Hi,
We want to use Marriott rewards and stay at the Dalmahoy.
Any opinions?

How long to drive to Inverness? I lived in Stirling 20 years ago and everything has left my brain.

I think we have plently to keep us busy in Edinburgh for 4 days, but any thoughts on side trips if we have time?

Thanks, Anne

3 hours to drive from Edinburgh to Inverness.

I did a word doc on day trips from Edinburgh Anne, if you want to email me for it.

I lived in Edinburgh 12 years ago.

Regarding side trips; Tantallon Castle (50 miles east of Edinburgh) is dramatically situated on a cliff edge overlooking the sea. Its fun to explore and makes for a nice day out.
I guess you're familiar with Stirling Castle which is Edinburgh Castle's 'mini-me' and makes for an easy day trip by train.
We're visiting Scotland in April. We'll spend 5 nights in Edinburgh, then head to the highlands; we drive to Fort William, then alongside Loch Ness and stay overnight in Elgin. We return to Edinburgh Airport via Dufftown and Braemar. On this trip we'll visit various castles, the Elgin Cathedral, the Glenfiddich distillery, ride a gondola near Ben Nevis, and of course admire the ***** scenery most of the way (which includes a bit of Harry Potter nostalgia to keep the kids happy).

Regarding travel times, check out this (AA) site; http://www.theaa.com/travelwatch/planner_main.jsp

Thank you both!

Sheila, I would love for you to email that.
[email protected]

Thanks....

Anne

I was thinking of taking a daytrip by train to see both the Dirleton & Tantallon castle ruins, Bob. Do you know how these sites might be accessible after hopping off the train? Am wondering the same about Stirling Castle and some of the castles around Perth as well, since I am thinking of possibly using each place as a base camp for a couple of days.

Hi plr
I don't know about Dirleton or Tantallon by train. Dirleton is probably easier to reach with public transport as it lies within a residential area of an unremarkable town. Tantallon has much more appeal though but would be harder to reach.
If you don't have a car you'll find Linlithgow Palace and Stirling Castle much easier to get to; they're both a short stroll from the train station.

I've only ever driven through Perth I don't really know what's there. I suspect a lot of nice roads that lead out of it.

Both Direlton and Tantallon are fabulous. Besides being interesting ruins, Direlton has <b>gorgeous</b> gardens, and Tantallon has its amazing setting up on the cliff overlooking Bass rock and the Firth/North Sea.

by car they are an easy day trip from Edinburgh - in fact one could easily tour both castles, North berwick, Preston Mill and Phantassie Doocot and probably have time for St Abbs Head too.

But by train it is less convenient. You can take the train to North Berwick and either walk, take a cab or a local bus about 3 miles to Tantallon and then back to N. Berwick. Then it is about 2.5 miles in the opposite direction to Direlton. So another walk or taxi/bus round trip. So you could do both in a day from Edinburgh - but that is about all.

Just in case you didn't realise, the Marritt Dalmahoy is several miles outside Edinburgh. It is nicer than the Marriott on Glasgow Road but if you're planning to go into town all the time by bus, especially at night, then Glasgow Road would be much more convenient as it is a main bus route. The hotel is set well back from the road so I don't think it would be noisy.

P.S. Day trip ? Glasgow if you are into things cultural - great museums, galleries, theatre, etc etc; plus good restaurants (from expensive to very cheap). The train to Queen Street takes 50 minutes, they run every 15 mins during the day &amp; every 30 mins during the evening, &amp; a cheap day return (which can't be used during peak commuting hours) is c.&pound;8.

The fortnightly local listings magazine 'The List' covers Edinburgh &amp; Glasgow.