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Two days in Edinburgh, what to do?
Akilae
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So my wife and I are being dragged along to a tour of the Scottish highlands, which includes two days free time in Edinburgh. Anybody have any suggestions on good sights and good eats? Much thanks!
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Teuchters Landing
They serve food in pint mugs and you can play Ring Toss with the whiskies
Café Marlayne
We went to the one on Antigua Street, but their website suggests it's undergoing renovation right now. I can't speak to the other site's quality, but the one we went to had great cakes and many varieties of tea
The other café I would have recommended has shut down
There's a lot to do, heavy on the historical tourism, ranging from tourist trap type stuff to places you'd have to seek out yourself.
Teuchters sounds interesting! 90 single malts. I'll probably never leave the bar!
@japan We typically try to steer away from tourist traps and engage more with walking around the locale, ducking into more interesting, out of the way spots, or seeking out hiking paths surrounding the city. However, my wife will be 24+ weeks pregnant, so we might take it easier this time around.
The only thing I really know about Scotland would be the isles of Skye and Islay. I'm told there's the annual military tattoo, but we won't be around for that.
Is the Britannia worth a visit? We had gone to see the HMS Victory in Portsmouth while visiting London and quite liked it, but I doubt the Britannia will have quite the same sense of history behind it...
If there is nothing else really interesting, we'll probably swing by the National Museum or the National War Museum.
BTW there's a much better whisky shop than the glam tourist places, called Cadenheads - it's at the less fashionable end of the Mile near the Parliament building. It's also near the Dynamic Earth place, which I've heard is decent, never been to it myself.
If you fancy a burger or a steak while you're in town, I highly recommend The Buffalo Grill. It's cosy, unpretentious, reasonably priced and not in the tourist zone. They allow BYOB, so if you want a bottle of wine with your burg, you can have one. If you want something a tad more exotic, then Hanams, at the top of the Grassmarket, does great Lebanese/Palestinian style food (also BYOB). If you plan to go to Hanams, I strongly recommend that you call ahead as early as possible and ask for the corner seat by the window. Phenomenal view out over the old town.
NB: Obviously if it rains, then go to the museums I guess.
I would agree with @V1m on Arthur's Seat, one of the most spectacular vistas you can find that close to a major city in Scotland.
If you like to drink, I'd recommend The Scotch Whisky Experience, it's just down the high street from Edinburgh castle. They'll give you a 1-hour informative tour of how whisky is made, a tasting on the tour, and if you pay for the Gold Tour (which is only something like 27 Pounds) you'll get an additional tasting afterwards. Turned me into a whisky snob in one shot.
Edinburgh Castle is very large and has a number of great exhibits.
My hotel was down in Leith on the sea a bit off the main drag. The Leith Walk (main road from the train station down to Leith harbor) is neat to get a bit of the local color and is a bit less touristy.
Go see the parliament house if only to wonder how they could build something so monumentally ugly in a town with such great architecture.
The owner is great and super knowledgeable
Also, the view of the city from the roof of the museum is very nice, don't neglect to do that