Going to be in Edinburgh Scotland for 3 days in June.

Looking for recommendations for hotels and things to do (after the Castle, of course).

One of those weekends is Taylor Swift weekend there. Loads of Londoners heading there that weekend… so… if you are going for that weekend… likely the good hotels are already gone.

If not, the Balmoral in Edinburgh is fantastic though pricey. If you don't stay there, at least go to their whiskey bar. Probably my favorite whiskey bar I've ever been to. I don't even like scotch very much but their list is unreal and they will for sure have a few that you will like on their list. Hike up to Arthur's Seat one day too. Lovely views from there.

ATM9000- I checked TS's tour dates and she'll have been there and gone by the time we get there.
Thanks for the recs. I'm not a Scotch drinker either, however, everybody I know that goes to Scotland comes back one.... Looking forward to it!
Gig 'em.

13 - 0 said:

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Going to be in Edinburgh Scotland for 3 days in June.

Looking for recommendations for hotels and things to do (after the Castle, of course).

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Is this 3 full days with travel to and from on either side, or travel to with a partial day, full day, partial day with travel out?

Three (3) full days in town.

Whatcha got?

Travel to and from on either side.

I've had good stays at both the Radisson Blu City Center and the Ibis South Bridge Royal Mile. Both are centrally located, have most amenities, and are usually reasonably priced.

I've also stayed in Leith, but I'm a sucker for water views and really liked being out of the tourist fray at the end of the day. There's a tram that runs almost all the way up to Princes St. and puts you right back in the thick of it.

We spent a few days in Edinburgh last year. We stayed at the Double Tree Edinburgh City Centre on Bread Street. It was a short walk to the Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle (you could see the castle from our room) Calton Hill, Arthur's seat, New Town, Grassmarket, etc. Not sure how much you enjoy walking, but we walked it with no issue.

Grassmarket has lots of pubs and cafes. We stopped in a few for drinks but they were nothing special. Plenty of beer and mixed drink options. I drank Tennents and Guiness when I wasn't drinking Scotch. Someone on this forum mentioned El Cartel. It has Tex-Mex type street tacos. It was good but nothing to write home about (we did meet some other Aggies there so that was neat). The Hanging Bat (a very short walk from our hotel) that had some excellent Haggis fries and were very excited to meet Texans.

The Piper's Rest is another pub off the Royal Mile (in Hunter Square) that had decent enough pub food but also has a drink called the Weedgie Mule made with Irn Bru syrup. Too sweet for me but the wife enjoyed it.

I would suggest buying tickets now for any castle, palace, etc you may want to visit. They say they sell out during the summer time. We bought about 4 months in advance for Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood, etc.

Arthur's seat is great. It is a moderate to stressful hike but well worth it when you get to the top. There is also an old church (the name escapes me right now) that we detoured to on the way down.

Lots of shopping on the Royal Mile if that is your thing. Most shops all have the same or similar things though.

We didn't see all of Edinburgh by any means but I think we did pretty well for 2 1/2 days.

Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, Camera Obscura, 30 minutes to Rosslyn Chappel (well worth the trip), Botanic Garden. It's been a hot minute since I've been, but those come to mind.

As most everyone else has mentioned - Edinburgh Castle is at the top of my list for Edinburgh.
We also enjoyed the Royal Mile and walking around that area.
The Palace of Holyrood House was very cool and the gardens around it were beautiful.
Holyrood Distillery was our favorite but we also did tour at Johnnie Walker. The views from the restaurant and bar at Johnnie Walker were stunning.

My favorite thing we did in Edinburgh though was go to Leith and tour the Royal Yacht Britannia - The Queen's primary yacht for like 40+ years. The Royal family is intriguing to me and this was really neat to see. The way the tour is set up was very well done. Others in our group could care less about the royals but thought this was intriguing and a good activity.
There was an amazing seafood restaurant called Fishers right on the water and within walking distance and one of the coolest cocktail bars I've ever been to right around the corner, called The Barologist.

Thank you everyone for the advice.
We're hiking the West Highland Way the week before and recovering in Edinburgh. Looking forward to it.
If you think of anything else, please let me know.

are you a golfer? If so, that opens up other possibilities nearby.

Will you have a car - Stirling Castle is close, so is Falkrirk were you can see The Kelpies and The Falkirk Wheel.

I must be the minority, but I was not overwhelmed by Edinburgh Castle or the Royal Mile. In Scotland the larger the castle the more touristy and hokey it was. My favorite castles were often the smallest. Royal Mile was likely nice at some point, but today it's just crowded and littered with tourist shops.

Holyrood Palace was nice and I highly recommend the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Maroon- The wife and I are weekend hackers, so it's not one of our "must dos".

I'm sure we could get to Sterling and Falkirk by train, right?

If you're into Monty Python, Doune Castle isn't that far either (and really close to Sterling Castle) and where most of the castle scenes were filmed.

I would assume so. We always had a car in Scotland.

Aag71013- Nice.... good to know. "But, I'm not dead".

13 - 0 said:

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Thank you everyone for the advice.
We're hiking the West Highland Way the week before and recovering in Edinburgh. Looking forward to it.
If you think of anything else, please let me know.

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We hiked it last year and will 100% do it again....just a fantastic week!

AgRyan- We're really looking forward to it.
Any tips or "dos and don'ts" for the hike?

I think these are the tips I have....

I would stay the night in Milngavie the night before you start. It's a cool town and it'll allow you to ho right on the trail rather than stressing about transportation from Glasgow.

Defiinitely bring a midge net (the mesh in a mosquito net is a bit larger).

Even if it isn't hot, keep yourself well hydrated

Have some cash on you - there were a couple of little snack/resupply shops along the trail that didn't have credit card readers.

Take your time and soak it in

Good advice.... thanks.
Were the midges that bad, or just an annoyance?

We went in September specifically to be out of midge season

There was one afternoon that they were annoying - but if we kept walking they didn't bother us, just if we tried to stop to eat. Then there was one evening we were pitching our tent at dusk and they completely ate us alive....my arms were just red bumps for days.

The rest of the time, we didn't see them at all

OK, thanks..... we're going 20 - 27 June.... wish us luck.

Except long lines and little parking

I'll second The Royal Mile and Holyrood Palace. The Queen's Gallery (maybe King's now?) right in front of Holyrood has lots of great art, if that floats your boat. Pretty close to the Castle is the Whisky Heritage Centre, if a wee dram or three is your thang. High tea at the Balmoral Hotel on Princes Street can be added to your culture resume'.

A day trip to Scone, Glamis and St. Andrews can be easily done. Another day trip to Stirling, with its magnificent castle, Bannockburn battleground and Stirling Bridge, all portrayed in the Braveheart movie, is easily done.

MOST IMPORTANT!!! ALWAYS REMEMBER, when crossing the street, to look RIGHT, instead of LEFT! Those bloody Scots drive on the wrong side of the road, like the rest of the Brits, and will run over your goofy arse if you step off the curb in front of 'em!

Above all, enjoy your stay. The Scots are a friendly people, the food is better than its reputation, and...they invented WHISKY!!!

FREEDOM!

heading to edinburgh today actually

Matsui said:

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heading to edinburgh today actually

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Please report back with any suggestions for restaurants or pubs. I'm going next month.

Distilleries near Edinburgh that are must-do's?

Will do

There this past week. Enjoyed both the queens arms and the ghille dhu restaurants The ghille go to the pub area around back.
Really enjoyed Stirring castle but parking and walking up the step hill is a problem.
Spent most of our time seeing the country, lochs , etc

Holyrood Distillery
Johnnie Walker on Princes Street
South Loch Distillery

There is a really cool ghost tour around Edinburgh.

Go have a pint at The Sheep Heid Inn. Oldest continually operated pub in Scotland. I believe it was opened in 1360.

We did the main tourist things and then we also spent a day in St. Andrews and that was awsome. Here are the spots we enjoyed while there:

Lighthouse Bookshop
Blackwell's Bookshop
The Piper's Rest
Dishoom Edinburgh (fantastic Indian)
Canongate Kirkyard
Deacon Brodies Tavern
The Piemaker
National Museum of Scotland
The Devils Advocate
Whiski Bar & Restaurant
Victoria Street
Edinburgh Castle
Grassmarket Street
Greyfriars Kirkyard
Arthur's Seat
Swanston Farm (awesome hike to see the famous Highland Cows up and close)
The World's End (my favorite pub)

How long were you there?

Txgunrnnr said:

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How long were you there?

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That is about two day's worth. Just kidding.