Hi there,
I'm travelling to Edinburgh this Friday(March 17th) for 4 days and I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice? This will be my first trip to scotland! Are there any day trips worth doing?Any romantic restaurant recommendations,shows etc etc??
Looking forward to reading all your advice!!

anyone?

I just back from Edinburgh a few hours ago; what sort of things are you interested in? Edinburgh and Scotland both have a wide variety of things, and a person who likes art may be looking for very different things than a person who likes shopping or whisky or what have you.

There's the obvious - go to Edinburgh Castle & the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Go visit Greyfriars Bobby.

Walk a lot - the old city is compact & easy to get around. The bus system is fairly easy to understand and the Scots are the friendliest people.

If you want a day trip & are into aviation, there's the Museum of Flight in East Fortune.

There's also Stirling but Stirling Castle & Edinburgh Castle are similar. Still, Stirling is lovely.

I've thoroughly enjoyed my trips to Scotland and am amazed by the helpfulness & friendliness.

Yes, what sort of things are you interested in & what sort of age are you ?

The main theatres are as follows.

Royal Lyceum : currently showing an adaptation of both parts of Goethe's 'Faust' which is supposed to be vg (going next week) - www.lyceum.org.uk).

Traverse : mainly a new writing theatre, showing Douglas Maxwell's 'Melody' (went last night, not bad) & 'Prince Unleashed' (not sure about this but considering going on Saturday), has quite cool cafe-bar - www.traverse.co.uk.

Festival Theatre : best building (new glass atrium around restored 1920s auditorium), currently showing an amateur production of Menotti's 'The Saint of Bleeker Street' (don't know how good it is) - www.eft.co.uk, which also covers...

King's : trad Victorian theatre which I find a bit depressing, currently showing amateur Gilbert & Sullivan.

Playhouse : big old barn of an ex-cinema, hosts touring productions of ex-West End musicals mostly, not my cup of tea but v. popular, currently showing 'Tonight's The Night: the Rod Stewart Musical' (http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/event/...minorcatid=207).

Sorry, it's usually better than this - you didn't pick the best week for theatre !

Here are some of my favourites places to eat in Edinburgh.

If you want gourmet, there are two restaurants with one Michelin star. Martin Wishart's in Leith is fantastic, especially if you have the six course tasting menu (which will all be cooked by the man himself). It's very high class but friendly and unstuffy. Book 2-3 months in advance for dinner; probably less for lunch but I've not tried.

The other starred restaurant is Number One in the Balmoral : food nothing special IMO, ambience is more formal & traditional.

For Italian, La Partenope on Dalry Road is wonderful. The chef-proprietor & his food are Neapolitan & it's the best Italian food (especially seafood) I've had outside southern Italy. Unusually for an Italian restaurant, in the UK at any rate, even the desserts are home made & very good. They also have a very interesting list of southern Italian wines largely based on little known grape varieties. The ambience is very relaxed.

La Garrigue on Jeffrey Street is a small French restaurant specialising in cooking of the Languedoc where the chef-proprietor is from, as are all the wines. The food & the chef are both lovely and the ambience is correct but relaxed. If you sit near the window there is a view of Calton Hill & its monuments.

Both Black Bo's and David Bann's do very interesting & innovative vegetarian cusine. BB's is very casual, studenty even, & DB's is smart casual & v. modern . Both v. reasonably priced.

Centotre on George Street is a busy, buzzy Italian caffe-bar offering everything from a coffee to the full works. Particularly good pizza & pasta.

If you want 'modern Scottish', Stac Polly on Grindlay Street is good.

When we have vistors we usually take them for Sunday lunch in Leith (the old docks area). There are lots of nice waterfront places, notably the Shore, where you can eat in the restaurant (non-smoking) or in the pub; the Waterfront and Skipper's. All of these are particularly good for fish but do other things too. I used to think Fisher's in Leith was the best for fish but had a very disappointing experience there recently : I haven't tried Fisher's in the City for some time so won't judge it.

I've never had good fish & chips in Edinburgh.

If you want recommendations for any other specific types of cuisine, please ask.

P.S. I should have added - buy 'The List', the fortnightly listings magazine, when you arrive - for galleries, clubs & other goings on.

If you are interested in art I could advise on interesting contemporary art exhibitions; plus see the National Galleries' website www.nationalgalleries.org.uk. All the national galleries are linked by a free bus. For the main museums see www.nms.ac.uk.