Exploring Southern Scotland: From Dalkeith to Glasgow
Scotland is made for Winter; with wild scenery, whisky and wool, it’s got you covered when the temperature drops. Towns like Dalkeith are ideal for exploring the south of the country, lying, as it does, just eight miles south of Edinburgh and 50 east of Glasgow. With trains from London to Eskbank, Dalkeith, running every hour at peak times, why not leave your vehicle at home and use Mercia Fleet Management instead? Here’s where you could go…
Edinburgh
At this time of year, Edinburgh is full of the Christmas spirit, and it’s just a 30-minute drive from Dalkeith. Its six-week festive extravaganza has everything you need to get into the spirit of the season, with an ice rink, Christmas tree maze, an elves workshop and, of course, more mulled wine and hot chocolate than you can shake a stick at!
You’ll be glad to have hired a Mercia Fleet Management car once you’ve hit the shops; Princes Street has all the high street favourites you can think of, while the streets behind it feature an enticing mix of mainstream and independent boutiques. None of this is forgetting another of Edinburgh’s landmarks – the castle. Towering over the city, it’s best viewed from the inside, where visitors are treated to panoramic sights across the city and to the coast beyond.
Portobello Beach
What’s better on a cold and windy day than wrapping up warm and taking a bracing seaside walk? Portobello beach, on the coast of the North Sea, is just a 20-minute drive from Dalkeith. At this time of year, there’ll be no sunbathing, but it’ll certainly blow the cobwebs away! If the cold gets too much, the nearby town is full of enticing cafes to warm you up again.
Craigmillar Castle
Of course, Scotland is famed for its castles, and Craigmillar is just four miles up the road from Dalkeith – hiring a car to spend a couple of hours exploring would cost just £9.50. Known as Edinburgh’s other castle due to its proximity to its more famous counterpart, it was used by Mary Queen of Scots as a safe haven in 1566.
It features one of Scotland’s oldest tower houses, an unusual P-shaped fishpond and a host of hiding places for the kids, as well as offering breathtaking views across to Edinburgh. It’s also set in extensive grounds, reminiscent of its days as a rural retreat for city folk, while some of the plants growing by the castle are thought to have been part of the original garden.
Glasgow
A little further away, in not-so-Southern Scotland, around an hour’s drive to the east of Dalkeith, lies Scotland’s second most well-known city – Glasgow; you’ll probably want to make a day of it. With a rich shipbuilding heritage, Glasgow became one of the first cities in Europe to reach one million residents in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Nowadays, shipbuilding has declined but the city’s popularity hasn’t. It was even named Condé Nast Traveller’s best city to visit in 2021. With dozens of green spaces, museums and buildings to explore, it’s a must-see for anyone visiting this part of Scotland.
You could even take your Mercia Fleet Management car across Kingston Bridge; more than 150,000 vehicles drive across its ten lanes every day! We have hundreds of vehicles, in sizes to suit all families, across the country, meaning there’ll always be one there when you need it.
If you’re interested in hiring a car through us, get in touch!
