Seeking advice - a group of seven adults will be travelling to Scotland in May. We are not renting a vehicle and have most things sorted with the exception of a couple of days. We would like to do the following.
Leave Glasgow to be at Paisley Abbey for a 2pm tour
After Paisley, travel to Stirling where we have accommodation
The next day, tour Stirling Castle and other sites
Travel from Stirling to the Edinburgh Airport
Our main concern is the most efficient way to travel to these places and what to do with all our luggage as we visit Paisley Abbey. Any suggestions?

Welcome to Fodors. This is not at all straightforward and you will have some serious logistical issues:

1) There is no train from Paisley to Stirling. You'd have to take one train from Paisley to Glasgow Central, walk to Glasgow Queen Street Station, and take a different train to Stirling.

2) Paisley Abbey has no Left Luggage facility

If you are visiting Glasgow for a few dats it would be better (MUCH better) if you did Paisley as a day trip from Glasgow.

From Stirling to EDI you can either catch Megabus or take a train to Edinburgh (or other stops en route) and the tram or buses or taxis to the Airport. But for seven a private transfer might make sense.

Thank you so much, janisj, for your response.

I'm wondering if it would make sense to leave our luggage at our Glasgow Hotel, travel to and from Paisley for the afternoon and go back to Glasgow to catch the train to Stirling. Does that seem like too many steps?

That makes MUCH more sense. If you can't visit Paisley on a different day, then yes, check out of your hotel and leave your bags there, head out to Paisley. Then travel back into the city, collect your bags and take the train from Glasgow Queen Street to Stirling.

Same thing at Stirling -- check out of your hotel and leave your bags there, visit the castle, then return to the hotel to retrieve the luggage and head down to Edinburgh.

You probably already know this -- but trains for Paisley Gilmour Street station leave from Glasgow Central and take less than 15 minutes. The station is less than ½ a mile from the Abbey