Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Edinburgh

1/A trip underneath the castle in St Andrews, Fife. It can be a bit of a squeeze so if you are claustrophobic then probably best to pass on this one. John Knox used to live in this castle - also get chance to see the bottle dungeon - according to (Tony’s) dad, he was imprisoned there as a student for charity or something - some horrific stories he keeps for special occasions. St Andrews with its ancient university, its cathedral (we do have a lot of them, don't we?) and the home of golf, the Royal and Ancient is seriously worth a visit. It has one of the best beaches in the world- the west sands- shame about the weather and one of the best ice cream shops in the world (Jannetta's) apart from being a lovely little town. 2/ Dechmont Law near Livingston, West Lothian. Site of an attempted alien abduction of local forester Bob Taylor in 1979. This is the only UFO site in the world where the local authority have acknowledged what went on there and have erected a plaque accordingly. 3/Anstruther, Fife. Visit the fishing museum, Then have the best fish in the world for your lunch. After that drive along the coast to Largo, home of the 'original' Robinson Crusoe. When Daniel Defoe wrote about Robinson Crusoe, he was writing about a real person. His name was Alexander Selkirk and he came from Largo in Fife. Defoe was an English spy up in Scotland in the 1700's and nicked the story. This is of particular interest to (Tony, as Tony is) distantly related to Selkirk. That area of Fife is well worth a visit 4. Go down into the Borders and do a couple of big houses and some scenery. Say Traquair Castle- which has its own brewery and some excellent history. Followed by Mellarstain House and maybe Melrose Abbey where Robert the Bruce's heart is buried. Other variations on this theme include Floors Castle, Abbotsford (home of Sir Walter Scott) Dryburgh Abbey; Hermitage Castle; Neidpath Castle- or there are lots more. 5.Go slightly further west and see New Lanark, a model community built by social philanthropist Robert Owen; and it's near the Falls of Clyde for scenery. 6. Whisper it not in Gath- go to Glasgow for shopping and culture (and you can do it by train) 7.Linlithgow Palace, followed by Bannockburn- battle site, where we beat the English- and Stirling. Linlithgow is one of my favorite castles and can be done in a quick afternoon visit along with St. Michael's Church. 8. Over the Forth Road Bridge to Fife, to Loch Leven castle where Mary Queen of Scots was locked up and escaped from; and Vane Farm Bird Reserve on the other side of the Loch. 9 Golf- pick any one of half a dozen gorgeous courses in superb scenery. 10. Drive eastward along the coast through East Lothian to North Berwick and Dunbar. North Berwick is a great seaside village featuring a beach, Bass Rock, and Tantallon Castle. Dunbar has a great seaside castle ruin. This drive is about 40 miles roundtrip from Edinburgh. 11Day trips 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. 12 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. 13 Another thought would be Pitlochry then back to Dunkeld (Actually on checking my giude 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. Good book shop and some very good antique shops ( never pay what they are asking) Birnam is, of course, famous as being the place fromm which the wood came to Dunsinane in Macbeth. Dunsinane is just north of Perth on the Aberdeen Road. 14.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 "If you give me six feet, I'll give you twa Inches"- 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 detsuction of the monasteries at the start of the Scottish reformation Sir Walter Scott wrote a novel called "the Fair Maid of Perth" 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 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. 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, near where you are staying, Buckie Braes and Callerfountain. 15 Go up the coast as far as Arbroath, which is a traditional fishing town, famous for its "smokies", and its cathedral which is where the Declaration of Arbroath was signed in 1320. "For so long as a hundred of us remain alive, we will yield in no least way to English dominion" and all that. Stop ( if you want) at Carnoustie a coulpe of miles down the coast.. smaller and more of a 1920s tourist place, but famous for its golf, especially this week. 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 Antartic, 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.