Edinburgh Day Trips: The Honest Verdict
Most Edinburgh day trips are half days, and saying so changes your week
The single most useful sorting you can do here is half day, full day, or not a day trip. Rosslyn Chapel is one astonishing room and 45 to 75 minutes inside it. The Forth bridges are a train ride and a shore walk. Glasgow genuinely fills a day. Loch Ness is 12.5 hours of which one or two are at the water, and Skye does not fit at all. Two half days beat one badly-chosen full day almost every time.
The verdict table
| Destination | Time each way | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| South Queensferry and the Forth Bridges | about 20 min by rail to Dalmeny | half day |
| Rosslyn Chapel | 45-60 min, Lothian bus 37 | half day |
| Linlithgow Palace | about 20 min by rail | half day |
| Glenkinchie Distillery | East Lothian, service bus | half day |
| Culross | no station, bus or car | half day, with transport |
| Stirling Castle | 40-50 min by rail | half or full day |
| Glasgow | 44-50 min by rail | full day |
| North Berwick and the Bass Rock | East Lothian coast | full day |
| St Andrews and the East Neuk | about 1h30 door to door | full day |
| Loch Ness | 3.5-4 hours by road | 12.5-hour coach day |
| Isle of Skye | 230 miles, 5-6 hours | overnight, not a day trip |
Half days that are worth the fare
South Queensferry. ScotRail to Dalmeny in about 20 minutes, then a 15-minute walk down into the village. Three bridges from the shore for nothing: the 1890 rail cantilever, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015, the 1964 road bridge and the 2017 Queensferry Crossing. Maid of the Forth sails from Hawes Pier roughly Easter to October, £18.00 adult and £10.50 child for a 1.5-hour cruise or £21.00 and £12.00 for the three-hour Inchcolm Island landing, with the island’s own admission charged separately on top. Sailings at Maid of the Forth .
Rosslyn Chapel, founded 1446, reached on Lothian bus 37 in 45 to 60 minutes. £12.00 adult, £10.00 reduced, under-17s free. Manage the expectation before you go: it is a single small collegiate church of extraordinarily dense carving, not a castle-scale site, and most visits run 45 to 75 minutes. Roslin Glen below it is a wooded river walk that most visitors skip entirely, and it is what turns this into a satisfying half day. Booking at Rosslyn Chapel .
Glenkinchie Distillery at Pencaitland, around 15 miles out, runs tours from £21 for 1.5 hours, a two-hour tasting from £65 and a Hidden Lowland tour and tasting from £150. A County Plus Day Ticket on the service bus costs under £10. Details at Glenkinchie .
Culross in Fife is a preserved burgh of the late 16th and 17th centuries with Culross Palace, built 1597 to 1611, at its centre. There is no railway station, so this one needs a bus or a car. Newhailes at Musselburgh, on the edge of the city, has grounds open widely but seasonal house access that is generally by guided tour, so check the season before you go for the interior. Both are National Trust for Scotland properties; current opening is at the NTS .
Full days that earn the whole day
Glasgow. 44 to 50 minutes, trains roughly every 15 minutes. Kelvingrove, the Riverside Museum and the Burrell Collection are free. Victorian, industrial and mercantile, and nothing like a lesser Edinburgh. Verdict: the most underrated day out from this city.
Stirling Castle. 40 to 50 minutes by direct train, £18.50 online against £20.50 walk-up, cheaper than Edinburgh Castle in both channels. No Crown Jewels and no Stone of Destiny, which is why it is quieter. The Wallace Monument and Bannockburn are close by if you want the full day. Prices at Stirling Castle .
St Andrews and the East Neuk. There is no railway station at St Andrews. The options are Waverley to Leuchars, six miles out, in 1h00 to 1h10 and then the X59 or X60 bus for 12 to 15 minutes, giving about 1h30 door to door; or a direct Stagecoach X58, X59 or X60 from Edinburgh Bus Station at 1h15 to 2h00. Both routings are set out on the university’s travel page . The Old Course, the free-to-view ruined cathedral and castle, Castle Sands and West Sands make the town; Elie, Anstruther and Crail are the fishing villages further round and want a car.
The Pentlands and the Capital Trail
The Pentland Hills Regional Park sits about 30 minutes out by car or bus to Flotterstone or Balerno, with Harlaw Reservoir, Glencorse and Threipmuir on the low ground and Scald Law as the highest top. It is open moorland with weather that turns fast, so pack for hill walking rather than a park stroll. Penicuik is a town of around 16,000 people and Flotterstone is a visitor centre and inn, which is worth knowing when you are planning where to start and where lunch is.
The Capital Trail crosses the same ground. It is a 150-mile, 245km circular bikepacking route with around 6,000m of climbing, designed by Markus Stitz and voted best new route of 2015 by bikepacking.com. It is a multi-day ride.
Dalhousie Castle, and how you actually get in
Dalhousie Castle at Bonnyrigg in Midlothian, about 30 minutes out, trades as a hotel and spa: 35 en-suite rooms, a Dungeon Restaurant and on-site falconry. The way in is a room, a table, afternoon tea or a falconry booking rather than an entrance ticket, so file it with the places you spend an evening rather than the castles you tour.
Not a day trip
Loch Ness is 155 to 170 miles and three and a half to four hours’ drive each way. Rabbie’s runs the standard all-day coach, leaving 08:00 from Edinburgh Bus Station at gates J and K and returning around 20:30: 12.5 hours, maximum 16 passengers, typically £45 to £75 a seat. Subtract the transit and you have one to two hours at the loch. Buy it for Glencoe, which is the best scenery on the route, and compare the small-group options before picking a coach.
The Isle of Skye is around 230 miles and five to six hours each way. It is an overnight minimum and realistically two nights; if the Highlands are the point of the trip, take a two-day Highlands tour instead of compressing it, or read the Edinburgh multi day trips guide first.
Final piece of planning: pair a half day with an afternoon in town rather than stacking two half days back to back. Dalmeny in the morning and the National Museum after lunch is a better day than Dalmeny plus Rosslyn, which are in opposite directions and involve crossing the city centre at rush hour.