LOTRHP

Hi Fodorites,

I would appreciate your insight on this.

I am going to be in Edinburgh for about 5 full days. I may have time for a day trip and was wondering what you would recommend.

Ideally via public transportation, as I will not be renting a car. A place that is no more than about 2 hours away max.

I enjoy charming towns, beautiful scenery, history, architecture. The scenery is my top focus actually. Scotland is so beautiful. This is my first trip there.

I have been looking at tours as well, however the day trips seem to take a huge chunk of most of the day, and pack so many things in, not sure I would have time to appreciate what I'm looking at on those 'whirlwind day trips'.

Oh, and I love Harry Potter. I'm a big film buff. So I welcome your recommendations for Harry Potter related sites as well. (I like Chariots of Fire too, I understand some of the gorgeous filming was in Edinburgh as well).

Thank you in advance for taking the time to share. I look forward to hearing your expert opinions on it.

alanRow

St Andrews : http://www.firstgroup.com/scotrail/c...nt-andrews.php

would be the obvious choice, though many of the towns & villages of Fife would also meet your criteria

Or perhaps North Berwick, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Alnwick, Newcastle-upon-Tyne or Durham would also be in reach. York is just that bit further

See www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com for ticket costs - generally buy several weeks in advance & pick up at Edinburgh though North Berwick tickets can be bought on the day

CanadianRNinDublin

Rosslyn Chapel (DaVinci Code) is about a 40 min bus ride from the city via public transportation. I think it's bus 15 that goes there, but you can check with your hotel.

I was there in March and it was covered in scaffolding, however I felt it was still very interesting site to see.

janisj

Both of alanRow's suggestions would be great. St Andrews is the obvious first choice since it has it all -- scenery, ruined castle to explore, cathedral ruins, old buildings, beaches - and you <i>must</i> walk on the West Sands which runs along the front nine of the Old Course - that is where the beach training scenes were filmed.

If you go on a Sunday, there is no play on the Old Course and it becomes a vast public park. But bus schedules from St Andrews to other parts of Fife are reduced on Sundays. So a weekday might be better. Train Edinburgh &gt; Leuchars, then bus or taxi Luechars &gt; St Andrews.

Another option would be Stirling. Amazing castle (but also quite similar in feel to Edinburgh Castle and you might want a different experience). There is a H-o-H-o tour bus in and around Stirling to fill the rest of the day - it would take you out to Bannockburn and the Wallace Monument.

alanRow

The Wallace Monument is a tower. PLEASE don't go anywhere near that ruddy statue of Mel &quot;all English are B*st*rds&quot; Gibson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_Monument

brookwood

St Andrews is an interesting place to visit, and it would fulfill the requirement of a day trip.

Roslyn Chapel is also a very interesting place to visit. Moreover it would be interesting regardless of any reference to it in a novel

One of the drawbacks is that the DaVinci Code novel has drawn more visitors than you would believe. The church or chapel is in bad need of external repair, which is the reason for all the scaffolding.

Tourists bring in money, but they also contribute to the upkeep of the grounds and the building.

As our guide said, Folks it ain't a movie set.

There is an excellent DVD that tells you quite a bit of the history of the place. I urge you to acquire a copy before you go if that is at all possible. I bought mine in the gift shop of the chapel.

concher

We were just in Edinburgh and wanted a day trip. The front desk at the hotel arranged a car/driver. We had a truly great day. The driver was Nick Clarke and his email is: [email protected]. He makes suggestions but will follow your desires and is a first class individual.

vivi

I was in Edinburgh a few weeks ago.

Took the city bus to Rosslyn (45 minutes), it's a beautiful drive and enjoyed visiting the chapel and the town. (Scaffolds still up.) The bus stop is very convenient to the chapel grounds.

ALso took the bus to St Andrews (2 hours). Another glorious drive thru meadows, golden mustard fields, sheep galore. The ruins of the abbey and castle on the edge of the sea were fantastic.

We also took a 12 hour tour in a small bus to the southern Highlands (Loch Ness, Glencoe) with Highland Adventures. I am not a fan of guided tours but this one packed a lotta punch! Thoroughly enjoyed it.
(We saw a railway trestle from Harry Potter.)

amelie

We really enjoyed Rosslyn Chapel (went by bus), but we also really enjoyed St. Andrews. If I had to pick, I would probably pick St. Andrews if the weather was descent. Although, we were there when it was freezing, rainy, windy (in June) with some peeks of sun and still enjoyed it.

pittpurple

Another vote for St Andrews - it's my favourite place to visit from Edinburgh. It's definately doable in a day trip and it's a lovely journey. The town is adorable - with a ruined castle and abbey and one of my favourite beaches (where they filmed Chariots of Fire - I have a great picture of my dad and husband running down the beach )

There are lovely little restaurants and some cute shops... I've been twice, once for a few hours with my dad on a driving trip and once for an overnight with my mom - and I would go back for sure.

Roslin is worth a visit but it shouldn't take a full day - the city buses go there (it is the 15) and you could get out and back in a half day - it's only about 45 minutes from Princes Street.

bailey6325

bookmarking

joebear

We were there a couple of weeks ago and booked the St Andrews tour thru Scotline tours located on the Royal Mile. It was a wondeful day and much more than a tour, we stopped several places along the way for photos, 2 hours to do whatever we wanted at St. Andrews, a great tour guide and stopped at fishing village for the famous Fish and CHips on the way back. Wonderful day, it was a Sunday...

sheila

1/ Day trips from Edinburgh on the train….

Perth is a former major route junction for the trains, and you will find lines from there to Edinburgh, Glasgow, via Stirling, Dundee and then Aberdeen, Inverness and all points between.

1(a) I would suggest a day in Stirling would be a good use of your time. The only problem is, it's a bit spread out, so you might need to use cabs a lot. Great castle; Wallace
Monument, Bannockburn; good shopping.



1(b) Another thought would be Pitlochry then back to Dunkeld (actually, on checking my guide I see that some (not all, so be careful) trains stop at Blair Atholl. On second thoughts miss out Pitlochry, which is an overrated tourist trap, and go on to Blair Atholl) Blair Atholl is a planned village and is very pretty in a slightly twee Victorian style, and it houses Blair Castle, home of the Dukes of Atholl and the Atholl Highlanders. V. Impressive in the grand style. I have no idea how you get from the station to the castle but it's only a mile.

On the way back south plan to stop at Dunkeld- station is Birnam, again about a mile from
Dunkeld proper.


The Cathedral is special, but so is the Square with its National Trust houses- the Little Houses. Some very good antique shops (never pay what they are asking)


Birnam is, of course, famous as being the place from which the wood came to Dunsinane in Macbeth. Dunsinane is just north of Perth on the Aberdeen Road.

1(c).Most of Perth's interest lies in its history- ancient capital of Scotland- and in its place in Scottish literature. Just north of Perth, 2 miles or so, is Scone Palace, worth a visit itself, which was the site where the kings and queens of Scotland were crowned, seated on the Stone of Destiny, (a good fake of) which you will no doubt have seen when you visited
Edinburgh castle.

The town's 12th century Church, St John's, is worth a visit. It contains the remains of an Earl of Perth who is supposed to have told the town's baillies &quot;If you give me six feet, I'll give you twa Inches&quot;- a reference to the two parks on either side of the old town, the North and South Inches (from the Gaelic Innis meaning meadow). In addition, it is where John Knox preached the destruction of the monasteries at the start of the Scottish reformation

Sir Walter Scott wrote a novel called &quot;the Fair Maid of Perth&quot; and her house and that of Hal o' the Wynd, can both be visited. This will tell you all about Clan Chattan and Clan Kay and the battle they fought (staged?) on the North Inch. Next to Hal o' the Wynd's house is the City Mills which has a restored oatmeal mill and some nice craft shops. The City Mills Hotel, which I think is now called the Stakis, is another converted Mill, done so the lade
can be seen flowing underneath.

If you walk along the Tay, you can see where the houses in the Watergate had their gardens which led down to the river, where Kate Barlass held off the soldiers come to
capture and kill the king.

The town has really good shopping centered around the High street and Old High Street. On the north edge of the town is the Caithness Glass factory where you can see the glass
being made and, of course, buy from the factory shop. Caithness has gone into receivership, (like Chapter 11) so you need to keep an eye on the situation before making
the trek out

There are a lot of nice walks.. along the river and through the North Inch, through the Norie Millar gardens on the north side of the river, Branklyn gardens on the north side of the river, Kinnoull hill with its folly, and, Buckie Braes and Callerfountain out towards the west.

Places to eat- Let's Eat is without doubt the best place in town, Patrick’s is a bistro behind the Sherriff Court (which is on Tay Street), which is quite good, and Littlejohns, Paco's and the Filling station, are all cheap and cheerful.

The Willows tea room in St John's Square is very good for coffee/tea and cakes and things.

1(d) Go up the coast as far as Arbroath, which is a traditional fishing town, famous for its &quot;smokies&quot;, and its cathedral, which is where the Declaration of Arbroath was signed in 1320. &quot;For so long as a hundred of us remain alive, we will yield in no least way to English
dominion&quot; and all that.

Stop (if you want) at Carnoustie a couple of miles down the coast.. smaller and more of a 1920s tourist place, but famous for its golf course. The course is owned by the Council
and is remarkably cheap to play..

If you are rash enough to get off the train in Dundee (armpit of the Universe; am I making myself plain?) there's not much of quality to see or do. There is a very good visitor centre (the Discovery Centre) near the station, which interprets Captain Scott's voyages to the Antarctic, and his ship, the Discovery ,is moored alongside, so you can visit. Nearby is the Unicorn, a Dundee Whaler, which is also open to the public. There are people who
actually like Dundee but they are few and far between.


As an alternative to going up the coast from Dundee, you could change there and get the train to Leuchars, 6 miles from St Andrews. Buses leave Leuchars for St Andrews every
half hour (not Sundays)

LOTRHP

This is wonderful stuff. Thanks so much for your feedback.

It's great to hear about these places. Puts it on the trip radar now. I hadn't considered Perth, and had been under the impression that St. Andrews was more a place encouraged for golfers...so it just goes to show how helpful Fodorties can be. Very interesting!

Chariots of Fire reference--very amusing. I can see myself running along too!

Curious about Stirling too. How spread out is it? Can I go to the castle and the town easily, or is that one of the 'cab it' options?

Thanks again!

noe847

Stirling itself is fairly compact - the train station is on the downhill edge of the town center. The visitor information center is not a far walk. The castle is not far either, but it is up a steep hill.

There is a hop-on-hop-off bus which tours Stirling, taking you to the castle and other sights in the town. It also goes to the Wallace Monument (not an easy or short walk) and Bannockburn, as well as Bridge of Alan (which has the Alan Water Cafe, famous for its fish and chips and its homemade ice cream).

LOTRHP

Thanks again for the extra info. Very interesting stuff! Appreciate you all taking the time to share.