Short Visit to Friendly Edinburgh

My wife and I went on a short weekend trip to Edinburgh (my first visit to Scotland I'm ashamed to admit) on the May Bank holiday weekend.

Highlights:
* Holyrood Park - great natural setting for walks up to Arthur's castle, a really good city park to rival any other - similar to King's Park in Perth in terms of what it is supposed to be
* Castle - just great - really informative - great varied history and well maintained
* National Gallery and gardens - free access, great café and garden below Prince Street
* Pubs - visit any in the Old Town, in Grassmarket for a real Edinburgh experience

Quick Tips:

Bring walking shoes and a light raincoat - it is Scotland after all and Edinburgh is compact but hilly so the comfortable shoes are a must!

Take time to wander down the narrow alleyways in the Old Town - really well maintained middle-age feel to them and great photo opportunities!

Spend at least an afternoon walking up and around Holyrood Park to Arthur's Seat - a natural wilderness within the city.

Best Way To Get Around:

Walk everywhere, and when it rains, walk with an umbrella!

For the journey in from the airport, take the city express bus (normal bus is way too slow and route meandering).

This hotel is a 4-star hotel, no question, but in the moderate price range because of the offers available online.

I had the most impeccable service I have ever had in the UK - from reception through concierge through leisure facility - all could not do more to make our trip better.

It has a nice leisure centre - good gym which was well stocked with recent machinery and was never too busy, and the pool/sauna/steam room area was nice too.

Rooms are good if not exceptional. All the amenities you'd want are there. However, they are not particularly big and our room had a tendency towards being stuffy. A small disappointment among excellence.

This hotel is located near the bottom of the Royal Mile so that might not suit those who do not like to walk - but walking is a requirement in Edinburgh so I'd be happy to choose this location. It is beside Holyrood Castle and Park. The Park is for me the highlight of Edinburgh - a great city space that has been preserved in its natural state to give wild walks up to Arthur's Seat.

There are different choices of pubs and restaurants nearby, and the restaurant in the hotel is very good too.

Would highly recommend It. If I go back to Edinburgh, I would stay there again.

It's a lovely vegetarian restaurant for dinner or brunch. It has a great chilled vibe - friendly service and good space between tables make for a relaxed meal.

It has excellent food - really good asparagus risotto and crepe provencale, plus lovely warm bread on arrival.

There's a good wine list and it is reasonably priced - has one of the large glasses on offer - a Rioja - good!

I'd probably pick the Stac Polly down the road but it's a close call (I'm still a carnivore most of the time so hence I'll be swayed by the choice there).

We took the advice of the concierge in our hotel to visit the nearby Stac Polly and we were very impressed. It has an excellent cuisine - the crab meat starter and lemon cheesecake dessert were two of the best dishes that we have tasted in restaurants for quite some time. The service was attentive without being overbearing. We will definitely return on our next visit.

It is a tapas-style bar in the Old Town - very relaxed place with great Spanish staff - good tapas plates and excellent Cava!

It has a nice seating area up and downstairs - the perfect place to stop into after spending the day walking up and down the hills of Edinburgh.