Guided day trips from Edinburgh
 

Thanks for all of you help earlier - as I get closer to the trip I have a specific question regarding guided day trips from Edinburgh. Are there any? Specifically to Glamis Castle or Stirling or St Andrews? Are these easy enough to do without a car on public transportation. If I only choose one of the three which would be the best. I

A little about me I am a solo traveler who enjoys art, architecture, theater, hiking, and eclectic shopping. I have a British Heritage pass and a rail pass. I love museums, walking around, and the kind of shopping I like is the odd arty kitchy places that don't exist in malls or strip centers. Not necessarily to purchase anything just look around. Unique kinds of stuff. I love great restaurants although I'm a light eater - I eat small amounts frequently so good recommendations for an afternoon or mid-morning snack or dessert is always appreciated. I love gardens and great outdoor spaces, but I realize that I am arriving when it is likely to be cold and wet. I love history and local color. So really I like just about anything. I have several guidebooks and recommendations so I know I want to see the Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood, the Royal Museum and Royal Gallery. Any helpful suggestions for shopping, dining, music and such would be appreciated.

If you like shopping, Art and architecture, go to Glasgow. Trains every 15 minutes from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street and take about 50 minutes. Get the underground to Hillhead and explore the West End, some nice vintage clothes shops, lots of places to eat and also the Botanic Gardens. Lots in the city centre too...

I've done a day trip to Stirling from Edinburgh - not a guided tour, though. It's about 45 minutes by train, no changes, so that's easy, and tickets are inexpensive. When we got to Stirling, we got on the hop on/hop off bus which stops right outside the train station. (I'm usually not crazy about the HOHO buses, but the one in Stirling was relatively inexpensive and a good option to cover Stirling's major tourist sites in a short amount of time.) It's been a couple of years, so I'm fuzzy on what exactly the bus drove by, but there was the usual recorded commentary on everything we passed. We rode it all the way to Stirling Castle and got off there. I really enjoyed the Castle and we spent a lot of time there. Then we rode to the Wallace monument and hung around there for awhile before catching the last bus back to the station. That's my one word of warning about the HOHO method - make sure you know when the last bus comes by.

You don't mention specifics on the dining (budget, cuisine), but we really liked Always Sunday, a cafe on the Royal Mile. Good food at reasonable prices (or at least, was a couple years ago) and a great spot to grab a light lunch, scone, what have you.

http://www.alwayssunday.co.uk/

Thanks for you reply - Budget is pretty open - but I generally choose moderately priced places unless I have an outstanding recommendation

Meant to add - Always Sunday looks perfect

You might want to take a look at the daytrips offered by Rabbie's Trail Burners.

http://www.rabbies.com/scottish_1_day_tours.asp?lng=en

Several years ago we did the Isle of Skye 3-day tour with them and were very pleased--IIRC, there were 12 of us in a (Mercedes?) van; the driver/guide was experienced, knowledgeable, entertaining. I'd happily do another tour with them!

There are three of four similar companies- Timberbush, Haggis, Macbackpackers, et al

You should find something that suits.