Looking for any advice on staying in Edinburgh. We are looking at a hotel, www.heraldhousehotel.co.uk but it doesn't have parking. They say a CDL is nearby, would that be Haymarket? I can't tell if you can leave a car overnight there. Can we just leave it somewhere else (train station) and bus it to the hotel?

I thought I'd bump this since it is falling while the Scottish sleep and I see it is your first post ever.

Do you want a car in Edinburgh? We did not.
How are you arriving? We flew into Glasgow and bussed in since it is so cheap and easy.
We bussed to the Edinburgh airport to pick up our car to tour the countryside.

Lastly, not wanting to sound like an idiot, but I probably will, there is over a decade of collective mind dump on this site and a search engine that sometimes works.

This site is great for specific information, so if you want to know exactly how many steps there are in Sterling castle, ask away, someone will answer.

There's a big car park in Morrison Street, which I think must be what they mean. Actually, on second thoughts, there's one in Morrison Link too. This is not an area I know very well. Shout for Caroline in a bit and see what she says.

I agree with ici tho'; if you're hiring don't bother whilst you're in Edinburgh.

One of my visits to Edinburgh was by car and I was staying at a hotel on Princes street. I found relatively inexpensive parking by the train station that will accomodate multiple day parking as you shouldn't use a car there.

Thanks for all the advice. Yes, sounds like we really will wish we didn't have a car but these couple nights are in the middle of our trip and we have the car for getting to other spots. Think we have it figured out, found a B&B that has parking in the back on a bus line. Hopefully it will all work. Thanks again.

When someone talks about "relatively inexpensive parking" in the centre of Edinburgh they mean it only costs one kidney and not the life of your first born

The carpark they show on their website is probably the nearest and it is 24 hours

www.eief.co.uk/content/by-car.htm

Sorry I didn't see this before. Since it seems you are stuck with the car, your plan of staying somewhere with parking and on a bus route is much better. Where is this b&b ? I might be able to advise whether it is on a good bus route or not. For another option, the Holiday Inn Express at Ocean Terminal in Leith has parking, I understand, and is on the best bus route going - the 22 which is the most frequent & runs all night.

Caroline, thanks for the reply. We are actually committed now to Cherry Tree Villa, 9 East Mayfield, Edinburgh, EH9 ISD http://www.insiteswd.co.uk/cherrytreevilla/ Seems like it will be a nice place, they have private parking in the rear (hope that works out) and then we are planning to just bus, walk or something. Would love any advice you have on things not to miss in Edinburgh. We have two nights so not a lot of time but have been trying to do our research. Thanks again.

Hi. East Mayfield is handy for one of two quite good bus routes, depending on which end of East Mayfield you are - either Dalkeith Road to the east or Minto Street/Mayfield Gardens to the west. It's about a 1.5-2 mile walk to the centre or (depending on traffic) a 15-20 minute bus ride. Buy a Daysaver each day for £2.30 and it gives you unlimited rides on all Lothian buses, except the Airbus or the night buses (after midnight).

The main sights are generally perceived to be the Castle and the Palace, with the Royal Mile which runs between them. Since you have limited time I'd recommend starting with a circular open-top bus tour of the Old (mediaeval) and New (Georgian) Towns. There are several different tours which all depart from Waverley Bridge but Guide Friday is best as it has a live guide. A ticket allows you to get on and off as many times as you like during the day. Take a full circuit to get a good overview; then you may want to carry on round back to the stop nearest the Castle, walk up to the Castle & tour that, then walk down the Royal Mile to the Palace and tour that, then get back on the bus.

Depending on your interests, other attractions which may appeal include the Museum of Scotland, the new Parliament building (opposite the Palace, tours available) and the former Royal "Yacht" Britannia. If you want to go to Britannia (very interesting audioguide available), don't bother forking out for another tour bus but just get the regular number 22 bus to Ocean Terminal. There are also the 5 National Galleries - 2 are outside the city centre but a free bus runs between them all (www.nationalgalleries.org).

If you are interested in theatre, music, clubbing, contemporary art, etc. get 'The List' when you arrive - it's the fortnightly listings magazine covering Edinburgh & Glasgow.

Any more specific questions, just shout.