The Best Day Trips from Edinburgh

The 10 best day trips, ranked

Ordered by how well they repay a full day - factoring travel time, what you can actually see, and how easy they are without a car.

1. 
   1

   Stirling

   The best payoff per hour

   60 km northwest · ~41-49 min by train

   Stirling Castle sits on its own volcanic crag and controlled the lowest crossing of the Forth, which is why the two battles that decided Scottish independence, Stirling Bridge and Bannockburn, were both fought within sight of it. It is the best single day of Scottish history available from Edinburgh, and the castle interiors are more completely restored than Edinburgh's own.

   Getting there: ScotRail from Edinburgh Waverley, with the fastest service at 41 minutes, an average of about 49, and roughly 77 trains a day, so you turn up rather than plan. The castle is a fifteen-minute walk uphill from Stirling station, and the Wallace Monument needs a local bus or a taxi.

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2. 
   2

   North Berwick

   A beach and a gannet colony, in half a day

   40 km east, on the coast · ~35 min by train

   A proper Victorian seaside town half an hour from the capital: two sandy beaches, a harbour, and the Scottish Seabird Centre with live cameras trained on the Bass Rock offshore, which holds one of the world's largest northern gannet colonies. Climb North Berwick Law behind the town for the whole Forth spread out below. The cheapest good half day on this list.

   Getting there: A direct ScotRail service from Edinburgh Waverley along the East Lothian coast, taking a little over half an hour, with the station a few minutes' walk from the harbour and the beach.

3. 
   3

   Glasgow

   The city Edinburgh is not

   75 km west · ~50 min by train

   Scotland's other city, and its opposite: Victorian and industrial where Edinburgh is Georgian and administrative, with much better shopping, a livelier music scene and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, which is free and one of the best civic museums in Britain. The Mackintosh buildings are the architectural reason to come.

   Getting there: Trains run from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street every fifteen minutes for most of the day, taking around fifty minutes. It is the busiest intercity corridor in Scotland and you never need to book ahead.

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4. 
   4

   Linlithgow

   A ruined palace, twenty minutes out

   30 km west · ~20 min by train

   The roofless shell of Linlithgow Palace, birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots, standing above its own loch. Because it is a ruin rather than a furnished castle you can wander it freely, and the loch walk around it takes an hour. Twenty minutes from Edinburgh makes this the easiest half day in Scotland.

   Getting there: One of the shortest journeys on this list: frequent trains from Waverley on the Glasgow line, about twenty minutes, and the palace is a five-minute walk from the station.

5. 
   5

   The Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel

   Engineering and sculpture, with children

   40 km west · ~30 min by train to Falkirk

   Two pieces of engineering that could not be less alike: the Kelpies are thirty-metre steel horse heads by Andy Scott standing over the canal, and the Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift that replaces eleven locks by turning two gondolas of water through a half circle. Both are genuinely startling in person and the Kelpies cost nothing to walk up to.

   Getting there: Trains from Waverley to Falkirk Grahamston take around half an hour. The two sights are at opposite ends of the town and a few kilometres apart, so pair them with a taxi or a local bus rather than assuming you can walk between them.

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6. 
   6

   St Andrews

   Golf, ruins and a very good beach

   80 km northeast · ~1 hr 20 min by train and bus

   The home of golf and Scotland's oldest university, on a cliff-edged stretch of the Fife coast. The Old Course is walkable on the public right of way even if you will never play it, the cathedral ruin is enormous, and the West Sands is the beach from the opening of Chariots of Fire.

   Getting there: There is no station in St Andrews. Take the train from Waverley to Leuchars, about an hour, then the connecting bus for the last fifteen minutes into town. Factor the change into your day: this is not a turn-up-and-go trip in the way Stirling is.

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7. 
   7

   Rosslyn Chapel

   An hour of the most detailed stone carving in Scotland

   11 km south, at Roslin · ~50 min by Lothian bus

   A small 15th-century chapel carved to an obsessive density: every surface inside is worked, including the Apprentice Pillar and a ceiling of carved stars. It became famous through The Da Vinci Code, which is beside the point; the reason to go is that it is one of the most heavily carved interiors in Britain and it is half an hour from the city.

   Getting there: The Lothian Buses service to Roslin runs from the city centre and takes under an hour, dropping you a few minutes from the chapel. No train, and no need for one at this distance.

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8. 
   8

   Loch Lomond and the Trossachs

   Highland scenery without the distance

   110 km west · ~1 hr 45 min by train via Glasgow

   The first place north of the Central Belt that looks like the Highlands, and the closest big loch to both cities. Balloch at the southern end has boat trips and a country park, and the national park behind it holds the Trossachs, which is the scenery Walter Scott made famous. A real Highland day without the Highland driving.

   Getting there: Train to Glasgow Queen Street, then the Balloch service to the southern end of the loch, roughly an hour and three quarters in total. Organised coach tours from Edinburgh do the same run direct and add the Trossachs villages, which public transport does not reach.

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9. 
   9

   Alnwick and the Northumberland coast

   A castle children actually want to visit

   130 km southeast, in England · ~1 hr by train to Alnmouth

   Alnwick Castle is the second largest inhabited castle in England and stood in for Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter films, with broomstick lessons in the outer bailey. The Alnwick Garden next door includes a walled Poison Garden. The coast beyond has Bamburgh and Lindisfarne, though those need a car.

   Getting there: LNER services on the East Coast Main Line reach Alnmouth in about an hour, then a short bus or taxi into Alnwick. Note that this crosses into England, so Scottish rail passes and ScotRail ticketing do not apply.

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10. 
    10

    Loch Ness and Inverness

    A long day, better from a Highland base

    250 km north · ~3 hr 30 min each way by train

    The loch itself is a long dark trench of water and the ruin of Urquhart Castle above it is the postcard. The honest position is that Loch Ness is a poor use of a day from Edinburgh and a good use of one from a Highland base. If you have only one long day to spend, Stirling and Glencoe both repay it better. If the monster is the point for someone in your party, take the tour and expect the day to be mostly coach.

    Getting there: The Highland Main Line from Waverley to Inverness takes around three and a half hours each way, which is seven hours of travelling before you have seen anything. Coach tours from Edinburgh run it as a very long day, typically twelve hours door to door, usually combining Loch Ness with Glencoe.

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Day trips from other cities