Travelers stories

Situated in the south-east of Scotland, Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and is one of its largest cities, second only to Glasgow.

The seat of the Scottish Parliament, it has been the capital of Scotland since 1437 and has a fantastic historic heritage. With over 4,500 listed building in the city, it is a beautiful place to visit, if purely for the history and photography only.

Split in to four districts - Old Town, New Town, South Side and Leith - Edinburgh has something to offer everyone. The Old Town offers medieval history with links to Edinburgh Castle, as well as a thriving market place, whilst the New Town provides Edinburgh’s main shopping districts, whilst not taking away from some fantastic Georgian buildings.

The South Side is mainly a residential area of the City, whilst Leith is a busy port, playing host to a number of world-wide cruise liners.

Whilst Edinburgh is visited all year round, it’s throughout the months of August when the City is booming. The Edinburgh Festival, which first began in 1947, is held, which is an umbrella term for various festivals which take place on an annual basis throughout the month. There are numerous festivals that are held throughout the month, with the most notable ones being:

1.Edinburgh Fringe - known as simply ‘The Fringe’, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the biggest arts festival in the world. Playing home to a variety of performing arts, drama and music shows, The Fringe is massively popular amongst people of all ages and attracts thousands upon thousands of people every single year.

2.Edinburgh Comedy Festival - part of the Edinburgh Fringe, the Edinburgh Comedy Festival is the biggest comedy festival in the world, attracting some of the comedy circuit’s biggest names and plays host to some of the worlds best up and coming comedians. With around 250 comedy shows taking place under the collective ‘Edinburgh Comedy Festival’, there is a hilarious stage show to be seen, regardless of your comedy preference.

3.Edinburgh Military Tattoo - provided by the British Armed Forces, Commonwealth and international military bands, the Military Tattoo is one of the largest of its kind. Over 217,000 people watch the Tattoo live every year, with around 40% of the audience being from overseas (30% come from Scotland and 35% from the rest of the UK). Further to this, over 100 million watch the television broadcast. The main focus of the event is to raise money for charity, with over £5 million being raised throughout its time.

The festivals throughout August are without a doubt one of the most popular reasons to visit Edinburgh. During the Festival, the city is alive with music, plays, ballets and symphonies.; however they are definitely not the only ones. Edinburgh Castle is a fascinating historic monument which dominates the Edinburgh skyline, whilst the City is renowned for its extensive shopping. With so much to see and do, the best thing to do is to book into an Edinburgh hotel and begin to enjoy the wonders of the Scottish capital straight away.

This article was written by Rakesh Gaikwad

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Open Roads has a variety of travel packages and offers on Edinburgh Hotels for you to enjoy a perfectly planned vacation. They also have a range of discounts and offers for other attractive travel destinations around the world.

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Edinburgh is one of the top tourist destinations in Europe and it boasts a wealth of attractions and different types of accommodation. Here you will find a selection of the most popular attractions in Edinburgh and information on the various types of accommodation available.

Edinburgh Castle The castle is perhaps the best known and certainly the most popular tourist attraction in Edinburgh. It sits on an elevated site overlooking Princes Street Gardens and the city centre.

Visitors are free to roam around the castle and learn about the rich and interesting history from any of the knowledgeable guides which are on hand to guide you round.

If you visit during the festival season you also have the option of taking in the Military Tattoo which takes place in the castle each year. There are temporary stands erected and you get to witness a mass of bagpipers and marching bands from all over the world from inside the illuminated castle grounds.

Edinburgh Festival

During the main summer season Edinburgh comes alive with festivals and events taking place throughout the city. The biggest event is the International fringe festival which has been running since 1947.

Here you can enjoy a wide variety of acts, some shows are free and others require tickets (usually only £5). The most unique aspect of the festival is that it is open to all performers; people can just turn up and perform. This makes it a great platform for up and coming stars to come and try and make a name for themselves.

Edinburgh Zoo

Opened in 1913 and consisting of over 82 acres of parkland, the zoo is one of Edinburgh’s most popular attractions with over 500,000 visitors each year. The zoo is walking distance from the city centre, it is situated in Corstorphine which is close to Haymarket railway station.

The most popular attraction at the zoo are the penguins and especially the penguin parade which takes place on a daily basis. The zoo also has the United Kingdoms only koala bears.

Scottish Parliament

Since Scotland was granted a devolved government in 1999 a parliament was requires for the first time in hundreds of years. After much debate on both the location and the architecture of the building, the Scottish parliament was built at Holyrood.

There continues to be much debate on the building and particularly the look of the building, as it is designed as a modern and contemporary building completely unique from the traditional and elegant structures normally found in Edinburgh. Its cost of £431 million (double the original budget) also did not go down well with the Scottish public.

Visitors can visit it and make there own minds of whether to love or hate the structure, there are free tickets available to tour round and see Scottish politics in action.

Botanic Gardens

The Botanic Gardens are a great attraction for the family to enjoy and best of all admission is Free. The gardens in Edinburgh have been around since 1670 and that makes them the second oldest in the UK.

There are a total of 70 acres of gardens and they are in a great central location only a few minutes walk from the city centre. There are 7% of the worlds total plant species on display and it,s the perfect way to spend a sun filled day in Edinburgh.

Luxury Accommodation

There is a wide selection of luxury hotels in Edinburgh , all of the major hotel chains such as Ramada, Best Western and Hilton have hotels in the city centre. It is however perhaps best to try one of Edinburgh’s more iconic hotels.

The two most well known are probably the Balmoral Hotel and the Scotsman, both have excellent city centre locations and offer high quality luxury accommodation.

Edinburgh accommodation is not all five star luxury and £100 a night prices, you can pick up more affordable options if you opt to stay at a bed and breakfast or a hostel.

The cheapest option is to choose one of the many hostels that are available in Edinburgh. You can pick up a five star hostel dorm for only £12 per person. A bargain when you consider some of the excellent facilities available such as free internet and travel advice and also city centre locations.

This article was written by Niall Buchanan

About the Author

The author is a resident of Scotland and keen traveller who runs a small selection of affiliate marketing travel website in the UK.

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Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities in the whole world and I have been to many of the worlds so called great cities. One of the many things, which I love about Edinburgh, is the fantastic choice of historic pubs.

Nothing beats relaxing in these pubs and just chilling out with a cool pint of lager or Guinness depending on my mood. Nowadays I can’t really be bothered with busy fancy pubs, where you have to queue up for half an hour to get a drink.  The character and ambiance of the pubs listed below can sometimes be ruined if a stag party passes through, I don’t mind hen nights so much!

The Malt Shovel, (Cockburn Street) I love sitting at one of the window seats and watching the world go bye. You always get a good pint, a fairly decent selection of whiskies and good selection of wines.

The Jolly Judge, (James Court) a unique pub, which has a low-beamed ceiling, real coal fire and a fantastic, laid back atmosphere. I love sitting in this place reading the papers and chatting with friends.

The Standing Order, (George Street) this is maybe not an old historic pub, but it is in a beautiful building, which was formerly a bank.  I especially love the old library part of the building, great ambiance for a few pints; great selection of drinks to choose from and the food is quite good as well.

Rose Street Brewery, (Rose Street) this place use to be a brewery but sadly nowadays it doesn’t make its own beers, but it is still a wonderful and relaxing place, where you will always get a good drink in pleasant surroundings.

Tolbooth Tavern, (Cannongate) there cannot be a more imposing location anywhere for a pub than the location of the Tollbooth Tavern. The Tolbooth was the administrative focus, the tax-collection point, the council chamber, the court and the jail for the burgh of Canongate, which lay outside Edinburgh at the time. One of my personal favourites, go visit it and see for yourself   how good this place is. 

I usually stay beside the royal mile when I visit Edinburgh and love paying each of these pubs a visit on the same day. The best thing is I don’t feel too guilty about it, because you get some good exercise from the walking you have to do between each pub. I start at the Jolly Judge and finish up at the Tolbooth Tavern and then it’s a walk up the historic and beautiful Royal Mile to my usual hotel.

For some unbiased reviews of Edinburgh pubs pay a visit to the Edinburgh Blog The Sheep Heid Inn for a great pub lunch

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As we all know at the moment the pound is in terminal decline against the Euro, for us Brits it gives us a perfect chance to visit some fantastic places within our own shores. It also gives our European neighbours a chance to get a real cheap trip to Scotland!

Maybe the weather at times can be a wee bit unpredictable, but if you come prepared for all the possibilities, which the Scottish weather gods may throw at you, it will be a wonderful experience.

Edinburgh - city: This is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, no doubt about it. Edinburgh offers a vast range of exciting things to do and places to see, whether you want to go sightseeing, historic and ghostly buildings galore, museums, galleries, excellent shopping. The choice of bars, restaurants, pubs, cafes and live music venues is truly amazing.

Dunkeld - Town: This is one of my favourite towns in the whole of Scotland. It is located in Perthshire at the foot of densely wooded hills. Not only is Dunkeld a beautiful town with wonderfully restored old buildings and a rich heritage; it is also a fantastic base for exploring the many other great tourist destinations within Scotland.

Plocton - Village: One of the most picturesque villages in Scotland. It is located in the North Western Highlands of Scotland, an incomparable location on a sheltered bay of Loch Carron and surrounded by a bowl of hills. Nothing beats sitting outside at one of the bars, looking at the beautiful views.

Balmedie Beach - Beach: Balmedie beach and country park lies about 8 miles north of Aberdeen, It stretches for 14 miles and has one numerous awards over the years. You will find long and wide stretches of clean and golden sand, which is bordered by grassy sand dunes. A fantastic place to go and relax when the sun is shining!

Dunottar Castle - Castle: Located on a stunning and dramatic position sitting on top of a cliff top overlooking the wild North Sea. Located a few miles drive from the town of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, it is one of Scotland’s most impressive ruined castles. It has had a turbulent history and been graced by the presence of such notable historic figures such as William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots and King Charles II to name a few.

These are just some of my personal recommendations, there are literally hundreds of places worthy of visiting all over Scotland.

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