Gateways: Edinburgh and Glasgow
Nearly every trip to Scotland starts in one of two cities. They are about 50 minutes apart by the fastest trains, so many visitors fly into one and out of the other.
- Edinburgh suits a first visit: the castle, the Old Town and New Town, and easy access to Stirling, Fife, Perthshire and the A9 to Inverness.
- Glasgow is the better base for the west: Loch Lomond is under an hour away, and the roads and railways to Oban, Glencoe, Fort William and Skye all start here.
