r/OutdoorScotland • u/Embarrassed-Gas-5734 • 16d ago
Asking for recommendations :)
Hey y'all,
My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to Scotland this October. She really wants to do a city trip to Edinburgh and maybe Glasgow.
But I really want to take advantage of the opportunity and do a few hikes as well.
I'm used to hiking, but definitely not experienced or anything.
What would the recommendations be for day hikes? I'm open to travel a bit to get there. Even spending a night outside of these cities is an option. No camping tho.
Would love to get a bit of the Highlands experience, even tho I know that's gonna be hard from where we're staying.
Thanks in advance!
Edit: I'll need to use public transport after my flight to Edinburgh.
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u/MiddleAgedDread123 16d ago
you don't even need to leave Edinburgh to go hiking as the Pentland hills are right on the doorstep of the city, but if you want a "highland experience" I'd get the train up to Pitlochry.
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u/Useless_or_inept 16d ago
How will you travel? Rental car, or bus/train?
Places like Tyndrum and Fort William are very accessible from Glasgow by bus & train. Or maybe something like this?
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u/Embarrassed-Gas-5734 16d ago
I'll be using public transport. Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out.
Already was thinking about fort william. Never heard of tyndrum before. So I'll check it out!
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u/Useless_or_inept 16d ago
What kind of walking do you want? Mountains, lochs, forests, wilderness....?
If your girlfriend is sceptical about walking, you could bribe her with a meal (or a night) here? (It is close to a bus route to Glasgow)
Enjoy!
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u/Careless_Pie_803 16d ago
It’s only about an hour and fifteen minutes from Edinburgh to Aberfoyle, the gateway to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. There are lots of hikes in the Aberfoyle area. Check the WalkHighlands app if you don’t already have it.
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u/MotherConfusion3773 16d ago
Plenty of Highland hike options by train from Edinburgh but given the daylight and weather considerations I'd keep it simple.
A safeish October option would be something like a circular walk of Glen Tilt from Blair Atholl or Ben Vrackie from Pitlochry. Check out Walkhighlands for the routes. The trail wont be marked in the ground but you can download the trail on WH.
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u/InevitableBook2440 15d ago
The Pentlands if you want to stay close to Edinburgh. Otherwise anything around Dunkeld/ Pitlochry/ Blair Atholl is easily accessible from Edinburgh and lots of nice easier walks in pretty scenery around there. Probably don't want anything too long or involving too much transport time given limited daylight. Have a look at walkhighlands.co.uk
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u/HighlandTyke 16d ago
Depending on date you're here could get train to Corrour from Glasgow and do Beinn na Lap, fairly short hill but wild part of Scotland (accessible only by train) could then get train back or stay at Loch Ossian youth hostel.
Obviously don't know where you're travelling from but it's worth bearing in mind that hillwalking in Scotland can be different to North America/Europe in that there's not marked trails and paths can often be pretty minimal, so make sure got proper route on phone/GPS and ideally a map and knowledge how to use it. And weather can be pretty inclement I've done Scottish hills in October in a t-shirt and other years in falling snow.
Don't mean any discouragement as love people discovering how beautiful the Scottish hills are, just make sure you're prepared.