Hello Fodorites! Once again looking for your expert info! Husband and I are spending 2 weeks in Scotland in September to celebrate our 40th anniversary. We visited England and Scotland on our honeymoon and, sadly, haven't been back! The first week we're doing a Boat Bike Tour out of Oban, visiting the Inner Hebrides. Unlike when we were young, we aren't renting a car as we're too nervous about driving on the left. We will fly in and out of Edinburgh, traveling by train between cities and also meeting some friends from Ireland who will drive us on some day trips. (For example, we'll go to Sterling, Falkirk, and Doune Castle with them.) We plan to take the train from Oban to Glasgow and spend 3 nights in Glasgow; then train to Edinburgh and 4 nights there. Our flights are set, so please don't suggest flying to Glasgow. (Just giving our info because I know you folks ask tons of questions and think out of the box when helping others!)

Questions

• We've never been to Glasgow and am wondering if folks could suggest areas to stay and maybe even accommodations. Not too far from the train station, walking to good eats and pubs. I have looked at the Undiscovered Scotland website but they're places aren't located on a map, so its difficult to research each place! We would prefer a smaller accommodation, not too $$, including breakfast.
• Any other Glasgow recommendations appreciated for restaurants and places to see. Honestly, we don't need tons of castles or history. The botanical gardens might suit us, as would walks/short hikes.
• In Edinburgh we'll likely stay close to the train station in the Old Town/Royal Mile area for convenience. We plan to tour the castle, visit Holyrood Palace and climb Author's seat.
• I've been researching day trips, or 1-2 night trips out of each city and need to figure that out before booking accommodations. We visited Skye on our honeymoon but don't think we'll get there this trip as I don't want to spend hours on a bus for a short stay. Next time! I've researched Rabbie's, Viator, and tours through TripAdvisor. I'm a bit overwhelmed! Whisky tasting near Speyside is interesting, but ~4 hours on a bus doesn't seem like a good use of our time unless we spend a couple of nights. A day trip to St Andrews might work out better.

Thank you all in advanced. You're most helpful!

Just very quick -- I'll post more later. But just about tours -- Rabbies is great. Highly recommended, Probably the best way to get to out of the way or rural places from a base in either Glasgow or Edinburgh. (BTW - Viator is not a tour company. It is merely a re-seller of other companies offerings)

One thing about Sterling Stirling - it is a VERY easy day trip by train from Edinburgh. I might consider using your friends driving expertise to visit other less accessible places. Doune and the Trossachs qualify, as would the Borders, or maybe a day trip into Fife for the fishing villages/Falkland.St Andrews.

I love this question! Glasgow is one of my favorite cities and is rarely on anyone else's itinerary. Last August, my husband and I stayed at ibis Styles Glasgow Centre George Square. Nothing fancy, but nice enough, super convenient, and reasonably priced. We enjoyed the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and loved MacIntosh House and the Hunterian Art Gallery. But most of all we liked the atmosphere: Everyone comes out of the woodwork whenever the sun shines, and there's plenty of fun music and good food.

A word of caution: I didn't like the "Glasgow: City Center Guided Walking Tour" I booked on Get Your Guide. You get what you pay for! It was under $20, but the tour group was huge and the guide raced through town to reach distant sights. So most of our time was spent rushing from point to point, unable to hear anything the guide was saying.

Hi Cindyj: we stayed 4 nights in the Alamo Guest house in Glasgow and really enjoyed it. It is just across the street from Kelvingrove park and the museum. Our room overlooked the tennis courts. It is a great area with plenty of restaurants.

Sorry about the misspelling. I had a friend named "Sterling" many years ago! Thank you for the info, and what may come!

I have an autocorrect that I've failed to retrain so it slips through for me now and then too

I was in Scotland last October. So beautiful. I was on a tour with OATS so they stay at the higher end hotels that have ok locations.In Glasgow we were up hill from everything and in Edinburgh we were down hill from everything.

In Glasgow we had dinner at Mackintosh at the Willow Tearooms. It was delicious. I enjoyed the Glasgow Cathedral and Kelvingrove. From either city, you can get to the Kelpies and Falkirk Wheel. We took an uber to the Falkirk Wheel from Edinburgh. It was a bit expensive. You then can take a bus or walk to the Kelpies which is about 4 miles away. There was no bus running the day that we were there so we called a cab as uber did not pick up in that area. The taxi driver gave us a simple and cost effective way to get back to Edinburgh. When we were done with the Kelpies we called another cab, same company. The cab took us to the train station and after a 30 minute train ride for $9, we were back in Edinburgh.

In Edinburgh there is so much to see. We visited the Royal Yacht Britannia which I was not looking forward to but it turned out to be pretty interesting. They have a nice tea room for lunch.

We had a great trip to Glasgow and Edinburgh in October 2023 for a week before taking the train to London for five nights. We spent two nights in Glasgow at the Carlton George Hotel, an older hotel but very clean and outstanding location as the airport bus practically drops you at the door of the hotel. Walkable to the train station as well as the subway. The hotel had a very nice happy hour and we had a fine dinner there in the rooftop restaurant. We walked to the cathedral the afternoon we arrived although not much time there as they closed at 4 pm and around George Square and the area of the hotel. We had dinner in the area at a restaurant that was located in an old newspaper building and the decor had old newspapers and vintage typewriters. Next day we walked around the area before taking the subway to Kelvingrove which we really enjoyed as well as walking around that area. We walked to the Transport Museum and really enjoyed that museum along the river. We took a bus back that seemed to run between the museum and George Square where we visited the small Museum of Contemporary Art before heading back to hotel for happy hour and dinner. Next morning train to Edinburgh where we stayed at the Ibis Styles St Andrew’s Square, very convenient to the train station as well as the tram and buses. Very nice hotel included buffet breakfast and we had one of the larger rooms which had a small terrace

in Edinburgh we visited the Castle, the Royal Mile, St Giles Cathedral, the National Museum, the Art Museum, Holyrood Palace and the Royal Yacht Britannia as well as a tour to Stirling Castle, Dunferline Abbey and Rosslyn Chapel. We had planned to go to St Andrew’s but torrential rain north of Edinburgh cancelled train service. Lots of great restaurants and you do need to make reservations. We enjoyed Fishers in the City as well as Dusti and an Italian restaurant that was located in a former bank building, something like I Contini. We were never able to get a reservation at Harvey Nichols and everything we went by Dishoom there was a crowd.

Thanks everyone. In Glasgow, I actually realized that we will need to do laundry while there and so are leaning toward an AirBNB type rental. (I sometimes book them through booking.com because they have some cancellation grace period!) Anyway, there seem to be several reasonable options in the Merchant City area east of the Glasgow Central station. Does that seem like a good area to stay in? We like being in a busy area with nearby pubs and restaurants. Funny story, in Lyon last year we booked an apartment on the 2nd floor (premier etagier in France) just above a very busy pedestrian street with outdoor cafes/restaurants. The place was hopping until 2 am! We could here the revelers through huge windows, but didn't really bother us.

Linlithgow is a nice short trip out of Edinburgh.