Edinburgh

hamesy

hamesy

hamesy

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Joined
22 Nov 2007
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Location
Staffordshire
Me and the wife are off to Edinburgh for a couple of nights soon. Looking for places to eat and drink and places we should visit.

We've already booked for Edinburgh Castle.
 
The Dome is a really nice place to visit for food and drinks.

If money isn't a concern try then The Witchery, is outstanding.
 
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The museum is good, and free.

Ghost bus is sort of fun if you want to hear the stories with a mini bus tour thrown in. Otherwise there are loads of ghost tours.

Mary King's close is an interesting visit https://www.realmarykingsclose.com/

Carlton hill is a quick walk from Waverley and has great views.

Arthur's seat is easily walkable and again a good view.

If you are up for it you can get a train to Dalmeny (~15mins) and get a boat tour under the Forth bridges and to Incholm Island if you want to visit the Abbey. https://www.maidoftheforth.co.uk/ or https://www.forthtours.com/

If it's your thing then Edinburgh gin have a tasting tour https://www.edinburghgin.com/visit
Lind and Lime also have a one a bit further out https://www.lindandlime.com/thetour both are great IMO but Lind and Lime give you more free gin and I like their flavour profile more :D

The Zoo is...a zoo. Nothing special if you've been to a big one before.

As for food there are the usual chains, I do like Cafe Andaluz though but I'm a tapas fan and its just a chain.
Dome is fancy but you'll need to book.
Witchery is expensive and I've never been but hear good things.

If you're an Avengers fan go to Cockburn Street (next to the station) to see where a Vision/Wanda scene was filmed, also they were at the station itself. Thats pretty niche though :D
 
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There are also ‘free’ Harry Potter walking tours with donations at the end. I witnessed two tours with 20 or so people on each, one guide per tour pull in close to £300 each. Most people were putting in £20 at least, families £50+.
 
The Edinburgh underground city is supposed to be an interesting tour , it’s on my list next time I’m in Edinburgh

What types of food do you want ?

There’s loads of restaurants but me and the Mrs generally end up revisiting the same ones , Korean BBQ , Thai and Cosmo buffet -just for variety - it’s reasonably priced and the food was generally ok for buffet style but the last visit the food wasn’t great
 
I love Edinburgh. We’ve had a few OcUK meets in the city in the past.

Go to Oink, make sure you add haggis to your pulled pork roll.

Forget about Mary Kings Close and instead do one of the Mercat underground tours instead.

After a few beers, grab a haggis supper (with salt and sauce) from the Clamshell on the Royal Mile.

And on the Royal Mile, watch fudge being made and chuckle at them while they’re packing it into boxes.

I can spend days wandering up and down the Royal Mile, going in and out of the closes and just exploring. Edinburgh city centre is so small that eveything is proper close together. You can do it all in the old town without even going down the hill and over to the newer area.

Also take a walk up to Leith and visit the Royal Yacht, I found that utterly fascinating.
 
OldKitMan said:
The Dome is a really nice place to visit for food and drinks.

If money isn't a concern try then The Witchery, is outstanding.
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The Witchery has a nice two course lunch which doesn't break the bank at £34.50, granted when i was there with the missus, we added a pudding each, rolls (which i believe was about 3quid extra) a couple of beers and cocktails, tea and coffee and I'm sure the bill reached a similar price to the three course meal wine and cocktails we had the Dome so on that front its not too bad! But if we'd gone for a proper 3 course meal off the a la carte menu we'd probably be spending between £200 - 500 quid depending on what we went for of course!
 
Any of the cocktail bars along George street are good. But check out Panda and Sons, Bramble and Lucky Liquor Company which I think are all great.
Johnnie Walker Experience has a great rooftop bar, definitely go there for sunset/nighttime views of the castle. And get the oysters!!
For a pint, The Guildford Arms is nice.
 
Might as well necro this thread.

Looking to go to Edinburgh in May for 3 nights.

Will possibly drive even though it's 400 miles - At least I'll have a car to travel around then.

Where would you suggest we stay? We would be going up on Friday so planning to be out Friday night and Saturday day/night so being able to get back to the hotel easily would be useful.
 
VincentHanna said:
Might as well necro this thread.

Looking to go to Edinburgh in May for 3 nights.

Will possibly drive even though it's 400 miles - At least I'll have a car to travel around then.

Where would you suggest we stay? We would be going up on Friday so planning to be out Friday night and Saturday day/night so being able to get back to the hotel easily would be useful.
Click to expand...
Are you only planning on doing stuff in the city centre or do you plan to travel further afield. Edinburgh city centre isn't a nice place to drive a car. There are hotels for every budget in the centre of town - do you have a type of hotel or budget in mind?
 
VincentHanna said:
Looking to go to Edinburgh in May for 3 nights.
Click to expand...

I'll just repeat what I said last time :)

Feek said:
I love Edinburgh. We’ve had a few OcUK meets in the city in the past.

Go to Oink, make sure you add haggis to your pulled pork roll.

Forget about Mary Kings Close and instead do one of the Mercat underground tours instead.

After a few beers, grab a haggis supper (with salt and sauce) from the Clamshell on the Royal Mile.

And on the Royal Mile, watch fudge being made and chuckle at them while they’re packing it into boxes.

I can spend days wandering up and down the Royal Mile, going in and out of the closes and just exploring. Edinburgh city centre is so small that eveything is proper close together. You can do it all in the old town without even going down the hill and over to the newer area.

Also take a walk up to Leith and visit the Royal Yacht, I found that utterly fascinating.
Click to expand...
 
You missed out Yum Yum at the top of Fleshmarket close for a battered Mars bar :D

Mary Kings Close is interesting, if a little expensive for what it is.
Calton Hill for the view.
Castle I could take it or leave it.
Wander up Arthur's Seat if fitness allows, it's a lot easier than it first looks.
 
OldKitMan said:
Are you only planning on doing stuff in the city centre or do you plan to travel further afield. Edinburgh city centre isn't a nice place to drive a car. There are hotels for every budget in the centre of town - do you have a type of hotel or budget in mind?
Click to expand...
My post here is my first foray in to planning it :D

It was just a conversation along the lines of

Me: "shall we go up to Edinburgh in May?"
Wife "Yeah that sounds good, I'll get the Friday and Monday off"

In terms of accommodation, I'd say nothing ultra budget, but nor do I want to spend £500 a night

In terms of where we go, happy to travel around but neither of us is that interested in History :cry:

Activities, Food and Nightlife is all good though.
 
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