I wanna have a great time in Edinburgh

kathybinns

Am off to Edinburgh on Monday for five days staying in Musselburgh at the travelodge. There will be me and husband and two daughters age 12 and 14. We will be driving there - but not sure if we will be using car or public transport to get around. Will be doing the open topped bus tour - paying with Tesco days out deals vouchers. Looking for ideas for other things to do which will keep the whole family happy without breaking the bank. Good food and places to eat also please.
I was a regular visitor to the city about 15 years ago but think things may have changed a bit since then!
Thanks
Kathy

JB2006

If you are staying in Mussleburgh you will be able to get the local buses into the city - LRT buses (burgandy) or First buses. Both companies should offer regular services.

You should visit the Royal Mile and join one of the many ghost walks at night. These are usually reasonably priced and will let you see the old parts of the city on foot. Some walks will even take you into the underground vaults. Staying with the Royal Mile you could vist Mary Kings Close which is the underground street which lies beneath the City Chambers, This was the street that was closed up with people still living there because of the Plague.

As for places to eat -
Italian - La Rusticana - Hanover Street
Chinese - Jimmy Chung (Buffet) £4.99 lunch £10.99 dinner
Pub Food - Standing Order George Street (part of Wotherspoons chain)
Mexican - Tijuana Yacht Club - Hanover Street

Hope this helps

Pink.

Hi Kathy,

There are lots of threads on the Scotland board on things to do in Edinburgh, so I'll move your thread over there.

We (two adults and three children) spent four days in Edinburgh late last year and had a fabulous time, but four days just wasn't enough! One of the highlights of our stay was the Witchery tour......not to be missed!

Have a look in particular at the two sticky threads on the Scotland board for lots of ideas of things to do and places to eat:

Eating in Edinburgh

Edinburgh attractions and things to do


Pink

Stephen_Webber

Camera Obscura is good up by the castle. It's a pin-hole type camera but they project the picture onto a big bowl a couple of metres across. I enjoyed my visit there

Edinburgh Zoo used to be worth a visit when I lived there 18 years ago, not sure what it is like now, but a number 31 bus will get you there from Princes Street. The castle is a bit over-priced for what you get so I wouldn't really recommend going around it for a visit.


Stephen

sra

There's a podcast from Visit Scotland here

If you don't use podcast software you can just download the mp3 files instead.
Just scroll down to the bottom and right-click the links. Pick Save Target as

kathybinns

I have never explored this part of the site. Thanks Pink for moving my thread and giving me the links. JB2006, thanks for the advice and recommendations. Stephen, we will try the camera obscura. Sra, I will try the podcast tomorrow. My web searches had not found much for tourism specific to Edinburgh so I am really grateful for your assistance.
Cheers.
Kathy

Edinburghlass_2

Funnily enough I am just home from having done the Witchery Tour with a couple of MSE members, savvy and Godders, who are presently staying at the Travel Lodge in Musselburgh :j

Despite having felt we had just done the tour with Pink and her family in October we thoroughly enjoyed tonights tour again as it was a different tour guide although the jokes were equally as bad :rotfl:Certainly more fun than the Mercat Tours one of the vaults especially for kids.

Town felt really quiet tonight when we drove in and there was no problem parking in Castle Terrace down beside the Castle although by next week with more kids being on holiday it may well be busier and much better to take a bus into town through the day.

They used their Tesco vouchers to visit the Royal Yacht Britannia today but to be honest we were so busy chatting I forgot to ask them if they enjoyed it and this afternoon they drove across the Forth Road Bridge to Fife and visited at Loch Leven.

Tomorrow they intend visiting Camera Obscura and walking down the Royal Mile revisiting some of the places we were tonight accompanied by Adam Lyall (deceased).

I know both Pink and myself can recommend the buffet lunch at Jimmy Chungs, you'll find the website in one of the stickies, we went to the one near Waverley Station which is £1 dearer but handier for the centre.

I'll revisit this thread tomorrow evening and let you know a bit more

Edinburghlass_2

kathy, I asked how the others found the Travel Lodge at Musselburgh and they were more than happy with it, everyone was very friendly and lots of Tourish Information nearby I believe.

They signed up to the Little Chef website and printed out plenty of 2 for 1 vouchers for breakfasts next door to the Travel Lodge.

The thoroughly enjoyed Britannia and Camera Obscura, both visited with their tesco vouchers.

We had a great meal last night with them at Maxies Bistro near to the Castle and can certainly recommend them for the food and especially for the friendly service.

Let me know if there is anything else you want/need to know

kathybinns

Edinburgh Lass, thanks for the advice. The Happy Eater voucher was dated 30 March last time I checked their website, so thanks for the reminder - their site has been updated and the vouchers now run out at the end of April, so I am printing lots off.
Cheers,
Kathy

vandanfc

Kathy

Thanks for the comment about paying for the bus tour with Tesco vouchers, hadn't spotted that one and was going to pay hard cash, not now though.

Vanda

grex9101

Musselburgh also has a train station with a pretty good service considering its location. You even get a few services through to glasgow central each day too.