scottland - cheap travel and B&B

To define the 'Best' way of getting between Manchester and Edinburgh, would be down to someone's own personal taste - really.
Platform 14 at Piccadilly is your location for the Virgin Voyager train direct to Edinburgh (book in advance and the tickets are cheap. Don't book in advance - and they're not ! !). that would be my choice.
However, the cheapest way to get there (apart from walking - don't do it, it's all uphill), is Megabus. You can buy tickets for "£1.50 one way - including the booking fee. It really is an amazingly cheap fare for 5 hours.
The down side? It arrives after midnight. Whereas you've several trains that'll get you there during daylight hours.
Both companies are trustworthy.
For all your walking and accommodation queries, there's nowhere finer to look - than at....

http://www.visitscotland.com/

I worry at the question on hiking.
If you had the expereince I cannot but feel you would have a decent idea already, and if you have not had much experience do not start tackling large mountainous areas. The Highlands do not have quite concentration of footpaths that tend to occur on English routes, so you can find yourself going acros rough country.

Search for a site called Walking Britain. It has a lot of excellent information on it.

http://www.scottishaccommodationindex.com/edinburgh.php
this site should help you find somehwere to stay,there are very few B&B's in the city center but lots within a mile or two,Edinburgh has a very good bus service day and night that gets you to and from the town quickly and cheaply.I would suggest staing in Minto Street/mayfield road/dalkeith road area as there are 100's of small hotels and B&B's in the area,plus the city center is walkable from there or a 5-10 minute bus ride.
http://lothianbuses.com/

There are aslo numerous budget hotel like Holiday Inn express,Premier Inns.Travelodge and Easy hotels in the city (and more being built) so you have a wide option of accommodation on offer.

I have to confess I haven't stayed there for ten years, but I lived for a couple of weeks at the St Bernards Guest House, on St Bernards Crescent in Edinburgh (within walking distance of all the attractions) and it was charming. I think it's been mentioned before on this forum.

St Bernards is nice area ,don't know if the Guest House is still there.
I was actually born just a 100 yards or so away in Leslie Place.

Hi there!

I agree with above posts that although the Megabus is by far the cheapest and is trustworthy (you also book online and just print the ticket so you have no worries about it being posted/collecting etc) It is far more enjoyable to travel with the train and it is possible to find some good deals if you book early try: http://tickets.eastcoast.co.uk for deals.

Hiking in the lowlands is possible, an area called the Trossachs is lovely and you can also see Loch Lomond: http://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/

if you wanted to go just a bit further north there are some very easy munro's you can do in a few hours or even Kinnoull hill in Perthshire, stunning views and not a hard hike, you can be at the top in an hour! - There is also a lovely Bed and Breakfast just at the bottom of Kinnoull hill: http://freespace.virgin.net/stleonards.manse/

Hope that helps and enjoy your time in Scotland!

I really enjoyed staying at the Highfield Guest House, it has been one of our best accomodation experiences thus far.