Edinburgh - lodging and what to do - May 17-18
 

We will arrive by train from York in Edinburgh. We are looking for best areas to book lodging (even Names of places would be nice) and what to do while there. We will have Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. Travel dates are May 17-18 (departing the 19th out of EDI).
We will depend on public transportation or tours and we love to walk. 3 Adults

What is your budget? I have lots of recommendations but budget makes a huge difference.

The main things are the Old Town . . . Castle, Sy Giles Cathedral, Museum of Scotland, Royal Mile and Holyrood. This will take an entire day.

The half day can be spent in the New town/Princess street area . . . National Gallery, Princes Street Gardens, Botanic gardens. All of the Old Town is walkable from each other - Same goes for most places in New Town.

Great info Janisj, we'll be there a few weeks later in May and your grouping has made things very simple.
This morning I saw a tv piece about catching a boat from Queensferry to the little island that is underneath the bridge. Just wondered if you've done that and if you think it worthwhile?

Oops...I showed wrong dates. We will be there Saturday and all day Sunday leaving Monday May 19.
We'd like to keep the lodging about 152 (250USD) but after doing our London lodging we had to up that amount.

I haven't been to that specific island (have seen it countless times) - whether it is worth the time mainly depends on how long you have in Edinburgh and how many days in other parts of Scotland (there are many other islands large and small one can visit0

pdamiani: Oh great - then I HIGHLY recommend Fraser Suites. Just w/i your budget on their pre-pay rate. It is quite posh and literally steps from St Giles Cathedral and a short walk from the Castle.

http://edinburgh.frasershospitality.com

Edinburgh has many places to stay starting budget to luxury. If you would tell your budget then I think easy to help you. As per as my knowledge Travel Lodge will be perfect for you. Why i am saying because i have stayed two times in this hotel during my study tour.

If you were staying a week or more, I could recommend an apartment agency -- no affiliation -- that has done well by us, though if we are not traveling with friends we usually stay with family.

3 night stay, 3 adults. Travel by train. I did look at Frasier and it looks lovely, near the train station. Ended up being quite a bit higher because of the third adult however, I am contacting them directly for a rate. We need to be able to access lodging from the train station.

At Edinburgh Castle be sure to look at the names of the lost, esp in wwI. This is incredibly moving - and many towns have memorial you should also look at. (Scotland was always very poor compared to England and there was a huge proportion of young men in the services and consequently a very large proportion of that generation lost.)

(Very different from the US - since we were only minimally involved directly in WWI and by WWII losses of US soldiers was typically a lower percentage due to much more/better equipment and levels of medical care. Overall US casualties were significantly higher than UK in WW2, but out of a much larger population and number of people under amrs. US also had many more wounded than killed/missing - unlike any other major combatant.)

Another choice to consider: http://www.hotelceilidh-donia.co.uk
The only issue is we would need two rooms and is 10 min by bus to Old Town. It had higher ratings and is quite a bit less $$ than Frasier Suites (but it sounds SO lovely!)

www.thegrassmarkethotel.co.uk I normally stay here when I'm in Edinburgh. Great hotel in the old town.

The Grassmarket Hotel...it is sold out for the 3 person. I am so sad as it looks amazing.

If you stay at the Ceildh Donia, you will have to take the bus to get places -- but the Edinburgh bus system is good.

Try the ibis and apex properties in Old Town.

Checking now. Question: is the Grassmarket area the same as Old Town?

>>Checking now. Question: is the Grassmarket area the same as Old Town?<<

Yes, Grassmarket is within the Old Town.

I posted in my London / Cotswolds thread a question I shall refer to here. Thinking of spending only 2 nights in Edinburgh instead of 3 and adding York. You can comment on that post if you care to

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...d-cotswald.cfm

It's down to:
http://www.apexhotels.co.uk/en/hotel...ex-city-hotel/

http://www.hotelceilidh-donia.co.uk

http://www.thistleresidence.com/serv...ile-apartments

I'm sorry that my comments seem to have offended on your other thread - I certainly didn't mean anything but to help. One last comment - of those 3 the Apex is the best location. The apartments do look nice though.

The Ceilidh donia is farther away and would require more bus travel. I wouldn't stay there unless it was much cheaper than the other two

Oh you did NOT do anything wrong. There was an overreaction to your comment because it was taken as a criticism I think. I was helped by you and welcome more.