The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Off Topic => Topic started by: Beldarna on March 18, 2014, 08:59:38 AM
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I got an "experience" of my choice as a birthday present from my family and decided to make it a trip. I've always been fascinated by Scotland and so, my experience is to travel to Edingburgh which will happen mid-june. The trip will be 4-5 days and we're gonna be four to six people going.
Besides visiting the Castle and Old Town, I want suggestions on what I should do and where I should visit. Museums, mainly, but for a living, are there any good B&Bs or cheap but nice hotels? Restaurants? Pubs? Any cool places to visit outside of town?
Reading only help me so much, but I want the real scottish feel. So what are your take? :)
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Oh, how fun! Congrats hun^^
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Oh that sounds awesome! Scotland seems like it is a great place to visit! Have fun!
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Oh my god, I am so jealous!! Scotland is my dream destination!
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Wow, what a great choice in birthday destination :yippee:
Edinburgh is my birth city and I lived there until I was 22. I still get 'home' to visit my parents and am always happy to go back. It's a very pretty and compact city which makes it easy to get around.
Along with Edinburgh Castle, it is worth visiting Holyrood Palace at the opposite end of The Royal Mile, this is the Queen's residence when visiting Scotland's capital. There is quite a bit to see along the Mile too, the Museum of Childhood and Scotch Whisky Experience are worth a look around, plus there are loads of tourist stores as you'd expect.
http://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/Venues/Museum-of-Childhood
http://www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk/
There is quite a big pub culture in Edinburgh, a good selection of pubs can be found in Rose Street located behind Princes Street (which faces the castle).
If you like nature and wildlife, Edinburgh Zoo is great and is the only zoo in Britain to have giant pandas. You have to book viewing tickets for them though. The Royal Botanic Garden is also a nice place to visit, I used to go there with my grandparents :)
http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/
http://www.rbge.org.uk/
There are lots of tour buses that take you round the city attractions allowing you to get on and off all day. The Royal Yacht Britannia is berthed in Leith on the city outskirts and is well worth visiting (great tea room on board too!) :coffee:
http://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk/
Take a trip across the Firth of Forth and you will find Deep Sea World aquarium in North Queensferry, plus get to see the famous Forth Rail Bridge.
http://www.deepseaworld.com/
Further north and there's lots of lovely scenery like Loch Leven and the fishing villages along with the ancient capital of Dunfermline with its palace and abbey. Depending on how far you want to travel away from Edinburgh of course! :biggrin:
I hope you have a wonderful time and Google is definitely your friend when researching a trip. ;)
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Awesome! If I had the time off, I would totally go. I guess for the mean time, I will live victoriously through you. :lol: I heard Scotland is better then Ireland. I have never heard a bad word about it.
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Wow, what a great choice in birthday destination :yippee:
Edinburgh is my birth city and I lived there until I was 22. I still get 'home' to visit my parents and am always happy to go back. It's a very pretty and compact city which makes it easy to get around.
Along with Edinburgh Castle, it is worth visiting Holyrood Palace at the opposite end of The Royal Mile, this is the Queen's residence when visiting Scotland's capital. There is quite a bit to see along the Mile too, the Museum of Childhood and Scotch Whisky Experience are worth a look around, plus there are loads of tourist stores as you'd expect.
http://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/Venues/Museum-of-Childhood
http://www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk/
There is quite a big pub culture in Edinburgh, a good selection of pubs can be found in Rose Street located behind Princes Street (which faces the castle).
If you like nature and wildlife, Edinburgh Zoo is great and is the only zoo in Britain to have giant pandas. You have to book viewing tickets for them though. The Royal Botanic Garden is also a nice place to visit, I used to go there with my grandparents :)
http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/
http://www.rbge.org.uk/
There are lots of tour buses that take you round the city attractions allowing you to get on and off all day. The Royal Yacht Britannia is berthed in Leith on the city outskirts and is well worth visiting (great tea room on board too!) :coffee:
http://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk/
Take a trip across the Firth of Forth and you will find Deep Sea World aquarium in North Queensferry, plus get to see the famous Forth Rail Bridge.
http://www.deepseaworld.com/
Further north and there's lots of lovely scenery like Loch Leven and the fishing villages along with the ancient capital of Dunfermline with its palace and abbey. Depending on how far you want to travel away from Edinburgh of course! :biggrin:
I hope you have a wonderful time and Google is definitely your friend when researching a trip. ;)
Thank you so much for the info. I didn't get half of those link while googling.
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Congrats Beldarna, I'm sure you'll have an awesome time there!
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Thank you so much for the info. I didn't get half of those link while googling.
No problem, was happy to help. :thumb:
If you are looking for reasonably priced, clean and comfortable accommodation, take a look at the Premier Inn website. My fiance and I have travelled all over the UK and have stayed in lots of them, all good value for money. ^.^
My birthday is also in June (14th) - when is yours? :)
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So jealous! Can I had in your suitcase?
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Oh my god, I am so jealous!! Scotland is my dream destination!
That's cause you want to steal all of Cat's ponies. LOL
What a wonderful present, I hope you have an awesome time.
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Thanks everyone. I'm sorry but I won't be able to take anyone in my suitcase. Besides, you would have to travel to Sweden first, Khema. ;)
Thank you so much for the info. I didn't get half of those link while googling.
No problem, was happy to help. :thumb:
If you are looking for reasonably priced, clean and comfortable accommodation, take a look at the Premier Inn website. My fiance and I have travelled all over the UK and have stayed in lots of them, all good value for money. ^.^
My birthday is also in June (14th) - when is yours? :)
Thanks again. I'm gonna check it out. :)
Mine was February second. I've taken my time thinking what I want to do. The date of travel is my first week of vacation.
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Oooooh!!!! You are coming to visit me right?
Now...I am on the west coast so I am of course bias towards Glasgow but I actually adore Edinburgh as well. As Clarabel its an wonderfully compact city centre with so many things within a short walk or even bus/taxi/tram ride away.
Make sure you take a walk along the Royal Mile - even as a Scot you cant help but see tartan and hear bagpipes when you walk along that street its just so gloriously Scottish. There are some wonderful little hidden streets off the Mile as well with lots of lovely tea rooms and cafes. Its the oldest part of the city [other than the Castle of course] and it remains relatively untouched. Likewise Edinburgh's World Heritage site - the Old and New towns is so much fun to wander through.
When you go to the Castle - make sure you are there for 1pm for the daily canon salute. It will make you jump...even if you expect it but its a typical "must do" thing in Edinburgh. Although you can hear the canon from most of the city centre depending on traffic of course.
We love folk lore and anything a little dark in this country so if you get time check out Edinburgh Dungeons or my favourite and not as well known is Mary King's Close. Underneath the Royal Mile there is a hidden part of the city which was locked away and remains completely untouched - it is very cool! http://www.realmarykingsclose.com/. If thats your thing there are a couple of companies who do City of the Dead/nderground City of the Dead/Haunted City tours which are good fun.
Scott Monument, Greyfriars Church/Graveyard and Arthurs Seat [Edinburgh its the only city to have a dormant volcano right at its heart after all!] are also all great places to take in.
If you get a change there are some options out of the city which are fun as well and because its such a big tourist town there are regular coach trips - Rosslyn Chapel, which is of course famous from the Da Vinci Code novel is a bus trip away and you get to see a lovely stretch of countryside on the way.
For lovely restaurants and some of the best foot, you should try out the Leith area of the city - its trendy, upmarket and quirky all at the same time.
As for guest houses, there are some quaint ones but for value for money in the UK I agree you usually cant beat Premier Inns - they are central to the city, with set prices and you know you get good quality accommodation. Its not spectacular or stunning or one of the city's heritage hotels but its normally a good price if you book ahead. In June to September a lot of guest houses in Edinburgh get pretty pricey but it looks as though you will be there just before the festivals so you should manage accommodation at a good price :)
When I have friends or colleueeus who come to the city, I always give them this link - http://www.visitscotland.com/see-do/itineraries/edinburgh-lothians/72-hours-edinburgh - it covers all the key points in 3 days...just to make sure you see everything you want.
Have fun and if you have any questions, pm me :)
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Aaaw! I would love to visit you(re collection) :). I've considered taking a trip to Glasgow as well, my initial thought was going there (as I love Scrooge McDuck and it's his hometown), but there were no direct flights going there and Edingburgh seemed larger. But as it is very close, a quick trip over the day might be happening. I'm not sure yet. As of now, were gathering thoughts and ideas for things that will suit everyone.
I'm a history nut so the Mary King's Close appealed to me just hearing about it. Like wow.
My boyfriend is very keen on going outside of town and see the nature so bus trips to other places might be a good choice. I have no memories of the Rosslyn Chapel being in Scotland and I've read the books a lot of times.. I learn and relearn every day, lol.
I'm so excited about this, you have no idea! Thank you so much for all of this.
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Awww! This all sounds sooo good and makes me want to go to Scotland!!
House swap, Hathorcat?! :lol:
Not that I have funds for such a cool trip :huh: That and Italy and France are going to have to wait. I canne do it, ye ken?!
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Ooh lucky!! I can't wait to get back to Scotland! I cried when we left after the wedding, even though we were heading off to Italy for the honeymoon - I would have gladly stayed in Scotland.
While at the castle, don't forget to look for the little cemetery for soldiers' dogs - it juts out from the side of the castle. It's so sweet.
You have to go looking for Greyfriar's Bobby and get a pic with the statue.
Rosslyn Chapel isn't far from Edinburgh and definitely worth a visit - the carvings are amazing.
I'm partial to Linlithgow Palace, birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots, as it's the castle we were married in. :D
If you have time, I love Glasgow - the Necropolis is pretty neat, with all the old tombs and grave markers, and I found St Mungo Museum of Religious Life & Art fascinating, but I'm interested in different religions.
If you go to my website you can see the areas of Scotland we went to and it might give you some ideas. Just click on Britain 2007 on the right side menu: www.shadowlark.com (http://www.shadowlark.com)
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Beldarna if you do get through to Glasgow let me know! I would love to give you a tour :) I only make it to Edinburgh once every couple of weeks and sometimes once a month unfortunately but if its the same time we need to do lunch!
Glasgow is a bigger city than Edinburgh and although I adore it, I will admit for the experience of Scotland Edinburgh is a much better visit and has more options and attractions.
There is a fantastic Tourist Information Centre right in the centre of Edinburgh - off Princes Street at Princes Mall, the normally have bus tours and things like that listed that you can book with them there.
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All this talk about Edinburgh is making me homesick! :lookround: :biggrin:
Agree with all the above from Hathorcat and Shadowlark and I'd love to do the haunted city tour with my OH at some point. :snicker:
When my Mum and Dad started dating, Rosslyn Chapel was one of their favourite places to visit. ^.^
They took me there to see the Apprentice Pillar - just amazing! This was long before it became famous in the Da Vinci Code though. :lol:
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Very nice pictures Shadowlark, thanks for providing them. :) The architecture is simply amazing! I wish Sweden could have cities like that, but here they tear everything down and then build up new ugly "modern" things. Ugh. Oooh, I love the Tudor Era so Linlithgow Palace definitly sounds like a place for me. Thanks for the tip.
hathorcat I hope we manage but as I have to consider a couple of more people I'm not entirely sure what's gonna happen yet. But five days is a long time to be in one city so I hope we'll get to see some more places. Where did I read Edingburgh were the larger one btw o.O Anyway, I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out. I would love to meet, either in Glasgow or Edinghburgh. :)
I've forwarded all the links to my brother who is the traveler in our family and who's gonna book everything for us. Thank you all for your inputs! I really appreciate it. Very much *hugs all*
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I traveled around with my dad and stepmom to Scotland for 3 weeks following my college graduation to see where my dad grew up and visit family. We spent about 3 days in Edinburgh, and I loved it! I think my favorite things, in addition to the Castle already mentioned, were the Palace at Holyroodhouse (also has beautiful ruins of an abby) and St. Giles' Cathedral. The gardens are also lovely and they have a working clock made of flowers! And if I were to go back, I'd also do some hiking just outside the city near Arthur's Seat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holyrood_Palace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Giles'_Cathedral
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princes_Street_Gardens