My husband and I are going to Edinburgh, Scotland this weekend and wanted feedback on the must sees of Edinburgh. Any suggestions on sites and good food are appreciated. Will be leaving early afternoon on Fri. taking the train, coming back Sunday even. Thanks in advance.

On Saturday I recommend getting the hop on hop off bus tour for a good overview of the city & the main sights. Get off at & tour what interests you - the castle & the palace, at either end of the Royal Mile, are the 'big 2'. There is also now our beautiful new parliament building, right opposite the palace - you can take tours. That could use up all of Saturday.

If you are very fit & the weather is OK, walk up Arthur's Seat for the views. If not quite so fit, walk up Calton Hill for the views & the curious collection of monuments.

What sort of restaurants do you like and where are you staying ? Some of my current favourites are La Partenope on Dalry Road - v. casual, Neapolitan, the best Italian food (especially seafood) I've had outside southern Italy; La Garrigue on Jeffrey Street - cooking of the Languedoc, nice surroundings with a view of the monuments on Calton Hill; and Centotre on George Street, a busy, buzzy Italian caffe-bar offering everything from a drink to the full works. If you want 'modern Scottish', Stac Polly on Grindlay Street is good. Booking advisable for all apart from Centotre prior to c.7pm. The *best* food in town IMO is the one-star Restaurant Martin Wishart (in Leith), but I'd guess you wouldn't get in now.

On Sunday you might like to go down to Leith (the old docks area) for lunch : there are lots of nice waterfront places, notably the Shore, where you can eat in the restaurant (non-smoking, booking advisable) or in the pub; Fisher's & the Waterfront (booking advisable for both). The former royal yacht Britannia is moored at Newhaven, a mile or two upstream from Leith, & offers a very interesting audio tour. If just going there from the city, get the very frequent 22 bus to the terminus : it's rather bizarre, but you enter it via a shopping mall.

You need the correct change for regular buses (i.e. not the hop-on-hop-off tourist buses). A day saver is £2.50 - worth it if you will be getting more than two buses during the day - otherwise you'll pay 80p or £1.

If you are interested in galleries, theatre, music or other events, buy 'The List', the fortnightly listings magazine. 'The Age of Titian' is the big exhibition currently on at the Royal Scottish Academy. There is a free gallery bus connecting the four national galleries, two of which are outwith the centre - see www.nationalgalleries.org.uk.

Hope you have fun, & that the weather's better than it is today !! (rainy & v.windy )

Thanks for the suggestions will try the hop on hop off bus tour and the hiking of Carlton Hill for sure. Are there any reasonable seafood resturants you would recommend? Any cool parks that we should see? What about the Biotanical Gardens there? Thanks again for the handy tips.

IMO the best restaurants for seafood are Fisher's in Leith (there is also 'Fisher's in the City' on Thistle St, which may be more convenient, but I prefer the original); and La Partenope as mentioned above. The Waterfront & Skipper's in Leith are both good too. These probably all come in at about £25-30 per head for 3 courses. The Shore also has nice seafood & if you eat Sunday lunchtime in the bar it's very reasonable - a set price for 2/3 courses, but can't remember what - maybe c.£15 for 3 courses ? It is where we always take visitors for Sunday lunch.

There is a private hotel with seafood restaurant in the West End, but I can't remember what it's called. We went once about a year ago & it was good - run by people from Arran I think.

For something more cheap & cheerful there is the Mussel Inn on Rose Street, which has other non-mussel specials of the day. Haven't been for a while but I think a pot of mussels would be perhaps c.£8.

Edinburgh is not the place for good fish and chips, sadly

The Botanic Gardens are OK if you like parks. It has big old Victorian glasshouses but I think at least part of it may be under restoration at the moment. There is of course Prince's Street Gardens, below the castle, but there's not much to it except the view. In the summer it's quite nice to sit & have a sandwich lunch there but not now !

The "private hotel with seafood restaurant in the West End" is Dunstane House; the restaurant is The Skerries.

If you're at all into history, we enjoyed the Mary King's Close tour. It has a few cheesy momemts when it tries to add a ghost element, but all in all was quite interesting. It takes you into the excavations of the 16th-19th century closes, which were sealed off when the City Chambers was built over the top, and provides some stories about the people who lived there.

www.realmarykingsclose.com

I adore the Botanic Garden. It has a beautifully laid out and world-class variety of collections, ranging from
heaths and heathers to beautiful woodland gardens to a huge rhododendron collection. Not to mention a nice view of the city skyline. However, November is not exactly the best season for visiting! Most likely not a pleasant park experience.

I could be wrong, but I think that the Victorian temperate palm house is the only one that's under renovation. So if you're a plant person, you might still want to go to see the other 8 or 9 glasshouses (Ferns, Tropical Aquatics, Tropical Palms, and a bunch more).

The website is http://www.rbge.org.uk.

Did you have a nice time ?