Day Trip: Dunfermline

Dunfermline is best on a good day when the leaves are on the trees or just starting to fall. There is nothing more magical than walking through the Glen and seeing the old church loom up through the foliage or stumbling upon Malcolm's tower in the undergrowth. You feel like you can bump into history anywhere and everywhere in Dunfermline. One of the best medieval fairs in Scotland is the Bruce Festival, but it has not been held in several years.

Quick facts:

• Distance from Edinburgh: 45 miles

• Using public transport: 35 minutes minimum including a train ride over the Firth of Forth which small boys will love!

• History: Dunfermline was the royal seat and the capital of Scotland until the 17th century. It is still the 10th largest population cluster in Scotland.

• What there is to do: ramble through the Glen or Pittencrief Park with the foundations of a tower built by Malcolm Canmore, who defeated Macbeth and married St. Margaret. The ruins of the palace and connecting abbey, and the chapel where parts of Robert the Bruce are buried, are well worth a visit.

You can find wobbly rocks

And poke into old churches. Bruce's heart is supposedly buried under the altar part of this one!

The following are from the Bruce Festival, held in Pittencrief Park in August 2009:

this talented horseman is riding two horses at once!

the best 'Children's Army' event ever!

And it was of course an excuse to dress up in costume