Edinburgh December 2010

A few special views – all have large versions, follow links to view

Edinburgh Panorama - click for full size

Edinburgh & Leith from the air

Click here for the full size image, opens in a new window, the fuzziness around the edge is due to the plane window.

Edinburgh from the air

Click here for the full size image, opens in a new window, the fuzziness around the edge is due to the plane window.

Getting In/ Out

The train station is bang in the middle of town and could not be more convenient, taxis are available inside and outside the station.

Buses to and from the airport stop just outside the station (Waverley Bridge, top of the vehicle ramp) and take about half an hour to reach the airport from this point. The airport buses also stop at Haymarket and other points along the route.
Unless you have a large number of bags, are unsure of your hotel location or can’t risk a walk for some reason I would recommend the bus over a taxi – return tickets are available at a slight discount, details here Airlink.

At the airport the Airlink stand is just outside the arrivals door, buy the tickets from the booth before getting on the bus.

Edinburgh Castle

Restaurants

Oloroso – Castle St (just off George St) central bar & restaurant with great roof terrace giving views of the castle. Not the friendliest of entrances, at street level it looks like the entrance to an office block; but take the lift to the 3rd floor and things improve.

Cafe Andaluz – Spanish restaurant, branch on George St.

The Dome – Bar and Restaurant, George St. There is also a terrace cafe at the rear of The Dome, down some steps from Rose St, see below.

The Dome, George St, Edinburgh

Having ordered an early lunch, the heavens opened and within minutes we were all sheltering under cover. The staff were incredibly efficient at sorting all this out.
‘Does this happen often’, I asked. The response, ‘Oh, about three times a day’.

Dubh Prais – Scottish restaurant on the Royal Mile (opp SAS Radisson), small sign at street level (of a black cauldron) as the restaurant in the basement.

The Witchery – Atmospheric restaurant specialising in top quality Scottish produce, right by the castle entrance. Also has accommodation.

Wildfire – Small bistro at 192 Rose St (Castle end), steak and seafood, has some good value set meals at lunchtime.

Fishers in the City – Primarily (but not exclusively) fish restaurant, also has vegetarian selection. Excellent quality food and service at a very reasonable price, highly recommended. This branch is at 54 Thistle St (just behind George St).

Dusit – Thai restaurant 49a Thistle St (opposite Fishers above). Very good Thai food and somewhat surprisingly (to me anyway) quite a large vegetarian selection. Looks small from the front but there is s larger area at the back, however, very popular so may be wise to book.

Bars & Pubs

Edinburgh has tons of pubs and bars, many of which are full of character and don’t seem to have been ‘designed to death’ by the owners or brewery chains… this is how it used to be…

A few special mentions:

The Mitre on The Royal Mile (opposite the Radisson SAS); good selection of beers and whiskys, food most of the day.

Mitre Edinburgh

At the North Bridge end of Princes St,  just opposite the Balmoral hotel there is a small street (West Register St) and a few yards up is The Guildford Arms. Victorian pub with real ales and food upstairs. Its location makes it an ideal bolt hole from shopping and the crowds – if its all getting a bit much…

Guildford Arms Edinburgh

Round the back of the Guildford Arms (alley to the right on the photo above) is the Cafe Royal, bar and restaurant, very traditional and atmospheric.

Above the Cafe Royal The Voodoo Rooms, check the website for details – bars and restaurant.

Edinburgh Grassmarket

Greyfriars Bobby

Scott Monument Edinburgh

Scottish Parliament Edinburgh

Forth Rail Bridge

Leith

Leith is the old port of Edinburgh, it is a separate town and does have its own feel and character.

Much has been made of the regeneration of the area; which was kick started by the locating here of the Royal Yacht Britannia after decommissioning.
However; there are three Leiths: the main town/ shopping area, the new shopping area with the Britannia, and finally the Water of Leith/ old port area.

The main town of Leith has nothing to interest the casual visitor; it seems to be mostly budget shops like Poundland, with the occasional free trader surviving since the 70′s and still holding original stock – I had no idea you could still get Hai Karate and Coty L’Aimant.

The new shopping mall has a multi storey car park, but apart from Britannia, nothing of interest; the shops are all the usual suspects of any UK mall, and the designers have completely failed to give any flavour of the location; in fact there are hardly any windows, apart from the foodcourt, so you could be in any bland mall anywhere – boring and claustrophobic.

Water of Leith

The restaurant/ trendy part of Leith is the Water of Leith/ old port area, and this is really the only part that is worth visiting. There are a selection of shops and restaurants along Commercial St (in old Bonded warehouses) and more along the waterside.
We ate in Fishers, which was excellent, and then moved on to The Shore next door, same company own both places.