visiting Lindisfarne from Edinburgh
 

Is it possible to visit the Holy Island of Lindisfarne as a day-trip from Edinburgh? If so, how?

Very possible - if you rent a car and drive. A driving tour of the east coast including Holy Island, St Abbs Head, Tantallon/Dirleton Castles and back to Edinburgh would be a very full but totally doable day trip.

By public transport it is much more difficult. You can take the train to North Berwick and then a bus. A problem is island access depends on the tides so driving is better because you can see other things while waiting for the causeway to open if necessary.

Lindisfarne (Holy Island) is a wonderful place to visit.

Do you have a car? If so, it is not a long trip; you just have to pay attention to the times the causeway is open. The times are posted here:
http://holy-island.info/lindisfarnec.../index.htm#jan

According to www.theaa.com, it would take a little more than an hour and a half to drive.

Here is some additional travel information:
http://www.lindisfarne.org.uk/general/travel.htm

I don't know about organized day trips from Edinburgh.

If possible, we would like to make the trip on public transportation. If there is not a good public transit option for day-tripping, what small city could we go to near Lindisfarne where we could rent a car? In other words, we want to make the trip with the least amount of car travel as possible... Thanks!

I goofed above - the nearest town is Berwick-on-Tweed, not N. Berwick. It is not an easy trip by public transport. But if you want to try it, the info is here http://www.lindisfarne.org.uk/general/travel.htm

Driving is much easier and there is <u>really</u> no benefit to taking a train to Berwick then renting a car (I personally don't know of any car hire firms in Berwick)

But you could take a train and then a taxi to the island - it is about 10-12 miles.

To Clarify - Berwick-on-Tweed in England is just north of the island (maybe 10 miles) and North Berwick is in Scotland on the way back to Edinburgh . . . . .

The bus timetable is here:
http://pscm.northumberland.gov.uk/pl...l92/docs/17826
The bus times vary from day to day because of the tides. The causeway to the island is flooded at high tide. Today, for example, there's a bus from Berwick at 1015 and the return bus gets back at 1740, giving about six hours on the island. It's possibly the only bus service in Britain which is dependent on tides.
From Edinburgh to Berwick is about 50 minutes by train. See www.nationalrail.co.uk for times.