Suggestions for Edinburgh Itinerary
 

My daughter and I will be in Edinburgh for 3 days (Friday - Sunday) in October. Does anybody have suggestions for an Edinburgh itinerary? Please include places to dine, we would prefer pubs or ethnic restaurants.

Bonnie

May I politely suggest that if you use the "search" feature, putting "Edinburgh" in the box, and selecting "United Kingdom" from the drop down menu, you will find masses of advice.

Or email me and I'll send you some stuff back. It's all on here already tho'

Hi Bonnie
Sheila's right you'll get loads of advice on here but from a locals point view I would suggest;
No1 Has to be the Castle, even if its only for the view over the city to the River Forth and the Forth Rail Bridge.
No2 Allow time for strolling down the Royal Mile and wandering down the many 'closes' that run from it. Try to arrange an evening Witchery Tour - Not for the faint hearted but great fun and very informative.
No3 The shops - If your anything like my Mum and me a trip to any city isnt complete without a look at the shops, Princes Street has all the usuals but you must fit Jenners which is the oldest dept. store in the world and is a labyrinth of good shopping.
My favourite restaurants are The Outsider on George IV Bridge, Haw House a great BYOB Mexican place on Candlemaker Row just down from Greyfriars Bobby. Good pub food and a great atmosphere can be found in the Grassmarket area just off the Royal Mile.
I very much hope you enjoy your trip to Edinburgh but remember and wrap warm in October!

I agree w/ both Sheila and Gillcmorris. do a search - you don't even ahve to search, just click on United Kingdom and you will find more info than you could probably absorb.

Then come back for specific questions or clarifications.

Gill's ideas are good ones as far as they go - but with a search you will find hundreds more.

You want to go to Edinburgh and find Ethnic Restaurants? How about a Scottish restuarant? They're really Ethnic if you're not from Scotland!!!! go figure. Why are you going to Scotland?

Jor - We plan on being in Scotland for a week and were hoping to absorb the Scottish culture through a variety of venues, including tours, museums, hikes, etc. Dining is just one component of the entire experience. Dining in pubs, we hope, will give us the Scottish flavour, but we would enjoy a little variety and have heard from a number of sources that the ethnic restaurants in Edinburgh are excellent. This is why we were requesting suggestions for these types of restaurants. Saying that, we would appreciate your suggestions on good Scottish restaurants if you have any recommendations to offer.

We would like to spend a couple of hours doing a little shopping, are stores open on Sundays?

SOME shops are open on Sundays but not all, and mostly not the classier smaller individual types. So, the big stores on Princes Street likely will be and the tourist places on the Mile; but not the shops in Victoria Street

Two good places to try for Scottish food are 1) any of the Howie's restaurants -there's a chain of 3 or 4 and b) Stac Polly in Grindlay Street

Jor - fact is, the curry is pretty much part of the Scottish culture now so many of them are worth the visit. My suggestion would be Kublai Khan in Leith, a Mongolian restaurante - basically you pick your own ingredients from things like shark, boar etc and they cook them for you. I'd suggest following their recipes as mixing the spices too much can have "interesting" results!

Pub-wise, you have a huge selection in Edinburgh, from the touristy pubs in Rose Street to the more studenty pubs in Newington and locals pubs too. My favourites - for sitting and chilling out on a sunny day, The Pear Tree garden on West Nicolson Street; for good, reasonably-priced food, Greyfriars' Bobby; and just for drinking, the Southsider just off South Clerk Street.

I would also add to Sheila's post of Scots cuisine at Stac Polly on Dublin Street. Have a grand time!

Any suggestions for evening activities, plays, concerts, tours, again taking into consideration Scottish traditions and culture.

There is a hotel that does a Scottish themed evening complete with haggis, bagpipes, etc. I have never been to it because I try to go to Edinburgh in August when all the festivals are on. In August Edinburgh is the entertainment capital of the world.

Edinburgh has a rich cultural life and I am sure you will find plenty of evening entertainment to suit your taste.

By the way, NYC seems to be emulating Edinburgh with a Fringe Festival in August--something I did not know about before last week when my son announced his play would be produced there (OK, it's shameless advertising).

Holyrood Palace, where Mary Queen of Scots lived and where her confidante was stabbed to death by her husband, is wonderful and very atmospheric. It is different from Edinburgh Castle.

Also, I went to that hotel with the haggis dinner - it is very much a tourist thing but fun if you have nothing else to do that night.

Depending on how old your daughter is, she - or you - might enjoy going to the site that commemorates Greyfriars Bobby - the little dog that Disney made a movie about back in the late 50's or early 60's.

Also, it is fun to climb the hill known as "Arthur's Seat" and view the city from above.

The obvious thing for a tour in the evening is the Witchery tour around the Old Town. As for plays, concerts and the like you should look at venues like the Royal Lyceum Theatre, the Usher Hall, the Playhouse and the Festival Theatre - though I'm not sure if they've launched their programmes for October yet.

Does anybody have any specific information about the Scottish evening of dinner and entertainment (mentioned in the previous postings). Where is it held? Cost? Critiques?

How can you have fringe without a festival?

Keith means the ghost tours. The Witchery is a restaurant, not yet known to move around the Old Town.

I've posted the stuff on the "Scottish" nights before. A search should bring it up.

Yes, you're right Sheila - must have been still suffering sleep deprivation from 1st May...!

Bonnie Girl - You can find out about the dinner from your hotel - it is well-known and we heard about it after our arrival.

Are these "Scottish Nights" worthwhile? I'm hearing various opinions -- costly, touristy, etc.