Visiting Edinburgh: Scotland's inspiring capital
Beyond Edinburgh
Edinburgh is an ideal base to explore other parts of Scotland:
- areas of outstanding natural beauty such as the Pentland Hills, the Borders, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, the Highlands, Dollar Glen (site of Castle Campbell), the East Neuk of Fife and the beaches of East Lothian
- historic towns like St Andrews (home of golf), Stirling (with its medieval castle) and Linlithgow (site of Linlithgow Palace, birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots)
- stately homes such as Hopetoun, House of the Binns, Newhailes, Lennoxlove and Traquair
- picturesque towns and villages like Swanston, Culross, Gifford, Peebles, North Berwick (home of the Scottish Seabird Centre), Dunbar and Berwick-upon-Tweed
- beautiful gardens such as Dawyck and Kailzie
- Glasgow, Scotland's second city, is only 45 minutes away by train
- Dundee, the City of Discovery, is an hour away by train
- the Borders railway line, closed in the 1960s in the infamous Beeching cuts, has now reopened, linking Edinburgh once again by rail with the fabulous Borders.
You can make day trips from Edinburgh by hire car, by train, or by booking with any of the various coach/minibus tour companies, such as Rabbie's Trail Burners, Scotline Sightseeing Tours, Gray Line Bus Tours and Haggis Adventures. For public transport routes, TravelineScotland offers a journey planner, and googleMaps is also a good option for journey planning.
For car hire, there's a Europcar self-drive car-hire office in Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station (tel: +44 (0)371 384 3453). Another nearby self-drive car-hire company is Hertz Rent-A-Car at 10 Picardy Place (tel: +44 (0)843 309 3026). There are also car hire companies on nearby Annandale Street and East London Street.
