Hello fellow travelers- we are planning another trip to the United kingdom and this time we will be landing first in Edinburgh on May 8th and staying for 7 nights with additional 2 nights in the Isle of Skye tour with Rabbie's. We then depart via train to London.
I am now in need of your wise advice- you have never steered me wrong!
We want to do some day trips from Edinburgh but would like to do it independently- we will not have a car this time ( had quite a challenge in southern England a few years back ! We love gardens, history, scenic places and are not afraid to hike/walk a bit. We have 6 full days (7 nights) in Edinburgh and could add a day if needed. On one of those days we do already have a Rabbie's tour to Hadrian's wall and would like leave at least 2 free days in Edinburgh plus the half day when we arrive ( is that enough?)- so that leaves 3 days for day trips.
I am listing our "wish list" ( some have easy public transportation while others do not). We do not need to do it all but these places/experiences caught our interest. I would love suggestions on how to pair it efficiently and on how to get there without a tour ( mostly because none fit our wish lists completely):
1) Stirling Castle/ Doune Castle ( I know there is a train to Stirling)- would love to continue to Drummond Castle gardens - but how?
2) Rosslyn Chapel and Dalhousie falconry- seems like a good combo ?
3) A cashmere experience ( Johnston's of Elgin ?)- too far, worth it ?
4) St. Andrews
5) Whiskey Distillery tour ( not just tasting but how it is made) - is there one worth seeing in Edinburgh?
6) Puffin / wildlife sighting - only if convenient
Out of all this the one "must" for us is Stirling and the Falconry experience. I know there are cars for hire for private sightseeing but the one I called (Rabbie's) was way too pricey.
Thanking you in advance for your thoughts and time to answer- it is so appreciated!!!

I might allow one more at least half day in Edinburgh - there is a lot to see and do. Stirling Castle is a no brainer -- but Drummond Castle (exquisite) and Doune (terrific) would be more than complicated. Just stick to Stirling and then return to Edinburgh in the late-ish afternoon for more time in the city.

St Andrews is easy but slightly more complicated than Stirling. Train to Leuchars and local bus or taxi to St Andrews.

Puffins ( ADORABLE ) can be seen if you take the train to North Berwick and visit the sea life centre there - they do boats out to the Isle of May. You actually can land on the island and walk among the Puffins and other sea birds.

Those are the three I'd recommend.

Thank you for your quick reply! I see you have recommended 3 areas and I am now curious about the ferry ride to the Isle of May from North Berwick- I will research this option, sounds lovely. I also noticed you did not vote for Rosslyn Chapel and Dalhousie castle- so I'm assuming that it is due to either a complicated access from Edinburgh or just the others are more interesting?
Thank you again and I'm off to continue my research!

OK -- just my own 'biases' -- Its hard for me to tell people to not go to Rosslyn Chapel especially since I've been there probably 8 or 10 times - even attended a wedding there. And it is a 'must' for many people. But I was fortunate enough to have visited pre-Dan Brown. It used to be this lovely, quiet, ethereal, BEAUTIFUL experience. One time my mother and I were the only two people in the bldg. But now there is this massive modern glass visitors centre, a coach park and just mobs of people. (I wish the Da Vinci Code had never been written )

Dalhousie Castle is fine but isn't in the same league as some of the other places on your list. It is mostly a hotel within a castle

As for the boat out to the Isle of May -- it isn't really a ferry but a boat (like the size of a fishing boat) excursion. I've visited from the other side of the Firth via a boat from Anstruther but that really isn't an option by public transport.

We love gardens, history, scenic places and are not afraid to hike/walk a bit.

I did a quick check and found a couple of day tours that include St. Andrews and the village of Falkland.

Falkland was used as the stand-in for Inverness in the Outlander TV series. It's in central Fife, not far from St. Andrews, and there are few more historic and lovely small towns in Scotland. For lovers of history and gardens, Falkland Palace is a must -see. It has strong connections to Mary Queen of Scots, is home to the world's oldest tennis court, and extensive and beautiful gardens. Do some googling and you'll see what I mean.

We did a day tour that took us to Dunferlane Abbey, Stirling Castle and Rosslyn Chapel. Yes you can get to places on public transportation but this was a good option for us as the tour also stopped at the battlefield with the monument. The town of Stirling is quite charming and I enjoyed visiting Stirling Castle much more than Edinburgh Castle. We met our tour right by St Giles Cathedral and were dropped back there at the end of the day so very convenient.

The day we had planned to go to St Andrews by train and bus/cab there was torrential rain north of Edinburgh and all rail service was suspended.

There is quite a lot to do in Edinburgh itself. My favorites were the Royal Yacht Britannia and Holyrood Palace as well as the National Museum of Scotland.

You have 7 nights in Edinburgh so you certainly have time for some daytrips. We really enjoyed Rosslyn Chapel despite it now being a famous tourist attraction. I want to add, however, that Edinburgh is an amazing city, and there are so many interesting museums, sights, churches, etc. to see there so don't give it short shrift. You mention you like gardens, so I highly recommend visiting the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. They are beautiful and is the only place where I have seen blue poppies! There is a lovely cafe at the gardens with outdoor seating so it's a nice place for lunch or a snack, too. The National Museum of Scotland is amazing! We spent almost a whole day here including lunch in their cafeteria. If you want a guided tour of the Royal Mile that includes Edinburgh Castle, I can recommend Mercat Tours. We had 4 nights in Edinburgh, and I wish we had an extra night. This did not include daytrips. We visited Rosslyn Castle on the day we left Edinburgh for the Fife Coast.

This is my trip report for Scotland. I would highly recommend Rosslyn Chapel as a worthy day trip as is Stirling. We also did Hadrian's Walll as a day trip.
Teens in Scotland Trip Report

Rosslyn Chapel is a special place ( the 'prentice pillar is a wondrous accomplishment ) but it really has become a theme park. Unfortunate, but that is what it is.

Go if you must, but there are other places that aren't 'tourist central' and just as special.

Burns Country is also really nice.
Maybe it's worth considering pairing Roslyn Chapel with Scone Palace? That's also a great place to visit

Thank you everyone for your input- this allows us to truly explore all these wonderful options!
Gardyloo- I will check out Falkland Palace- if I can get great gardens and a castle/palace- that's ideal!
Madam397- which company did you use for this tour?
KarenWoo-The Botanical gardens are on my list for sure! and thanks for the Mercat tours recommendation.
StantonHyde- read your report, wow, your family did so much, how memorable! Thanks for reporting so much detail on entrances and ticket purchases, noted!
Janisj- again thank you , your input is always valuable

I know I have much research ahead and information to digest. I'm also understanding better that Edinburgh offers quite a lot so we are considering adding a night.
Thank you all!!!

Welcome to Fodors. Unfortunately Burns Country is all the way across the country in Ayrshire and not at all practical for this particular trip. Also Scone Palace is in Perth and trying to do Rosslyn Chapel and Scone on the same day trip without driving would be pretty much impossible,

If you get tired of Scottish cuisine, take a night off and try L'Escargot Bleu in Edinburgh. Great service, cute place and if you like steak tartare, I've never had a better one than here. We visited in 2017 and 2022, and it still gets great reviews. Below is a link about our two visits. If you want to see more on Edinburgh, my trip reports from both 2017 and 2022 can be seen above the write-up on the restaurant. Love Edinburgh (and Scotland)!

https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/les...urgh-scotland/

Greetings

The tour was sort of last minute as I had been researching public transportation options for Rosslyn and I actually booked it through the Trip Advisor website and it was Viator. Viator gets bad reviews but everything with this worked quite well and there was sufficient time in all three destinations to see and do and in the case of Stirling, time for us to walk down to the town to visit a small restaurant/cafe and have a light lunch. Stirling hadn't been high on my agenda but so happy that we visited and toured there. There was a docent on hand at Rosslyn and Dunferlane Abbey and the docent at Rosslyn was quick to dispel the Dan Brown/Rosslyn connection. The chapel itself is so interesting plus does have quite a history. The Visitors Center is very well done and felt I learned a lot. Plus it started to rain at that point of our return to Edinburgh and our tourist van passed by a lot of people looking very uncomfortable in the bus shelter.

In addition to the National Museum of Scotland which was high on our list of sites, we also visited the National Art Museum. We had several fine meals including Fishers in the City and Dusit, an outstanding Thai restaurant. We did find you needed dinner reservations at most places and tried several times without success to book Harvey Nichols restaurant. Whenever we walked by Dishoom, there was quite a crowd.

To clarify -- I never meant that Rosslyn Chapel emphasizes the Da Vinci Code connection. In fact they fight a constant battle against that. It is the number of visitors who are Dan Brown 'stans'.

If you go - visit in the morning before the coaches descend.

That sounds like a wonderful itinerary! Seven nights in Edinburgh gives you a great balance between seeing the city and exploring the surroundings.