Skaye

Staying in London for two weeks in September - then would like to see Edinburgh Castle or any big castle and rolling green hills, and also go through a Scotch distillery -those pretty much covers the most important wishes. There are 5 of us. Is it better to rent a car in London or go by train and rent a car in Edinburgh? If anyone has better ideas for castles and distillery, please let me know. Also, how many days should I comfortably plan for? Thank you.

MelJ

Car takes twice as long as the train. If you go by train it takes 4-5 hours (depending on the stops). The train is a nice ride through beautiful countryside and you arrive in central Edinburgh, which allows you to walk to the Royal mile and up that to the castle.

Also, you don't want a car in Edinburgh. Trust me on this. And Edinburgh has a great local bus system, so you really don't need one.

I do hope you go to Edinburgh, it's a beautiful old city and, IMHO, very different from London, which makes it a nice change of scenery. I would allow three days there, if possible.

Skaye

Thank you.. any thoughts on distillery tours??

nytraveler

Um - if you want to see a big castle you might consider the Tower in London and Windsor Castle - about 30 minutes outside London by train.

Not that you shouldn;t go to Edinburgh - you should - it's fantastic. but you don;t have to wait until you get there to see a castle.

michele_d

Hi Skaye,
Don't have any info on distillery tours but if you are taking the train from London to Edinburgh you will go through York. It is a great town if you have time to visit there. You can walk to town wall around town to see York from a different perspective. The cathedral is beautiful. The slaughters is an old part of town not to be missed. We took a Ghost Tour one evening and had a great host.

You can take the morning train from London to York, wander around York for the day and then spend the night and catch the train to Edinburgh the next day. The train ride was great, very relaxing for everyone.

I second that you don't need a car IN Edinburgh but you will want one for day trips if you take them. We spent four days in Edinburgh during the festival and Tattoo so I would allot a minimum of 3 days.

There are some great walking tours of Edinburgh that we really enjoyed. The tour of the vaults: Ghost and Ghouls walk was very interesting. Even had some in our group encounter some "spirits"...the Mary King's Close Tour was also interesting.

The links for these tours is: http://www.mercattours.com/home.asp and http://www.realmarykingsclose.com/.

Greyfriar's Kirk (cemetery) in Edinburgh is a wonderful old cemetery to look around too if you like that sort of thing. Beautiful headstones.

You will have a great time regardless of what you decide to do.
Have a fun time,
Michele

janisj

You have not said how long you plan on spending in Scotland.

It is really impossible to give you any useful advice w/o that info.

For some itineraries, train makes most sense - for some, flying is by far the best option - and for some, driving is the only way.

So give us more info.

If you want to visit a Whisky distillery, you'll have to go to Scotland -- and mostly a fair distance north of Edinburgh.

If you want to see a Castle -- there are countless castles in every corner of England, Scotland and Wales, including in London.

janisj

Oh sheesh -- I answered and then went back and re-read your OP

You are asking US how many days . . . .

OK - how many days do you have in total besides your time in London?

Skaye

Thank you all. Have already planned for day trips, Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, etc. Still need to find out about distilleries! I had forgotten about York. I think that is one of the prettier towns also. As always, Fodorites are great!!

Cathinjoetown

Try this website,

www.maltwhiskeytrail.com

and/or Google whiskey trail scotland