I will be in Edinburgh for 1.5 days. I am interested in seeing the major attractions, do some shopping (but only for things I can get in Scotland), and museums. What do you recommend I do?

Suggest starting at Edinburgh Castle then wandering down the Royal Mile to Holyrood Palace and perhaps visiting the Queens Gallery. If the weather's nice, a stroll thru Prince's Gardens would also be lovely. There are lots of shops on the Royal Mile as well as on Prince's Street.

Bettyk pretty much hit it on the head (although it's Princes Street Gardens - can't miss it). If weather permits, a climb to the top of the Scott Monument in the Gardens will yield great views/photos of Edinburgh & beyond. And as soon as you leave, you will be wanting to return to explore more of this gorgeous city.

Ypu can see a LOT in 1 1/2 days. Not everything of course, but a lot. The main part of Edinburgh is very compact and you can walk almost everywhere.

I too would start at the top of the Royal Mile at the Castle ans spend the best part of the day walking down it.

Castle, Camera Obscura, Gladstone's Land (a medieval merchant's house that is REALLY fascinating), St Giles Cathedral, a detour over to The Museum of Scotland (one of the best museums in the country), then back onto the Royal Mile to Holyrood Palace/Abbey. This will take all morning and most of the afternoon.

In the evening you can go to some pubs in the upper old town or down in the new town along Rose Street just off Princes street. Plus the castle and all of the other major bldgs are illuminated at night so it is really gorgeous.

the next morning you can shop along Princes Street, visit the Gardens and just wander around the New Town a bit.

that will be a very full but very doable 1.5 days . . . . . . .

When will you be there?

I would advise you to visit the Museum of Scotland, 7 floors of exhibits, cultural and historical, and free of charge. Also in a 17th century tenement house at the top of the Royal Mile (Lawnmarket to be precise) is the Writer's Museum, another freebie, giving you an insight into the lives of Burns, Scott and Stevenson.
There are the usual open top tour buses, some head down to the docks at Leith where many buildings have been torn down to build a shopping mall. You could buy alot of stuff there, away from the crowds on Princes Street, and visit the Royal Yacht "Britannia", if you desire.
There are Ghost Tours a-plenty in the evening and a great deal in live music of a Celtic nature. If the weather's good and you are so inclined, take a hike up Arthur's Seat for stunning views of Edinburgh, the Pentland Hills and the Firth of Forth.

I will be there the third weekend of March. Flying in Friday afternoon and leaving Sunday morning.

I am also interested in doing a lot of walking. Are there any walking trails I can also explore?

Arthur's Seat is the highest point in Holyrood Park which itself is a large area of former volcanic rocks in the centre of Edinburgh. There are many paths to the top, some take 45 minutes, others twice as long.

National Gallery, if you can fit it in.

The reason I asked about the dates was because of the amount of light you will have.

It will be light by 7am and dark by 6ish.

There's a Celtic Festival on when you're there, and I see Salsa Celtica (who have got to be seen/heard to be belived!)are playing on the Friday night. So is Ivan Drever who is a little more, shall we say, calm.

Salsa Celtica are playing on Saturday, too. There's a ceilidh in the assembly Rooms and what, for my money, is a TOP concert in the Queen's Hall.

There's a great wee pamphlet called Edinburgh Walks- available from all good bookshops

Janis's advice is vg but I'd add 2 suggestions. Do the Old Town/New Town open top bus tour first to get your bearings + a good overview of everything with interesting info. Plus, when you walk to the bottom of the Royal Mile, admire our beautiful new Parliament building which is opposite the Palace. You can go on a guided tour : I think they get booked up some time in advance, but do it if you can. (http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/visitingHolyrood/)

The Museum of Scotland is good but I'd suggest you won't have time for it. (If you are "Flying in Friday afternoon and leaving Sunday morning", doesn't that mean you only have one day + 2 evenings ?)

Another, smaller hill you can climb is Carlton Hill, which is just 5 minutes' walk from the east end of Prince's Street & gives you a good view of the New Town and over the Forth to Fife.

The Royal Mile has some interesting shops, e.g. ones selling whisky/swords/ Christmas decorations/handmade chocolates, plus its share of tartan tat shops. Prince's Street has a couple of tartan tat shops but apart from those it's mainly the chains you get everywhere, with the notable exception of the independent & venerable department store Jenners which has a small but quite nice food hall (for shortbread etc) & a Scottish gifts department.

Salsa Celtica?! I had not heard of them, but now that sound intriguing and fun. Thanks once again Sheila!

Here is their website, but no dates listed yet for late June - early July when we will be in Scotland:
http://www.salsaceltica.com/

We live in hope. The Royal Lyceum has not yet listed shows or dates for then either. I've been keeping an eye on their site.

Nelson, the Lyceum's season finishes at the beginning of June, then it's mostly dark until the International Festival in August. Occasionally they'll have a few performances by Scottish touring groups or the youth theatre group.

The same is mostly true of all the Edinburgh theatres - July is the calm before the storm of August.

In case you don't already know, the other main theatres are the Traverse (mostly new writing - www.traverse.co.uk), the Festival Theatre (mixture of the better touring theatre, opera & ballet - Scottish Opera are there in June - www.eft.co.uk - also covers the King's which has the IMO less good, more old fashioned touring theatre), and the Playhouse (has the IMO even less good but bigger touring West End-type musicals + East European opera & ballet (http://www.ents24.com/web/venue/1833...e_Theatre.html).

Hope this helps.

I suggest you buy 'The List' (Edinburgh/Glasgow fortnightly listings magazine) when you arrive to see if there's anything on.

Caroline,

Thanks very much for the further info. I was wondering why there didn't seem to be much happening in July, but now it makes sense.

Even if we don't get in a theater performance, there will be more than enough to keep us going in Edinburgh! We are looking forward to it.

Hi Nelson. It's also feasible to go to Glasgow for the evening by train for the theatre - we go quite frequently. Check out the Citizen's, Arches, Tron & Tramway theatres for the more interesting stuff; & the Theatre Royal & King's for the more traditional touring stuff. If you want any more specific advice, just ask. Regards, Caroline

Hi Caroline. Thanks again. I'd consider it unlikely that we'd go into Glasgow for the evening. Not impossible, but unlikely. However, I will check out those places you mentioned.

Let me change direction a bit. My wife and I have started taking salsa dance lessons. Now that we are in our mid-50's we decided now is as good as ever. We will not be packing our dancing shoes, but do you know any good salsa clubs in Edinburgh?!

I have not done a web search on that yet, but presumably would find some. We are stayimg in the Haymarket area. Thanks!

Hi Nelson. I don't know of any salsa clubs, but there is a ?Mexican restaurant very close to Haymarket - on Morrison Street - which has salsa dancing. I think the format is early evening lessons for those who want them, then eating and dancing. I've not been but it sounds fun - I think it's quite casual and relaxed. I can't remember the name offhand but I'll try to remember to look it up.

The restaurant I was thinking of is Cuba Norte - http://www.list.co.uk/restaurants/ed...php?q=u,v23,o1. I also found this - http://www.salsaholics.co.uk/frames.html

Thanks Caroline, that is PERFECT! The Cuba Norte is kind of what we have here at home - a restaurant that has a venue for lessons and dancing as well. Looks great, we'll check it out for sure! The salsaholics site is great too. Thanks so much.

You're welcome ! Any other specific questions, just ask.