Winter get away to Edinburgh, scotland

We decided to visit Edinburgh by taking advantage of some excellent offers by RyanAir from France to the Preswick airport near Glasgow. The train journey from Preswick was over 2 hours long, with a change of train stations in Glasgow.

We arrived in Edinburgh’s Waverley station and headed for a cheap place to stay. We looked at the Jury's Inn near the station but found the place very impersonal and a bit gritty. Our guidebook recommended a place on Pilrig Street, so we decided to try a local guest house, which was the best decision of our holiday.

Edinburgh as a city was fantastic, albeit a bit expensive at times. The Old and New Town take on a special character of their own under a low winter sun; it was really amazing walking around all the old buildings, soaking up the atmosphere of the place. The art galleries are all housed in beautiful old buildings and are well worth visiting. We did a walking ghost tour of the old town and got to visit a few haunted vaults. Edinburgh is a city full of great pubs and restaurants with a good choice of foods. We gave the castle a miss, as we thought it was a bit expensive, but the Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street gave us everything we wanted to know about Scotland and its history. It was by far the best place to visit and it was free!! Lastly, walk to the top of Arthur’s Seat and experience a great view over the city and its surroundings. It’s like having your own mountain in the middle of the city (dress warmly; it was really windy and cold at the top).

Quick Tips:

Change your money at Marks and Spencer's on Princes Street. They offer commission-free money exchange at very good rates. The exchange counter is in the basement. (This tip was provided to us by our guesthouse hosts).

The tourist city bus tours are very expensive and only cover a small part of the city. You can easily do this by foot and keep fit in the process. Edinburgh is a very easy city to walk around.

Best Way To Get Around:

Walk or use the buses. You can get an all-day bus ticket for £2 each if you buy it after 9:30am. You must have the correct money, as the bus driver does not give change. (We found this out the hard way. Luckily, someone on the bus gave us change). Edinburgh buses are great; we never had to wait more than 5 minutes.

We followed a recommendation from our guidebook and were not disappointed. The Balmoral Guesthouse on Pilrig Street was great value. It was warm, welcoming, and beautifully decorated, with period furniture in the bedrooms and throughout the house. The beds were very comfortable, and we had a lovely view over the garden from our window. We were in a room at the top of the house and had access to two shared bathrooms on the landing. We were a bit unsure about this, but we never had a problem using the bathrooms during our stay, even though the place was full over the weekend.

The bathrooms were very clean and roomy. The owner seems to love WWII radios, and we were listening to the local radio station through a 1930’s radio set during breakfast. The breakfast was fantastic; we sat on antique chairs from St. Giles Cathedral (in the Royal Mile) around a large mahogany table, sharing our holiday experiences with other guests. The food was all freshly cooked, tasted great, and was plentiful.

The owners were really friendly and full of advice if you asked them for any. They gave us lots of ideas during our visit. I would recommend the Balmoral Guesthouse to anybody wanting a great stay in Edinburgh.

This is a very simple-looking restaurant with a great atmosphere and great prices. You can bring your own wine. The menu is limited, but the food is fantastic.

We gave the castle a miss, as it was very expensive and we found out everything we wanted to know about the history of Scotland in this museum. The displays were amazing, and it took us over 2 hours to see all the exhibits. It is a great museum.

Biggest Fright: We like the haunted ghost walk from the Royal Mile. It was a bit pricey at £8 each, but we loved it.

Atmosphere: Just walk around the back streets of the Old and New Town; the place is like a museum. Try the Water of Leith as well.

Great accommodation: We will always go back to the Balmoral Guesthouse, a sure hit with us and really good value.

The weather: Apparently, we were very lucky. The sun shined nearly everyday and the wind was not blowing. (Edinburgh is known as the windy city.)