things to do in edinburgh

[bob57]

I'm taking the wife to edinburgh in a few weeks I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of where to go and what to do and any good restaurants

but no clubbing I think being over 40 would be to much for us.........thanks

[nickmo]

Lots to do. Depends on your tastes. Castle for one thing - can take 3 hours to do it properly. Take one of the evening walking tours - ghost, literary, pub tour options; Are you driving while in Edinburgh? Go out of town to the Pencaitland Distillery - 20 mins south. In town, Our Dynamic Earth at Holyrood, plus take the Parliament tour, and go round the Palace. Go out to South Queensferry - eat at the Hawes Inn - RL Stevenson associated inn - and sit under the Forth Rail bridge.

A walk up Arthurs Seat for views and fresh air; take the bus tour round the New Town. Shop in Jenners or Harvey Nics;

Best restaurants here: http://www.edinburghrestaurants.co.uk/ from members of the Ed. Restaurateurs Association. 'Ducks at le Marche Noir' is brilliant, 'Cafe St Honore' too, or 'Iggs' for Tapas. All easy to get to. See links off ERA site.

Fancy a drink? Get to the Oxford, Ian Rankins drinking hole or the Cambridge, both on Young Street in city centre. Original fittings at the Cafe Royal behind Princes Street east end., brilliant beer at Kays, in the New Town at Jamaica Street Lane North. Trot off to Leith - bus tours available - to see RY Brittania.

Check any shows or events that you fancy - plays, exhibitions etc at: http://www.edinburgh.org/

Free bus round the galleries if you like art which is handy to get about. ******** Street for new artists shows at nice galleries for purchases. Get a tattoo while down there too!

Have a nice break!

[bob57]

perfect nickmo thanks for that

bob

[henneth]

Nickmo's given you alot there, in addition here are a couple of excellent freebies:-

The Museum of Scotland, seven floors of Scotland's history, packed with culture, society, art, religion, fashion, inventions and paintings.

The Writer's Museum at Lady Stairs House, up at Lawnmarket. For all things Burns related and stuff on Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson.

Both museums are free of charge, saving you money for more beers later.

[Ouisch]

I went to the Witchery (on the Royal Mile) before they expanded, so I don't know if it's changed a whole lot, but when I was there the food and atmosphere were both excellent. We went there for lunch and had a fabulous wild game soup (pheasant and venison) and a traditional filet of beef. Delicious!

We also spent an hour or two at the Museum of Childhood (also on the Royal Mile) - fascinating place!

[nickmo]

Brilliant filter on this - cant put the name of the eclectic Dockburn Street in Edinburgh - replace the D with a C. (Don't look for Dockburn St as this doesn't exist.) and it is pronounced Co'burn Street.

Thats why it starred out, in case anyone wonders.

[vehelpfulguy]

Walk the royal mile.

This is a long, straightish, road that run through "old" Edinburgh.

It has Hollyrood house at one end and Edinburgh castle the other, and in between all sorts of interesting shops and buidlings.

If you go round the castle and Hollyrood house (and the scottish parliament) it can take all day.

If you start at Hollyrood it is uphill to the castle, but you end on great views over the city.

More here:

http://www.royalmile.com/

[vehelpfulguy]

In fact here is a better page about Royal Mile

http://www.aboutscotland.com/edin/royal.html

[nickmo]

And useless info - The Royal Mile is not on many road maps as its actually The High Street.

And its not a mile long.

[bob57]

thanks all with the amount of things that you all gave i'll need a year off work to do it all I only have 4 days and of course the first day there is the scotland / ireland rugby match and I have two shows to go to at the edinburgh playhouse so I a big choice thankyou all

from bob