

Or - 3rd - drive out east of Edinburgh towards Tantallon Castle (NOTHING like Stirling or Edinburgh castles so you wouldn't be "castled out&quot and then down into the Borders for Melrose/Dryburgh would be another full but enjoyable day.

tod

Sage411 - I would head straight for these two options, no doubt about it:
The fascinating, mysterious, & absolutely beautiful, Roslin Chapel.

The engineering masterpiece of the Falkirk Wheel, where you can climb aboard a boat and experience the gigantic wheel in action.

daveesl

Tod has got it in spades. The strange beauty of Roslyn and the almost SciFi of the boat lift.

Roslyn shouldn't be too packed anymore, since it has been a few years since the DaVinci Code came out.

janisj

IMO wrong - the poor chapel is totally slammed. Coach tours every day - that %#@&^& book has created a monster. It used to be a wonderful place to visit - but now you have to share the space w/ gum chewing, camera toting, loud mouthed tour groups.

If you are into engineering - the Falkirk wheel is very interesting - and can easily be combined w/ a visit to Stirling Castle, or Culross, and/or the Trossachs.

Ozziez

I agree with all who have suggested St Andrews. It is a fascinating place. Wandering around St Andrews Cathedral ruins and museum, and St Andrews Palace ruins is most enjoyable, and the scenery in and around St Andrews is lovely too.

I know that you may feel that 2 castles is enough, but there are many different types of castles in Scotland, some of which feel like (and are sometimes) family homes. Some other day trips that we did from Edinburgh - and really enjoyed were:

Day Trip 1: Glamis Castle, the Angus Folk Museum, the Meigle Museum (full of wonderful Pictish Stones), and Scone Palace.

Day Trip 2: Blair Castle - the piper outside the castle is very friendly and will play requests if you ask him nicely. You can then go on to the Pass of Killiecrankie, the Queen's view at Loch Tummel, and Pitlochrie.

While you are in Edinburgh, may I suggest that you also visit St Giles Cathedral, Gladstone's Land, Palace of Holyrood House, and the Scottish National Portrait gallery.

Have fun!

tod

Sage411 -
I understand Janisj's concerns.
However, we arrived at Rosslyn/Roslin/Roslyn (take your pick) after having had Sunday lunch in Jedburgh, on a Bank Holiday weekend, Sunday 4 May, and found no coaches at all.
Could be that by 3pm or so they had all been and gone?
It is recommended to avoid being jostled by crowds, get there EARLY - I suppose by 9-9.30am or go LATE 3-5pm.
The car park is next to the chapel. A guide explains most of the interior carvings in a 30min. talk but does not restrict you from still wandering around at your leisure.
Most people sat in the pews as she pointed out the various details.

Because the Chapel is being protected from the weather, one can walk around the "roof" area looking down on stonework unseen for hundreds of years.
The whole experience was excellent!

caroline_edinburgh

I'd also recommend Glasgow or St Andrews.

Glasgow is Scotland's biggest, liveliest city and has lots of good museums, galleries and other sights plus designer shopping if you're into that. It's only 50 minutes on the train, they run every 15 minutes during the daytime and you can get a cheap day return for about £10 after a certain time (9.30 ?) on weekdays or all day at weekends.

If you don't fancy a big city then St Andrew's is a very picturesque quiet small town with interesting ruins to explore, the beach and lovely views.

The Falkirk Wheel is fun but I wouldn't make it the focus of a whole day out of 4 on (what I assume is) your first trip to Scotland. You need a car to get there.

If you want to go to Rosslyn Chapel it's not a full day trip. If you have a car you could do it in a couple of hours, or by bus 3 hours.

amelie

I also would say St. Andrews. We went for a half day last year and I can't wait to go back for a little bit more time there.

grace44

My husband and I stayed a week in Edinburgh two years ago. One day trip we took was to North Berwick. We took the train, and went to the bird sanctuary. There was a shuttle right at the tain station that took us there and back. It was very beautiful, right on the North Sea. We had lunch at an outside table, and then walked around on the rocks behind the sanctuary. I wish we would have had more time to spend in the village itself, but we left late and needed to be on the last train back. Here is a link if you are interested. http://www.seabird.org/home.asp

sheila

If you email me, Sage, I'll send you a couple of Word docs I've made up over the years which have a range of options.

Glenlivet is doable but it would be a long drive- 2- 2 1/2 hours.

What's the attraction there?