Day Trips from Edinburgh: 6 Easy Escapes by Train or Bus
All six work without a car and leave you back in the city for dinner.
Stirling Castle
Photo: Marian Florinel Condruz / Pexels, Pexels License
about 49 minDirect from Waverley; fastest trains take 41 minutes.
about 1 h
If you only leave the city once, come here. The castle crowns a crag like its Edinburgh rival, with fewer people and a better story, and the limewashed Great Hall glows an unlikely yellow against the Scottish sky. Plenty of visitors end up preferring it.
Tip: The walk from the station is short but steep, so save your energy for the last stretch. Adults £18.50 online, £20.50 in person, daily from 9.30 am until 6 pm in summer and 5 pm in winter.
about 1 h 9 minTime shown is the train to Leuchars; St Andrews has no station, so a bus covers the last miles.
about 1 h 25 min
A university town on a North Sea headland, with a ruined cathedral on the cliff and the Old Course at the end of the street. Even people with no interest in golf tend to enjoy the long beach and the gown-and-sandstone mood. It is the longest outing here, so give it a full day.
Tip: Ask for a rail ticket to "St Andrews Bus" and the connection is covered. The cathedral museum is closed for conservation, but the grounds are open and free; from October to March they shut Tuesday to Thursday.
about 32 minDirect from Waverley, and the station is a short walk from the sand.
about 45 min
The easy one: half an hour on the train and you are on a sandy beach with the Bass Rock out at sea. Eat fish on the harbour, walk the West Bay, and if you still have energy, go up North Berwick Law for a view of the whole coast.
Tip: Tantallon Castle, a red clifftop ruin facing the Bass Rock, lies 2 miles east along the A198 if you want more than a beach. Adults £7.50 online, £8.50 in person.
about 22 minFrequent direct trains on the Glasgow line.
about 35 min
Mary, Queen of Scots was born in this roofless palace, burned out in 1746 and still enormous. It stands above a small loch right beside the town, so you can do it in a morning. Among the paid sights on this page, it is the best value.
Tip: Adults £10 online, £11 in person, daily 9.30 am to 5 pm in summer and 10 am to 4 pm in winter. Conservation has closed the North Range, King's Bed Chamber and Court Kitchen for now, so walk the loch path too.
45 min to 1 hNo train: Lothian bus 37 from the city centre, signed Penicuik Deanburn via Roslin.
about 25 min
Founded in 1446 and still a working church, this small chapel is covered in stone carving so dense it seems to crawl. Its fame comes from a certain thriller, but the masonry would deserve the trip without it. No photos are allowed inside, so look properly.
Tip: Book online to be sure of entry, and pair the visit with a walk in Roslin Glen below the village. Adults £12, under 17 free. Monday to Saturday 9 am to 5 pm, Sunday from 12 pm.
about 19 minTrain to Dalmeny, then walk downhill to the water.
about 30 min
The red steel giant opened in 1890, held the world's longest span for 28 years and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Trains are the only traffic allowed on it. South Queensferry sits right beside it, which puts you at a fine angle for a fish supper and a sunset.
Tip: Walk the shore east of the bridge around dusk, when the sun drops behind the girders. Taking a Fife-bound train from Waverley also carries you across the bridge itself, for the price of a short ticket.
