From Greenock should I go to Edinburgh or Stirling Castle

[fdcruisers]

My husband and I are going on Regal Princess in September and not sure where to go from Greenock Terminal (the only Scotland port).  I always wanted to go to Edinburgh but the excursion from the ship is $110 a person (just transportation it will be on our own).  Our other option is taking a guided tour to Stirling Castle, village of Luss and Trossach National Park.

I have always wanted to go to Scotland and would like advice as to where we should go.

Thank you

[Tak8]

Although I liked Edinburgh Castle, I wasn't impressed with the crown jewels.  A long line to not look at much.  If you do pick Edinburgh, I recommend stopping by The Hotel Chocolate Cafe.  Great chocolates and drinks.  I would go Stirling Castle excursion.

 

[fdcruisers]

Thank you Tak8 for the reply. I am thinking of going to Stirling Castle and looking at tour companies now.

[vdlcruiser]

Luss and Trossachs are beautiful. Enjoyed our day there plus Stirling much more than Edinburgh 

[fdcruisers]

5 minutes ago, vdlcruiser said:

Luss and Trossachs are beautiful. Enjoyed our day there plus Stirling much more than Edinburgh 

I appreciate your reply.  I am leaning toward Stirling even though I really wanted to go see Edinburgh.

[Tina1967]

We used to live 10 miles from Stirling and the castle there is lovely, within the castle there is also an army museum which is also worth having a look round. The Trossachs and the Luss area are lovely you will not be disappointed. Maybe I am biased but I much prefer Stirling Castle to Edinburgh Castle and on the plus side it won’t be as busy there.

 

[fdcruisers]

26 minutes ago, Tina1967 said:

We used to live 10 miles from Stirling and the castle there is lovely, within the castle there is also an army museum which is also worth having a look round. The Trossachs and the Luss area are lovely you will not be disappointed. Maybe I am biased but I much prefer Stirling Castle to Edinburgh Castle and on the plus side it won’t be as busy there.

 

Thank you Tina. I am researching tours now for Stirling castle. I also think I will get my money's worth visiting Stirling, The Trossachs and Luss.  I appreciate your reply.

[Tina1967]

44 minutes ago, fdcruisers said:

Thank you Tina. I am researching tours now for Stirling castle. I also think I will get my money's worth visiting Stirling, The Trossachs and Luss.  I appreciate your reply.

You are welcome Stirling itself is a lovely town I used to deliver mail there. Forgot to mention also that Luss is a village on the banks of Loch Lomond so you will also be visiting one of Scotland’s most famous Lochs!

[DrivesLikeMario]

I've been to both and absolutely loved Stirling Castle!  You can just feel the history there.  Edinburgh Castle is incredible too, but Stirling has re-enactments and characters dressed up sometimes and intersting guides.  The town is smaller, crowds are less and you're able to see the varying sizes of holes in the walls from the centuries of battles. 

[BarbinMich]

3 hours ago, fdcruisers said:

My husband and I are going on Regal Princess in September and not sure where to go from Greenock Terminal (the only Scotland port).  I always wanted to go to Edinburgh but the excursion from the ship is $110 a person (just transportation it will be on our own).  Our other option is taking a guided tour to Stirling Castle, village of Luss and Trossach National Park.

I have always wanted to go to Scotland and would like advice as to where we should go.

Thank you

We stopped at Greenock on a Sept. 2013 transatlantic cruise on the Emerald Princess.  There was an active Cruise Critic group and someone arranged for a private tour for 8 of us.  We did the Stirling Castle etc tour and enjoyed it very much.  While Edinburgh is only 70 miles away, one would spend more than one hour on a bus or van each way.  So less time to see the sights.

[cynbar]

https://discoverscotlandtours.com/tours/loch-lomond-stirling-castle-trossachs-shore-excursion/

 

Here is the tour company we used to tour Stirling Castle. We did the 12 day British Isles cruise,so we went to Edinburgh as well. If I had to pick only one, Stirling would be the choice. Less crowded, and gives you more of a feel of the old Scotland.

[ukestrummer]

I booked Busy Bus for this port, 118 pounds for two

[fdcruisers]

6 hours ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

I've been to both and absolutely loved Stirling Castle!  You can just feel the history there.  Edinburgh Castle is incredible too, but Stirling has re-enactments and characters dressed up sometimes and intersting guides.  The town is smaller, crowds are less and you're able to see the varying sizes of holes in the walls from the centuries of battles. 

Thank you for your response.  I am looking forward to seeing Stirling Castle and the surrounding area.

[fdcruisers]

5 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

We stopped at Greenock on a Sept. 2013 transatlantic cruise on the Emerald Princess.  There was an active Cruise Critic group and someone arranged for a private tour for 8 of us.  We did the Stirling Castle etc tour and enjoyed it very much.  While Edinburgh is only 70 miles away, one would spend more than one hour on a bus or van each way.  So less time to see the sights.

I appreciate your reply. I agree it would be time consuming to go to Edinburgh.  Hopefully another time we can go there.  How was the transatlantic sailing?  I heard there can be some bad weather.  I just hope we do not miss any ports.

[fdcruisers]

8 minutes ago, ukestrummer said:

I booked Busy Bus for this port, 118 pounds for two

I will look at Busy Bus.  Thank you.

[fdcruisers]

2 hours ago, cynbar said:

https://discoverscotlandtours.com/tours/loch-lomond-stirling-castle-trossachs-shore-excursion/

 

Here is the tour company we used to tour Stirling Castle. We did the 12 day British Isles cruise,so we went to Edinburgh as well. If I had to pick only one, Stirling would be the choice. Less crowded, and gives you more of a feel of the old Scotland.

Thank you for your reply. We have decided not to go to Edinburgh and do a Stirling Castle tour with the Trossachs and Luss. Just have to decide which tour company.  We are looking forward to visiting Stirling

[cruisemel]

Went to Scotland 6 months ago & enjoyed both but Stirling was more enjoyable. The trossachs were amazing.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Our CC group of 5 used Great Scot Tours and they are very in demand.  Need to book quite a bit in advance.  Probably one of the best private tours I've ever done.  The Portcullis Pub next to Stirling Castle is a good stop for lunch but make sure you make a reservation before you go in to tour the castle or you won't get in.  Great Scot Tours

[caribill]

12 hours ago, Tak8 said:

Although I liked Edinburgh Castle, I wasn't impressed with the crown jewels.  A long line to not look at much.

 

The line at the main entrance to the building is usually long. But there is a side entrance around the corner that usually has only a couple of people waiting to go inside.

[fdcruisers]

15 hours ago, cruisemel said:

Went to Scotland 6 months ago & enjoyed both but Stirling was more enjoyable. The trossachs were amazing.

I am really looking forward to see Scotland.  

[fdcruisers]

15 hours ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

Our CC group of 5 used Great Scot Tours and they are very in demand.  Need to book quite a bit in advance.  Probably one of the best private tours I've ever done.  The Portcullis Pub next to Stirling Castle is a good stop for lunch but make sure you make a reservation before you go in to tour the castle or you won't get in.  Great Scot Tours

Thank you for the tip.  I will look into Great Scot Tours.

[BarbinMich]

15 hours ago, fdcruisers said:

I appreciate your reply. I agree it would be time consuming to go to Edinburgh.  Hopefully another time we can go there.  How was the transatlantic sailing?  I heard there can be some bad weather.  I just hope we do not miss any ports.

We've done 10 TAs over the last 10 years, occasionally 2 in one year.  Haven't really had much bad weather, partly because there's such a big expanse of ocean, that the captain can chart his way around bad weather.  The bad weather is more likely when doing the "northern" route, i.e. stopping at Norway, Iceland, Greenland.  For example, we've been due to stop at the Shetland Islands 2 times and have yet been able to do so (1st time--weather bad out of Oslo, so we left 12 hours late and had to bypass the Shetlands; the 2nd time we got very close, but too rough to drop anchor and tender even though sunny).  We missed Akureyri, Iceland the first time because too windy in that fjord and capt. was afraid he wouldn't be able to get away from the dock (that port lacks or lacked large enough tugs to help), made it in on our second try some years later.  So in choosing to do a TA, one needs to be prepared for changes in the itinerary.  We've also had kind of a reverse situation, when we had to put in at Cobh, Ireland instead of going straight across the Atlantic as scheduled.  It was an overnight stay so we took the time do take the train to Cork, which we hadn't been to on a prior visit.  That train station is just opposite the Cobh dock so very handy and inexpensive.

[fdcruisers]

1 minute ago, BarbinMich said:

We've done 10 TAs over the last 10 years, occasionally 2 in one year.  Haven't really had much bad weather, partly because there's such a big expanse of ocean, that the captain can chart his way around bad weather.  The bad weather is more likely when doing the "northern" route, i.e. stopping at Norway, Iceland, Greenland.  For example, we've been due to stop at the Shetland Islands 2 times and have yet been able to do so (1st time--weather bad out of Oslo, so we left 12 hours late and had to bypass the Shetlands; the 2nd time we got very close, but too rough to drop anchor and tender even though sunny).  We missed Akureyri, Iceland the first time because too windy in that fjord and capt. was afraid he wouldn't be able to get away from the dock (that port lacks or lacked large enough tugs to help), made it in on our second try some years later.  So in choosing to do a TA, one needs to be prepared for changes in the itinerary.  We've also had kind of a reverse situation, when we had to put in at Cobh, Ireland instead of going straight across the Atlantic as scheduled.  It was an overnight stay so we took the time do take the train to Cork, which we hadn't been to on a prior visit.  That train station is just opposite the Cobh dock so very handy and inexpensive.

We are going to stop in Norway, Greenock, Dublin, Cobh and Halifax.  We have already been to Dublin and Cobh and will do different things than last time.  I will look into taking the train.  Thanks for the idea.  Hopefully we will have good weather.

[BarbinMich]

32 minutes ago, fdcruisers said:

We are going to stop in Norway, Greenock, Dublin, Cobh and Halifax.  We have already been to Dublin and Cobh and will do different things than last time.  I will look into taking the train.  Thanks for the idea.  Hopefully we will have good weather.

What did you do when in Cobh the first time?  I always enjoy just walking around, exploring on my own--although a bit strenuous at times, climbing up the cliff <g>.  Very pleasant residential area above the docks.  The last time I walked along or near the beach below downtown (to watch the seabirds), then had a cup of tea (which I rarely drink) in a quaint little place.  On another visit we went on a Cruise Critic group tour to see the countryside, Powerscourt (large estate), and an area rich in Celtic history complete with ancient graveyard (it was a gray and damp day).

Edited April 28, 2019 by BarbinMich

[cruisequeen4ever]

We did the British Isles Cruise last summer. Edinburgh was full of fascinating sites. I did feel like Edinburgh Castle was a bit of a letdown after touring Inveraray Castle out of Greenock, though; that’s based on me preferring the interiors of castles. We didn’t do Stirling because Inveraray Castle looked more interesting to us, and it is officially my favorite castle now. I’d say you couldn’t lose by choosing one of your options over the other because they’ll both be interesting, but if you choose a Castle, I’d go with Inveraray.