Where to stay in Edinburgh? Things to do?

[OpenToSuggestions]

Hey all.

In late July me and the girlfriend are going to Edinburgh for 4 nights. We will probably get the train there. Travel Lodges range between £40-60 per night for one double room.

Just looking for recommendations and/or pointers?
We plan on getting a 3 day pass for the attractions in the city. What is there to get up to there?

 

[Ahleckz]

Budget?

The zoo is good, but it's on a big hill so wear sensible shoes.
The castle is interesting, but it's on a big hill so wear sensible shoes.
It's a lovely town, but it's built on big hills so wear sensible shoes.

 

[OpenToSuggestions]

Budget?

The zoo is good, but it's on a big hill so wear sensible shoes.
The castle is interesting, but it's on a big hill so wear sensible shoes.
It's a lovely town, but it's built on big hills so wear sensible shoes.

I wasn't planning in wearing high heels . I will tell her to wear sensible shoes .
The budget is not set but if we book up front for a Travelodge we can get them for £40-50 per night.

We are hoping to keep the trip cheap.

 

[yer_averagejoe]

Edinburgh is one of those cities where the best thing you can do is just wander around. Other than that, the castle is good and I've heard camera obscura is well worth it too. Plenty of great pubs for food etc.

 

[Malevolence]

Try and take in a night-time tour of the Vaults. I think it was around about £10 the last time we went and lasted for just over an hour, although that was a few years back now.

 

[Gaz1988]

Pointers/tips below

Cambridge bar - amazing burgers and good for a beer or two http://www.thecambridgebar.co.uk/

Chop Chop - chinease (all about the dumplins!) featured on gordon ramsey a while back http://www.chop-chop.co.uk/

George street - generally a good selection of restaurants/bars/pubs which are all slightly up-market but still very reasonable.

grass market - near centre of town, again good for pubs etc

royal mile aka high street - tourist central, few good pubs but mainly scottish shops and things touristy. good for a walk along up to towards the castle.

shopping - princess street and surrounding area/streets basically!

 

[shifty_uk]

Budget?

The zoo is good, but it's on a big hill so wear sensible shoes.
The castle is interesting, but it's on a big hill so wear sensible shoes.
It's a lovely town, but it's built on big hills so wear sensible shoes.

Lmao

 

[arknor]

the zoos pretty poor if you have ever been to a good one like chester zoo

 

[shifty_uk]

the zoos pretty poor if you have ever been to a good one like chester zoo

I've only been once in recent years and it was dire. Didn't help that it started raining the minute we got there. They decided to close the cafe early and none of the vending machines worked which annoyed me even more.

 

[chameleon]

There are a few pretty central travel lodges in town, not too far from the station, if you can book them at that sort of price, got for it pronto!
Aye, the vaults could be worth a look, so is Mary Kings Close if you like things spooky, if a little commercialized. If you want to keep things cheap, do one of the ghost tours, of which there are many. Usually a small fee or what you feel it is worth as a tip at the end.
Zoo is v good but not v cheap. Scottish museum in chambers st is superb (n free!) As said there are a great many pubs about depending on what you want. Grassmarket or high street are good for choice. I can recommend a few if you like. You can do an entire pub crawl and bearly move from where you started.
All boils down to what you are interested in doing.

 

[Devrij]

Mary King's close is a must imo. My gf freaked out at one scary bit in the tour and swore at the guide in fright. That made it 100% worth it. They do a little bus tour that I recommend as well.

 

[albert]

The zoo is very very expensive. All concrete enclosures on a steep hill. Also you need to prebook a time if you want to see the pandas.

 

[Threepwood]

Museum is free and well worth it. Not been on the Mary King's close tour yet, must do it in fact.

 

[#Chri5#]

+1 for Mary King's and The Camera Obscura.

We've eaten at The Cellar Door a couple of times. Both times we opted for the "Surprise Menu" - the food was excellent and not knowing what's coming on the plate is something new when eating out.

Would also recommend getting the train up from Crewe - direct service and then using public transport. Both times we've been we used the train and it's nice just looking out the window as the miles fly past.

 

[shadow_boxer]

Me and fiance went to Edinburgh between Xmas and the New Year recently for four nights. Stayed at one of the inner city Premier Inns. Nice and cheap, was only £120 for four nights!

National Museum is very good, we spent a good 3-4 hours there and only got around half way. Edinburgh Castle obviously and Dungeons. Bit of time shopping etc and walking around city center. Also went to the Edinburgh Surgical Museum which was pretty interesting but maybe a bit boring/techincal if you're not interested in that sort of thing.

 

[nineteenforty4]

Annoy American tourists

Just wandering about is nice so sensible shoes
S'no bad for art

 

[wazza300]

the edinburgh vaults!!!! if your brave enough

 

[OpenToSuggestions]

Thanks for all the comments so far!
The train tickets (from either Stafford or Loughborough) are coming up at over £100 for a return. Do you have any tips for dropping the fare? We are both students but only I am below 25 years old. Neither of us have rail cards.

 

[rossk26]

Edinburgh is one of the nicest if not the nicest city I have ever stayed at. I stayed the holiday inn which is next door to the zoo. Had an exec room with the most amazing view I have ever experienced from a hotel...

The zoo is worth it if you've never been to one before, chester zoo is far better in comparison, but luckily Edinburgh was the first I had been to, and chester the latest.

Good job you are going by train, the roads are a nightmare in the city centre, I got lost due to my sat nav deciding to stop as soon as I crossed the border, ended up in a bus only part of the city and got wedged between lots of double deckers!!

The city is fantastic, have a walk around near the castle and do a bit shopping. Not sure how the situation is with restaurants, but I had trouble finding one that wasn't fully booked when I went, but with the state the country is in now, I don't think that will be such a problem

 

[#Chri5#]

Thanks for all the comments so far!
The train tickets (from either Stafford or Loughborough) are coming up at over £100 for a return. Do you have any tips for dropping the fare? We are both students but only I am below 25 years old. Neither of us have rail cards.

We just booked well advance and I think we travelled quite early one morning to get a good price.