Things to do and see in Edinburgh

I've realised that I need to get a hat and possibly some mittens if I'm going to be rambling around Edinburgh.

Current favourite restaurants: still Khushi's (now right beside Uni) for cheap and gorgeous curry, Room in The Town (Howe St.) for reasonable 'Scottish' cooking -- lots of fish.

2nd hand book shops: not as good as they should be, really.

Council-subsidised evening classes: great, and cheap.

Lothian buses. Pretty good, especially compared with Bristol where I lived last year, where the buses were shit.

That would involve some semblance of order from the Glaswegians and as we cant even manage to organize a FAP I don't think you have much to worry about!

I used to work for a hall of residence and the best bit about the job was the room that was completely full of pillows and duvets. We used to go in and just jump around on them, it was like swimming in a beautiful sea of duvet-ness.

http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/cityguide.cfm?vid=1774

As for that shopping centre, Ocean Terminal is the only place in Edinburgh where you can find branches of Bear Factory, Gadget Shop, Boredom Free Zone and Thomas Kinkade within easy distance of each other. Oh and one very, very good Chinese restaurant.

I think a glasgow FAP is impossible until someone arranges one and I cannot because.

My only plea: come to The Winchester Club. I would give me an excuse to play

St*p

Th*t

G*rl. Ho ho.

Actually how easy is it to get to Glasgow and back in a night? My friend's band are playing there on the 7th and I'd like to go, but I don't want to be stranded in Glasgow in the middle of the night. I hear it's cold.

Since I now work in Glasgow, which side of the FAP divide would I really be on?

and a medal.

:-P

(My favourite pub was the Holyrood Tavern. But it's just closed. Sob. Cloisters (as mentioned by alext) is nice, though - it's something I've never seen before, a real ale pub with bright lighting).

i think the Holyrood is to be 'modernised' rather than demolished - it only shut a couple of weeks ago i think, with a big hoo-ha last night thingy

(and was actually open last weekend again due to a delay in transfer to new owner!)

You too, stop pretending to be Neddy!

Apparently Cat On Form are staying at my house. I do not really know who they are.

: ((

I didn't realise underground solushn was good for sounds of the universe-type stuff. Will defo go in next time I'm there! I've never been a massive fan of avalanche for the reasons you say, and because the owner seems to spend his life martyring himself on twitter about how they're the last independent record shop on earth and we should be lucky they let us in at all. (I'm probably being unfair here..)

If you're up for a while, Glasgow has always been way better for buying music. IIRC ilxor Krakow can suggest places to go.

Leith Walk runs almost to the centre of town - if you know where the John Lewis behind the east end of Princes Street is, it's basically just down a bit and on the other side of the roundabout. It's a long road so Leith itself is a bit further out, but if you want some respite from people on stilts throwing flyers at you it's a nice place to go. Lots of really nice pubs and restaurants around the shore. I'm sure it's changed a lot even in the past year but if I was eating down there I'd go to the King's Wark or Fishers.

Hope you have fun!

Avalanche would have been my suggestion, and Vinyl Villains on elm row - cant remember the last time I was in there though. What part of Edinburgh is 'local' to you while you're here?
If you already know Cockburn Street, there's a great Mexican place - Viva Mexico that I'd recommend for food (was in there last Friday and it wasn't crazy busy in spite of the festival). Also, Chez Jules if you want some decent, cheap ish French food. Can never remember what street that's on, possibly Hanover street? One of those ones that run parallel to each other off princes street anyway.

Oh and, yeah, as above you can't go too far wrong down the shore in leith. Lots of good bars and restaurants. Bar wise I'd recommend The Vintage, and Sophie's. dunno what the food's like in those though.

Ate at Viva Mexico yesterday - thanks! I'm sort of right in the middle of the Royal Mile (I'm here for the Fringe for one more week, though mercifully not walking on stilts, flyering). I'm hoping I'll get a long morning off to go Leith - I appreciate all the tips.

what should we take care not to miss (on vacation with an 8yo)?

My daughter was just there for a few days, visiting my sister. She recommends all the stuff that inspired Harry Potter! Cafes, alleys. etc. And there's a castle or something to see, but she says don't take the tour, take the ... go to see the war memorial, and that gives you access to the castle? Also, she hiked up Arthur's Peak and said it was pretty.

Bump

what should we take care not to miss (on vacation with an 8yo)?

LOL. I'd say boozers, but I don't know if your 8 year old drinks.

Mary Kings Close is a good tour if you are or are accompanying an 8 year old who is not easily spooked.

bizarro otm

Sculpture park and gallery Jupiter Artland on the outskirts of Edinburgh is an absolute must.

https://culturenl.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/jupiter-artland.jpg

https://www.jupiterartland.org/

I wouldn't book in advance, I'd just wait for the nicest day of your visit.

Thank you!

Will be staying there for four days starting tomorrow. Any good recommendations for a nice bite to eat on Thurs or Fri? We're staying near the castle/Fountainbridge.

(Jupiter Art Land looks pretty neat but it's closed!)

Any good recommendations for a nice bite to eat on Thurs or Fri?.

otm

scran & scallie is alright. don't know if you'd have to book
https://scranandscallie.com

timberyard is alright too but can be fussy & pricey

https://www.timberyard.co
https://brossbagels.com
http://www.marysmilkbar.com

Glasgow, aye.. Nae this time.

Scran & Scallie looks really nice, thanks! (reservations through the website looks easy enough)

xp

Thanks!

The Gardener's Cottage has my favourite tasting menu in the city - https://www.thegardenerscottage.co/ - real local focus on ingredients.

Pizzeria 1926 - cheap but by far my favourite Edinburgh pizza joint - Neapolitan-style with excellent flavour combinations.

Pera - not quite haute cuisine but perfect if you're super hungry for delectable selections of Turkish food served by a gent.

I should note Pera is also BYOB with £2.50 corkage which may have influenced why I am so fond of it.

Ohh, Gardener's Cottage certainly looks the part! Jotted down these suggestions with some fierce, thanks all!

this place was great when I visited http://educatedflea.co.uk/

Scran & Scallie, Gardener's Cottage and Educated Flea are all 1.5 miles away from my hotel, which is a pretty perfect walking distance to and fro if you ask me!

Had a great time. We ended up eating somewhere else, but we did stumble upon the Brauhaus, a small but cosy pub with a staggering selection of around 300 beers. Recommended!

Brauhaus looks great. Excellent to see some quality cider options on the list too.

For those in Edinburgh with kids, someone I know just wrote this, which could be a handy compendium of ideas, both well-known and otherwise : https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/oct/22/city-breaks-with-kids-edinburgh-family-trip-museum-beach