Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

here are some random day trips:-

1/ Cross over the Forth Road Bridge to Fife. On the other side of the river, Dunfermilne is on your left. Robert the Bruce, the hero king who won Bannockburn is buried here in Dunfermilne Abbey (although his heart is buried at Melrose in the borders); go back onto the main road and you will shortly come to Loch Leven, where Mary Queen of Scots was locked up in the castle on the island (v. romantic..the story of the escape- she then fled to her cousin in England for succour. She locked her up for 20 years then beheaded her.) You can take boat trips from Kinross.
Vane Farm Bird Reserve is on the other side of the Loch.
Then go due east to the coast. There are lots of other nice places, like Ceres, Falkland Palace, the East Neuk villages, Pittenweem, St Monans and Leven - a stretch of picture-postcard little fishing villages, with Anstruther, Crail, etc, leading toward St Andrews. For hiking, there's the Fife Coastal path that runs along the entire coast.
In Anstruther 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. That area of Fife is well worth a visit

In St Andrews, take 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, which is where they filmed the opening sequence of Chariots of Fire- shame about the weather- and one of the best ice cream shops in the world (Jannetta's) apart from being a lovely little town.

Restaurants in the area which are very good would include the Ostler's Close in Cupar, the Cellar in Anstruther, the Cellar in St Monan's and the Peat Inn at Peat Inn.

2/ Culloden Moor near Inverness if you are at all interested in British History. It was the site of the last battle on British soil and was probably one of the bloodiest. It wasn't, as most people think, the Scots versus the English, but the Jacobites against the Hanoverians (there were more Scots fighting for the Hanoverians than fought for the Jacobites). Poke about long enough and you may a find a claymore (sword) or brooch or whatever. Go visit Loch Ness whilst you are in the area.

3/ 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.

4/ Electric Brae in Dumfriesshire. A hill which provides an optical illusion of your car rolling up the hill. A bit of fun, this one.

5/ Moffat, again in Dumfriesshire. Stop here because it’s a lovely little town and probably has the best cream teas in Britain.

6/ In Aberdeenshire and Morayshire at Forvie sands and Culben Sands, are the remnants of 2 villages, which disappeared in the middle ages in a sand storm. These are huge undisturbed dune systems.

7/ In Orkney (islands off the north coast) there are the prehistoric ruins of Skara Brae which have been excavated from below the ground. They are absolutely mystical and in beautiful location. Orkney, tho' remote has much to recommend it.

8/ 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.

9/.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.

10/ Whisper it not in Gath- go to Glasgow for shopping and culture (and you can do it by train)

11/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.

12/ Golf- pick any one of dozens of gorgeous courses in superb scenery.

14/. Drive eastward from Edinburgh 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.

15/ Day trips from Edinburgh on the train….

i)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. 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 destruction 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. I understand that Caithness has recently gone into receivership, but the stuff is still being sold.

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 on the west side.

Places to eat- Let's Eat is without doubt the best place in town. Patrick’s is a bistro behind the Sheriff 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.

ii) 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.

iii) 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. 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.

iv) Go north 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 couple of miles down the coast.. smaller and more of a 1920s tourist place, but famous for its golf.

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 here and get the train to Leuchars, 6 miles from St Andrews. Buses leave Leuchars for St Andrews every half hour (not Sundays)