Edinburgh or Glasgow in 8 days
 

We are middle age couple that would like to visit Scotland in the next couple of months but don't know which city suit us best. We don't mind visiting both cities, as long as it is not a challenge in terms of transportation ...... my husband is handicapped (walk with cane), and I don't drive. We are interested in museums and achitectures.
(1) when is the good time to go between June to Oct?
(2)Edinburgh or Glasgow a less challenging place to visit for handicapped person?
(3) Recommendation of hotels around major attractions.
Any help will be appreciated.

Millie

I am sure others will have better advice than me - especially given we have only been to Edinburgh. They are quite close by train (about an hour I think) and other than minor illness we did intend to do a day trip to Glasgow. Edinburgh is beautiful and we loved our 5 days there as part of a longer trip to Scotland. It is a little hilly in some parts - e.g up to the castle. We were there in June - glorious long days which were also warm and sunny - but Scottish weather is a bit unpredictable. I imagine Sept and Oct would be starting to get cold and I would definately go during summer time (daylight saving) to get the long days.

Whatever you do, stay away from Edin.
during the Festival . It is very crowded and may be hard to get around.
Glasgow may be less challenging but it is also a less interesting city .

The local people can advise better, however, if I were going I would opt for September if for no reason than fewer people. One thought you might wish to consider is using the trains for a day or more out of either Glasgow or Edinburgh (note spelling, not edin.)

I would choose Edinburgh and either June or September. You would need to avoid Edinburgh from late july through very early Sept because of all the festivals and the Tattoo which totally fill the city to the brim. Crowds would not be a major issue in June or mid-late Sept. In June you'd have the really loooooong daylight hours, but Sept is usually pretty good weather.

Edinburgh does essentially have a mountain in the middle w/ the castle and old town up top and the "new" town down below. So the walking up and down can be a problem. But it is a very compact city so taxis are not expensive, and there is a great bus service to almost anywhere.

Then you can take a quick train over to Glasgow for a daytrip(s)

You can also take coach day trips from Edinburgh to places like Loch Lomond or even Loch Ness. The Tourist Information center or your hotel's concierege can set you up for those . . . .

Hi Millie,
Edinburgh would probably suit you best for a place to stay but you should definitely have two or three day trips to Glasgow. That will be enough to let you start to appreiciate how different but still undeniably Scottish the two cities are. As others have said, Edinburgh gets very busy (and expensive) during festival / tattoo time in August and the "festival season" is gradually getting longer. Both cities have some fascinating architecture if you know where to look.
Whichever city you are in, tell people you like that one best :-)

Hi,

A couple of years ago I visited both Edinburgh and Glasgow. We spent 2 days visiting Glasgow and 4 in Edinburgh.

Two days in Glasgow was enough for us to see what we were interested in, however at the time the Kelvingrove museum was closed for renovations. If it had been open, we probably would have used almost another full day to fit that in.

Four days in Edinburgh was not nearly enough. I would like to go back and spend an entire week in there at some point. We were there during the fringe and unless you have an interest in the fringe itself, don't go when it's on. You can't get away from the crowds and our B&B cost more just because it was festival time.

Unfortunately, most of what we did/enjoyed involved walking so may be difficult for your husband. However, here's what we enjoyed:

Glasgow attractions we enjoyed:

- People's Palace And Winter Gardens
- St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art
- The Lighthouse (Mackintosh Centre and - Mackintosh Tower)
- Glasgow Necropolis
- Glenlee (tall ship)

Edinburgh attractions:

- Edinburgh Castle
- Holyrood Palace
- Walking the Royal Mile between the above two and visiting the shops
- Mary Kings Close
- Ghost and Ghouls walking tour
- Scott Monument
- lots of museums

In both cities we just enjoyed walking and taking in the atmosphere.