Day Trips to the Scottish Highlands
Coach tours head north through Glencoe, Rannoch Moor and Pitlochry, often ending at Loch Ness. Longer Highland routes add Inverness, the Cairngorms or the Isle of Skye.
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Day Trips from Edinburgh
Day trips from Edinburgh reach Loch Ness, Glencoe and the Highlands, or stay closer with Stirling Castle and St Andrews. Skye and Orkney are multi-day tours with overnight stays.
Day Trips to Loch Ness
Loch Ness is a long day out from Edinburgh, so most tours also stop in Glencoe and Highland villages on the way. Several add a boat cruise on the loch.
Day Trips to Isle of Skye
Skye is around five hours' drive from Edinburgh, so these are 3- to 6-day tours with nights in the Highlands. Many add Loch Ness or the Jacobite steam train.
Whisky Day Trips
These trips visit working distilleries such as Glenkinchie and Dewar's Aberfeldy, with tastings on most tours. Multi-day routes cover Speyside and Islay.
Outlander Day Trips
Tours follow the series to filming locations such as Doune Castle, which plays Castle Leoch. Some run over 2 or 4 days and continue to Glenfinnan and the Highlands.
Day Trips to St Andrews
St Andrews pairs its cathedral ruins and the Old Course, the home of golf, with the fishing villages of the East Neuk of Fife. Some tours add Falkland Palace or a whisky stop.
Day Trips to Stirling Castle
The castle is about an hour from Edinburgh, and most tours pair it with the Kelpies and Loch Lomond in one day. Others add Rosslyn Chapel or a Highland distillery.
Day Trips to Loch Lomond
Britain's largest lake by surface area is usually combined with Stirling Castle and the Kelpies. Other routes head on into the Trossachs, Glencoe or Oban.
Day Trips to Orkney
Orkney is too far for a day trip, so tours from Edinburgh last 5 days and travel up Scotland's north coast to the ferry across to the islands.
Day Trips to Rosslyn Chapel
The chapel, known for its carvings and The Da Vinci Code, is about 7 miles south of Edinburgh. Tours pair it with the Scottish Borders or Hadrian's Wall.
Day Trips to Inverness
Inverness is the overnight base for these 2- and 3-day tours, which combine Loch Ness and the Highlands. The longer ones continue west to the Isle of Skye.
Day Trips to Glencoe
The glen, scene of the 1692 massacre of the MacDonalds, is on most West Highland tours from Edinburgh. Many continue to Loch Ness or the Glenfinnan Viaduct.
Day Trips to the Glenfinnan Viaduct
The 21-arch viaduct carries the Jacobite steam train, the Hogwarts Express of the Harry Potter films. Tours time the stop for the crossing or ride the train.
Castle Day Trips
Castles within a day of Edinburgh include Stirling, Doune and Blair, plus Alnwick and Bamburgh across the English border. Highland routes add Eilean Donan.
Day Trips to the Kelpies
The Kelpies, two 30-metre steel horse heads in Falkirk, are about 40 minutes from Edinburgh. Tours usually stop there on the way to Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond.
Day Trips to Isle of Mull
Mull is reached by ferry from Oban, so trips from Edinburgh take 3 to 5 days. Most add the Isle of Iona and the West Highlands, and one continues to Skye.
Day Trips to Isle of Iona
Iona, where St Columba founded his monastery in 563, is reached via Mull and a second short ferry. Both current trips are 4- or 5-day tours of the West Highlands.
Day Trips to Hadrian's Wall
The Roman frontier across northern England is about two hours from Edinburgh. Tours visit forts such as Vindolanda, and one pairs the wall with Rosslyn Chapel.
Day Trips to Alnwick Castle
Alnwick Castle, Hogwarts in the first Harry Potter films, sits in Northumberland just across the border. Tours pair it with Holy Island, Bamburgh or the Scottish Borders.
Highland Cow Day Trips
Meet Scotland's shaggy Highland cattle at a farm in the Scottish Borders or on short trips that also stop at the Kelpies and Loch Katrine.
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Day Trips to the Scottish Highlands from EdinburghDay Trips to Loch Ness from EdinburghDay Trips to Isle of Skye from EdinburghWhisky Day Trips from EdinburghOutlander Day Trips from EdinburghDay Trips to St Andrews from EdinburghDay Trips to Stirling Castle from EdinburghDay Trips to Loch Lomond from EdinburghDay Trips to Orkney from EdinburghDay Trips to Rosslyn Chapel from EdinburghDay Trips to Inverness from EdinburghDay Trips to Glencoe from EdinburghDay Trips to the Glenfinnan Viaduct from EdinburghCastle Day Trips from EdinburghDay Trips to the Kelpies from EdinburghDay Trips to Isle of Mull from EdinburghDay Trips to Isle of Iona from EdinburghDay Trips to Hadrian's Wall from EdinburghDay Trips to Alnwick Castle from EdinburghHighland Cow Day Trips from Edinburgh
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