I have a week to spend in Scotland. It is my first trip there and I would like your imput on historical "must see" sites. I will spend 2 days in Edinburgh. Do I have time to see Iona and is it worth spending time on a day trip there?

It's an impossible question.

Skara Brae?

New Lanark?

Bannockburn?

Culloden?

One man's "must see" is another's "who cares". My husband thinks anything less than 3000 years old is too modern to bother with.

YOu can do Iona easily, but at the expense of other things. _I_ think it's worth seeing. I can't speak for others. If you decide to go, have a look at the work of the Scottish Impressionists, so you have more than St Columba to focus on

Like Sheila siad, everyone's idea of "must see" will be different. For me it's castles & historical sites. Even if you're not a history buff (though I doubt you'd be going to Scotland if you weren't at least a little interested in history) you should definitely see Edinburgh Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Royal Mile that runs between them. If a day trip to Iona doesn't work out, there are LOTS of other good day trips one can easily take from Edinburgh. Such as -- Stirling - another great castle, lots of the real events from Braveheart in the area, and generally just really beautiful scenery. Perth - a very pretty town, nearby is Scone Palace and the site where the kings of Scotland used to be crowned. Linlithgow - a suburb of Edinburgh, the palace there was the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots, very picturesque village and a great needlework shop in the High Street. Dunfermline - burial place of Robert the Bruce in the Abbey & birthplace of Andrew Carnegie. There are lots more too - I'd suggest getting your hands on some guide books - the library should have some you can check out for free. The only bad part is having only 2 days in Edinburgh, it's such a beautful city you could spend a week just exploring it and still want more, just be prepared for hills which can be tiring for walking even though that is the best way to explore the city. And if you find yourself in Nicolson Street (in the Old Town) south of the big theatre, look for a small shop called Gibson Tile - the reason that buidling is historically significant is because my grandmother was born there!

Iona is mainly noteable in terms of religious history.
If this is your interest then check out the webpage for the St Mungo Museum Of Religious Life And Art.(at glasgowmuseums.com)
If not, I wouldn't bother with Iona.

Since Iona would take you a whole day, I would suggest spending the time seeing more of the area south of Edinburgh instead. In Lothian and the Borders you could visit Floor Castle, Abbotsford (if Scott interests you), Dryburgh Abbey, Jedburgh Abbey, and a lot of other places of historic importance and interest. See if you can find a copy of Historic Britain; we bought one in England--it's put out by the auto club--and found it invaluable for choosing where to go.

Did I misunderstand? I didn't think Iona was meant to be a day trip from Edinburgh. That would be barking mad. But it's quite doable from Oban.

Joycie, as previous posters have mentioned, what kind of history do you like? One of the main reasons we went to Scotland was to see the Orkney Island sites, but it will take you almost a week to get there (but so worth it, IMO). There are plenty of historical sites in Edinburgh, the Border Abbeys are captivating, (you can dip into England and see Hadrian's wall too), the Kilmartin Valley north of Glasgow is interesting as well. All depending on what interests you.