Visiting in November

[SweatpantPotato]

Hello!

We decided to get concert tickets on a whim and now I have to plan a trip! 8ish days (+2 travel days) and concert is in Glasgow but we're flying in to Edinburgh. We will have our 4 year old with us but don't mind a mix of family friendly and more age-neutral fun, she's a great sidekick! I don't think we'll be brave enough to rent a car, so easy train access is preferred and we don't want to lose tooooo much of the trip traveling place to place. We are foodies, love quirky cultural things (like interesting museums, off the beaten path etc), I love history but prefer reading about it over tours, like the outdoors but can't do anything too extreme because of our kiddo. Would be very grateful for any and all recommendations! Your very favorite places to eat/things to do. Got some ideas from chatgpt but I trusted I'd get much better here!

November can be a dreich time of year so I would plan plenty of indoors activities. Our dynamic Earth in Edinburgh plus the museum of Scotland. Walk up the Royal Mile to the castle (not all in one day with a 4 year old). You could also take the train up the west from Glasgow to Oban to see the Highlands (would need to complete the journey before 3pm if you want enough light to see the scenery go by).

welcome to Scotland 🫶🏼
Train from Edinburgh to Glasgow is direct and averages about an hour and 15 minutes.
I would definitely stay the bulk of your trip in Edinburgh but maybe a night or 2 in Glasgow when your concert is on. Edinburgh is more expensive but premier inn is a good affordable option and Edinburgh have quite a few.
Edinburgh has a couple fantastic museums, national history and museum of childhood I definitely recommend.
Scotland in November can be quite cold, think freezing and possibly below, rain and sometimes snow. Not to put you off but maybe outdoor activities not so great at that time of year.
In Glasgow you have the botanic gardens and kelvingrove art gallery.
Dynamic earth, Edinburgh Zoo and camera obscura all fun child friendly activities in Edinburgh plus indoors so weather not a problem.
have a great trip x

Edinburgh zoo is outdoors - though the animals might be hiding indoors.

Thank you both so much for your ideas!! I did figure the weather wouldn't be ideal but this is a dream concert for my husband and we're unlikely to get the chance again so took the plunge! We're hardy and from an area with plenty of winter (though not as much precipitation)so we'll be sure to have the gear we need to walk around.
The museum of childhood and our dynamic earth both look extremely cool!! I would like very much to go to Oban because that is my favorite scotch, but wasn't sure how that would go with my daughter 😂 same deal with golf for my husband. Might have to save those two for another trip/time of year!

Haha yes oops 😂 that one is outdoors.

Reminds me of a trip to Blair Drummond on a very wet day - the young man in the ticket booth asked us “you do know this is an outdoors attraction?” and was incredulous when we still wanted to buy tickets 😂

Haha 😂 no such thing as bad weather so they say! I guess the drive around safari bit and sea lions are inside 😂

3 days in Edinburgh
train to Oban (you'll have to go via Glasgow) for 2 days
train back to Glasgow and stay there for the rest of your trip. there's a bus back to EDI from Glasgow.

Transport museum and science museum in Glasgow might be good for your wee one. Kelvin hall art gallery and museum is one of my favourites.

Worth considering a day trip to Dundee - both the Discovery and the V&A are right by the train station so it’s an easy trip and two nice rail bridges to cross.
Worth thinking about what you’d actually do in Oban if you head west. I’ve spent rainy weekends there but it was all in pubs…
camera Obscura in Edinburgh.
depending when in November some of the lights might be up - Botanic Garden lights in Edinburgh or Enchanted Forest in Pitlochry.

train between Glasgow and Edinburgh is every 15 mins, takes 45 mins and is not too busy these days. So you could easily just locate yourself in one of the cities and travel back and forth. Kids get return train anywhere in Scotland for £1 return (although maybe 4 year olds are free).