Scotland: Edinburgh and what else?
 

Hi, everybody. We are leaving for Scotland in 10 days, we'll stay there 7 days; we have booked an hotel in Edinburgh, where we plan to stay most of the week, but would like to make a couple of daytrips, or maybe a longer one (2 days 1 night). Though I'll have my travel guide, I'd appreciate recommendations:
1. Must sees/do in Edinburgh, and good dining places.
2. Where to go on the daytrips, including possibility of train/bus, though we are ready to rent a car and drive.
Thanks!

Two fine easy day trips:

Sterling - ultimate castle of your dreams overlooking lush countryside - think BraveHeart\lots of trains take about 45 minutes. Neat old town - famous Gaol.

St Andrews - ultimate seaside town with famous University and neat town centre - train to Leuchars and hop waiting buses the few miles into town centre from station.

We liked the old castles. Hailes, Dirleton and Tantallon are all a short distance from Edinburgh. Since these are not occupied you can wander on the grounds and through the castle and imagine what was in the castle and stand in the middle of the banquet hall or a bed chamber.

Leith a district in Edinburgh is a nice area, and has some great fish restaurants like the Shore and Fishes. The Ghost Tour is fun.Would second Stirling and St Andrews.

Must do:
Walk to the top of Salisbury Craigs/Arthur's Seat behind holyrood palace.
An unbelieveable view.

Breadalbane and the Trossachs. - Must do!
I agree with Stirling ( I went to University here my Junior year braod - years ago) and,
St. Andrews.
I suggest a car, especially if you want to stop at various scenic lookout spots and/or go off the beaten path....
It is a bit on the nerves as you first get on the road though,.. especially the roundabouts! Dont drive in Edinburgh, you will be fine.

Glasgow - see "destinations" above.

Thanks for the info.

Some restaurant recommendations? Medium to high budget.

send me an email and I send you a couple of docs.

Drive to Balmoral, kind of a princess castle. Buy a bottle of Royal Lochnavar(sic) scotch from the nearby distillery.

Go down to Roslyn Chapel, but do it early in the morning, to miss the tour crowds.

Down to Melrose and climb on the ruins. Find Robert the Bruce's heart.

If you are really adventurous, drive down to Hadrian's wall, spend the night in Ripon and then go to Fountains Abbey. on the way back.

We visited Edinburgh for in March, and 3 restaurants that we would recommend totally for their fine dining and atmosphere are...The Atrium, The Tower Restaurant, above the Museum of Scotland and Stac Polly.
Avoid most of the "dime a dozen" Italian restaurants that have 100 items on their menu.

there is an absolutely gorgeous little village just north of Edinburgh, called Culross, well worth a visit.

Scone Palace is one of the best great houses ever, great and caring guides too--train access is good, then taxi to the palace. In Edinburgh, go to the waterfront area for some wonderful restaurants, and DO the botanical garden. It is extensive, beautiful, and free.

What sort of food do you like ?

Here are some of my favourites places to eat in Edinburgh.

If you want gourmet, there are two restaurants with one Michelin star. Martin Wishart's in Leith is fantastic, especially if you have the six course tasting menu (which will all be cooked by the man himself). £60pp for food, £40pp for a wine to match each course. It's very high class but friendly and unstuffy. Book 2-3 months in advance for dinner; probably less for lunch but I've not tried. Tipped to get a 2nd star next months.

The other starred restaurant is Number One in the Balmoral : food nothing special IMO, ambience is more formal & traditional.

For Italian, La Partenope on Dalry Road is wonderful. The chef-proprietor & his food are Neapolitan & it's the best Italian food (especially seafood) I've had outside southern Italy. Unusually for an Italian restaurant, in the UK at any rate, even the desserts are home made & very good. They also have a very interesting list of southern Italian wines largely based on little known grape varieties. The ambience is very relaxed.

La Garrigue on Jeffrey Street is a small French restaurant specialising in cooking of the Languedoc where the chef-proprietor is from, as are all the wines. The food & the chef are both lovely and the ambience is correct but relaxed. If you sit near the window there is a view of Calton Hill & its monuments.

Centotre on George Street is a busy, buzzy Italian caffe-bar offering everything from a coffee & cannolo to cocktails to to a full slap-up 4 course meal. Can be expensive for the full works but v. reasonable for just a pizza or a bowl of pasta, both of which are very good (best pizza in town IMO).

If you want 'modern Scottish', Stac Polly on Grindlay Street used to be good, but I recently read a poor review of it by a writer I respect.

When we have vistors we've always taken them for Sunday lunch in Leith (the old docks area - which I've just moved to !). There are lots of nice waterfront places, notably the Shore, where you can eat in the restaurant or in the pub; the Waterfront (more upmarket) and Skipper's. All of these are particularly good for fish but do other things too - the Waterfront does vg steak from the Duke of Buccleuch's estates. I used to think Fisher's in Leith was the best for fish but had a very disappointing experience there last year. I haven't tried Fisher's in the City for some time so won't judge it, but other posters here have praised it recently.

I've never had good fish & chips in Edinburgh.

If you want recommendations for any other specific types of cuisine, please ask.

You've got lots of good dining recommendations. For must sees: The castle is obvious. The Museum of Scotland is excellent for natural and cultural history. Plan for at least a half day at each place, with a full day potentially well spent in the museum. Palace of Holyrood is also a good visit. And, if the weather is not too cold, the walk down the Royal Mile from the castle to the palace -- just poking around in the shops, pubs, etc is very pleasant. I also enjoyed the royal yacht tour -- a bus ride from the center of the city. Also, if you go up toward St. Andrews, my wife and I found the cold-war underground bunkers (you will see signs or ads) quite interesting.

Many thanks to everybody. I now have an idea of what to visit and (as important) what to avoid.
caroline_edinburgh, your restaurants recommendations are very useful, and enough for us. Shall write a report on return.

We were in Edinburgh for 3 nights - I recommend Arthurs Seat, though I didn't climb the whole way (I'm chicken and it was too breezy for me!) But we did get great views, we have photos at www.neesie.org.

We did a tour to Loch Ness and the Highlands, I did enjoy it but I'm not sure I'd recommend it for just one day. There was a lot of "on the bus" time. Like 10 - 12 hours worth!

We we enjoyed the Camera Obscura and I'd recommend that (it is on the Royal Mile). If you have self catering, there are grocery stores like Sainsburys, Tesco and Scotsmid. I made spagetti one night and we had it for 2 days (less than $10.00 total US for 2 dinners!)

There is a guy who does bike tours of Edinburgh, I'd like to try that next time. His website is http://www.edinburghcycletour.com/. I am not sure how good it is, but I enjoy bike tours (we did a couple of them in Paris with Fat Tires).