It's been a while since I've posted and it seems Fodor's has a new format so hopefully this will go through.

We are planning a trip to Scotland and Ireland in mid-May, 2020. It will be our 13th trip to Europe but our first time to these countries. Planning on spending more time in Scotland and our initial itinerary will be for 17 days of travel (really only 15) as we won't consider the travel time to get here.

Edinburgh- 3 nights (day trip to St. Andrews)
Aberdeen - 3 nights
Inverness - 3 nights
Glasgow - 2 nights
Fly to Dublin for 4 nights. (day trips to Wicklow, Kilkenny and maybe Kinsale)

A little background on us - baby boomers who are in pretty good shape and love to travel. We enjoy hiking, culture, architecture, farmers markets, art, and food. Enjoy staying more at 4 & 5 star hotels in the old towns. Do you know if getting to these places by train will be doable for each leg of the trip? We could rent a car but would prefer not to so both of us could enjoy the scenery.

Thank you in advice.

They're all reachable by train, but it begs the question about what you want to see and do in those cities. Except for Inverness (which is pleasant enough but isn't going to win any beauty pageants) the cities are interesting, but I suspect most visitors to Scotland would say that one of the best things about them is the countryside that can be accessed from each. Aberdeen is close to castle and whisky country, Glasgow is a good jumping-off place for the western Highlands, Argyll, Mull and the Trossachs, and Edinburgh is a good jumping-off place for the Borders and the North Sea coast extending into Northumberland in England. And Inverness, of course, is a superb launch pad for the northwest Highlands, the Great Glen, and Skye. But in each case a car is by far the best means to access those places; the train routes are extremely limited. And with eleven nights total in Scotland, you're going to need to set priorities, and might think about limiting the reach of your travels in order to keep from having to be on the go too much.

So do a search on this board for threads covering Scotland (numerous) and perhaps consult a guide such as Undiscovered Scotland - https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/

As Gardyloo says - yes, you can reach each of those by rail, and the cities are interesting enough. But the real wonder of Scotland is in the countryside, which is magnificent.

If you don't wish to drive, then consider taking tours to get outside the cities.

While Aberdeen and Inverness have some advantages -- I personally would not stay in either one . . . but you'd definitely want a car (not in Edinburgh or Glasgow of course)

One example using just the areas you mention . . . I'd stay 3 nights in Edinburgh (which only gives you 2 days) then collect a car and visit St Andrews -- maybe even spend one night so you can also visit the Fife fishing villages, then drive up the coast - definitely visit Dunnottar and stay somewhere along Deeside such as Ballater for 2 nights -- (3 nights would be great if you can swing it because there is so much to see along the Castle Trail and Aberdeenshire coast)

Then up towards Inverness but stay in Dufftown, or Nairn or even Grantown on Spey.

You could then drop the car in Inverness and take the train to Glasgow

OR -- there are a hundred other options visiting other regions . . .

Thank you all for your responses. It's good to know that these places are all reachable by train. We understand that we aren't going to see all of Scotland on our first visit but we can always return on another trip. We chose these places as good jumping off points. I will start researching some of these towns Janis mentioned so thank you for these suggestions. We might consider renting a car for part of the trip or find a private tour guide for day trips,

I would love to hear from anyone who has used public transportation or hired a private tour guide for day trips in any of the places we are visiting.

My 2018 visit to Scotland by public transport starts here: An eccentric trip around the UK

I also visited in 2004, taking the train from Glasgow to Mallaig for the ferry to Skye, a bus back to the mainland and train via Inverness to Edinburgh. In Edinburgh I took a buses out to Rosslyn Chapel and the then functional Edinburgh Crystal Factory. Besides Dundee, you could easily reach St. Andrews or Perth by train from Edinburgh.

Over the years, I have traveled through out Scotland by car but in recent years have used public transportation mostly trains. I travel solo so thinking about finding myself stranded in the middle of nowhere with car problems was not comforting. That’s when I started using trains for most of my travel. I have made numerous trips through Scotland via the train. There are two routes which I highly recommend. The first departs from Glasgow Queen Street Station which is an easy trip from Edinburgh. The train travels through one of the most scenic areas of Scotland. At Crianlarich the train divides and you can either continue across Rannoch Moor as far as the ferry port of Mallaig or go to Oban where there is a good choice of trips via CalMac ferry to several of the islands.

The other route goes from Inverness across the Highlands to Kyle of Lochalsh which is just across the bridge from the Isle of Skye.The first train route is The West Highland Line. There are several possibilities for stops along the way, but these are small places without many visitor sites. My favorite is Rannoch where there is an excellent B&B but not much else. They do have a number of walks and there used to be a shuttle that would take you into Pitlochry.

Another suggestion would be to look into Rabbies tours. . This is well-respected tour company. They do small group tours with a maximum of 16 passengers. Their driver/guides are excellent. They offer numerous tours from one day to a week or more. I have done more than a half dozen tours with them and can highly recommend. They offer a very good alternative to exploring Scotland without having to drive. I might add their knowledge of the places you visit will be far more meaningful than simply exploring a n your own.

www.rabbies.com

Thank you thursdaysd and historytraveler for your responses. I enjoyed reading your trip report. This is why getting feedback from other travelers is always so much better than sometimes reading guidebooks. I appreciate you pointing out that Glasgow has two train stations. I remembered once in our past travels many years ago where we went to the wrong train station. Also, I have started looking at rabbles tours and like that you can do one day visits and they cater to smaller groups so I appreciate you sending the link.

I do find when we travel around Europe that the locals are very curious on how we stand with our current President. Once they know we are not Trump supporters they seemed more comfortable. Your incident with tour guide reminded me when we were in Montenegro a couple of years ago. It was right after Trump pushed aside Montenegro's Prime Minister in that photo op and our private tour guide gently reminded us of the incident. She was gentle in her approach but probably more in shock of that behavior as we were.

The Rabbies tip is rocking my world! Just made my planning so much easier.