Edinburgh Day Trips on a Budget by Train
The cheapest good day out of Edinburgh costs a train fare and nothing else
Take ScotRail to Dalmeny, about 20 minutes from Waverley, walk 15 minutes down into South Queensferry, and you can stand on the shore looking at all three Forth bridges for free: the 1890 rail cantilever, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015, the 1964 road bridge and the 2017 Queensferry Crossing. Glasgow is only 44 to 50 minutes away and its three best museums are free too. Edinburgh’s hinterland rewards a small budget better than almost any British city’s.
Day trips ranked by what they cost
| Destination | Getting there | Entry cost | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Queensferry and the Forth Bridges | Dalmeny by rail, about 20 min | free to look | half day |
| Glasgow | direct train, 44-50 min | Kelvingrove, Riverside, Burrell all free | full day |
| Rosslyn Chapel | Lothian bus 37, 45-60 min | £12.00 adult, under-17s free | half day |
| Stirling Castle | direct train, 40-50 min | £18.50 online, £20.50 walk-up | half or full day |
| Melrose and Abbotsford | Borders Railway to Tweedbank, 55 min | Melrose Abbey £7.50 | full day |
| North Berwick | East Lothian coast | Seabird Centre £13.50 adult | full day |
| Linlithgow Palace | direct train, about 20 min | paid, HES site | half day |
| Glenkinchie Distillery | service bus, East Lothian | tours from £21 | half day |
Free, or nearly free
South Queensferry is the strongest budget day of the lot. The bridges cost nothing. If you want the water, Maid of the Forth sails from Hawes Pier roughly Easter to October: a 1.5-hour sightseeing cruise at £18.00 adult and £10.50 child 5 to 15, under-5s free, or a three-hour Inchcolm Island landing trip at £21.00 and £12.00, with the island’s own admission charged separately on top. Evening sailings run at £15 for the 5 Bridges cruise, £27 for the Folk Cruise and £28 for the Jazz Cruise. The timetable is at Maid of the Forth .
Glasgow is the best full day in Scotland for a visitor with no money to spare. Fast direct trains take 44 to 50 minutes and run roughly every 15 minutes across operators. Kelvingrove, the Riverside Museum and the Burrell Collection are all free. It is a Victorian, industrial, mercantile city, and nothing like Edinburgh.
Cheap paid days
Rosslyn Chapel is unusually kind on price: £12.00 adult, £10.00 reduced, and children under 17 free. Lothian bus 37 from the city centre takes 45 to 60 minutes. Founded in 1446, it is one small room of extraordinarily dense carving, and most visits run 45 to 75 minutes, so plan the glen walk below it into the same afternoon. Booking online is recommended; walk-up may still get you in after a wait. Details at Rosslyn Chapel .
Stirling Castle costs less than Edinburgh Castle in both channels: £18.50 online against £20.50 walk-up, concession £15.00 and £16.50, child 7 to 15 £11.00 and £12.50. Direct ScotRail from Waverley takes 40 to 50 minutes, roughly every 30 minutes. The Royal Palace is entered from the Lion’s Den on a one-way system. It has no Crown Jewels or Stone of Destiny, which is exactly why it is quieter. Prices at Stirling Castle . If you would rather have it packaged with the Kelpies and a distillery stop, you can book a Stirling and Highlands day tour .
Melrose Abbey is £7.50 adult, £6.00 concession, £4.50 child, reached on the Borders Railway to Tweedbank in about 55 minutes, with Abbotsford roughly a mile from the station. Write this one into your plan accurately: much of the abbey, the grounds, the cloister and the museum are open and the bell-tower climb is still available, but some areas are closed while unstable high-level masonry is conserved, there is no accessible route to Robert the Bruce’s heart, and the museum closes 12 noon to 2pm. Current access is at Historic Environment Scotland .
Glenkinchie Distillery at Pencaitland in East Lothian, around 15 miles out, is the closest distillery day. Tours from £21 for 1.5 hours, a two-hour tasting from £65, a Hidden Lowland tour and tasting from £150. You can reach it by service bus on a County Plus Day Ticket costing under £10. Details at Glenkinchie .
Wildlife and coast
North Berwick on the East Lothian coast is the best wildlife day. The Scottish Seabird Centre charges £13.50 adult, £9.00 child 3 to 15, £11.25 concession and £38.50 for a family of two plus two, with under-3s free. Its boat trips run April to September at £32 adult and £15 for 16 and under, one hour fifteen minutes around the Lamb, Craigleith and the Bass Rock, which holds one of the world’s largest northern gannet colonies. Bass Rock landing trips run late April to September and are weather-dependent. Tantallon Castle nearby is open. Current sailings and numbers are published by the Scottish Seabird Centre .
The long one, priced honestly
Loch Ness is 155 to 170 miles and three and a half to four hours’ drive each way. The standard product is an all-day coach bundling Glencoe, Fort William and the loch: Rabbie’s leaves at 08:00 from Edinburgh Bus Station, gates J and K at St Andrew Square, and returns around 20:30, so 12.5 hours door to door, maximum 16 passengers. Seats typically run £45 to £75 a head and want booking four to six weeks ahead for summer; you can compare Loch Ness day tours before committing. Subtract the transit and you get one to two hours actually at the water, so buy it for Glencoe rather than for the loch.
Anything further is an overnight. Skye is around 230 miles and five to six hours each way, and does not fit in a day under any framing.
For trips that justify a second or third night away, see the Edinburgh multi day trips guide . Closing tip for the budget: buy ScotRail tickets in advance rather than at the machine on the day, and remember that Lothian’s own £2.40 flat single reaches Rosslyn, Cramond and Portobello without a rail fare at all.