I'm a Junior Doctor (23 years old) going to Edinburgh to do a training in Surgery for one month ,,from May ,27th to June ,26th and I would have 4 weekends during this month and would love to use them to see some of the lovely Scotland..so any suggestions about where should I go?? like what cities or villages to see..i'm very much into nature ,, and I would be using buses or trians ..
Thanx alot in advance
yours..
bilal
Edited by: Bilalb45
The problem is that if you want to see nature you will spend a lot of time travelling. You might consider going north for one weekend, to visit Inverness and the Highlands or go on a whale watching trip but Inverness is 5 hours from Edinburgh by train. There are companies who run tours in minibuses to places like the Isle of Skye. They would save you time and organise everything. One is called Rabbie's Trail Burners but there are others - do a search or e-mail the tourist office. You would be able to go sightseeing in Edinburgh in the evening so that you could do something else at the weekends. Edinburgh Castle won't be open then but you can walk through the Old Town or go on a ghost tour (if you want) during the week.
First go walking in the Pentland Hills just south of Edinburgh - they're easily accessible by bus (to Carlops or Balerno) and the landscape is like quite a lot of upland Scotland, though only half as high as the real mountains.
There are also some good nature sites in the Firth of Forth only a daytrip from Edinburgh by public transport - the bird sanctuary of the Bass Rock (you can go round it in an open boat) or the islands of Inchcolm or the Isle of May for more birds (boat rides from South Queensferry and Anstruther). There are seals all around the Forth, you will almost certainly see some on any boat trip. (You can sometimes see them on Cramond Island, which you can walk to from the shore at low tide and it's only half an hour by bus from the centre of Edinburgh).
That's your first weekend planned out. For the later ones, get a guidebook and talk to people. Representative cities, towns and villages to see that aren't too hard to get to: Glasgow, Stirling (for the castle, far better than Edinburgh's), Culross (preserved 17th century village), Anstruther (mainly for its fisheries museum and the Isle of May), Newtongrange (for the Scottish Mining Museum, an amazing industrial museum centred on what was the largest mine in Scotland), Melrose (for the old town centre and the abbey).
Weekend in Edinburgh.
Weekend in Glasgow/Stirling.
Weekend on Arran.
Weekend around Inverness.
thank you alot ...its really highly appreciated ..i ll read more aout he suggested places ..i have a question about loch lomond ...i m thinking of making a weekend in glasgow and buy a short visit to the loch lomond?? or should i just spend the 2 days in glasgow?? another thing..how about fort william?? is it worth a weekend for it and its surroundings??? thanx alot in advance
You don't need to spend the entire weekend - Glasgow is 40 minutes from Edinburgh by train and just over an hour by bus (cheaper). Its good for shopping and the Burrell Collection (take the underground) but doesn't really tie in with your interests. I'm not sure how you'd get to Loch Lomond from Glasgow by public transport, maybe there are day trips. Once you get there you can go on a boat trip around the loch - takes around an hour, don't know about the cost.
It's very easy to get to Loch Lomond by train from Glasgow (stations at Arrochar/Tarbert half way along it and Ardlui at the north end). I've been up all the mountains around it by public transport. I doubt a boat trip will be all that interesting. You'd do that from Balloch, at the south end.
Fort William is near Ben Nevis and Rannoch Moor, which are certainly worth seeing, but the town itself is a dump.
You can also get to Arran as a daytrip from Glasgow - the train and ferry give you enough time to get up Goat Fell and back. It might be worth spending a night there.
http://edinburghlove.wordpress.com/edinburgh-things-to-do/ which you can squeeze some of them in during the week and there's also places to suggest to eat etc on the blog.
Have fun at probably the best time of year to visit Scotland.
Day trip to North Berwick would also be nice, the Scottish sea bird centre is there, St Andrews is good, the Borders, the list is truly endless.