Edinburgh how long to stay

This 2 hour walking tour has a small group size and gets rave reviews. These are not your typical city walking tours.

Tour the vaults under the Old Town or take a walking tour through historic city center and hear tales of witch burning and grave robbing. Dean Village is a small, residential area in Edinburgh. For more information, read our full post on Dean Village.

Finish the day with dinner in Edinburgh. There are tons of awesome restaurants to try. We recommend a visit to Pickles , especially if you are in the mood for a snack and not a full meal. Pickles serves cheese and meat platters, and pickles, of course! Pickles is cozy, inviting, and we all loved it here. If you have more than 2 days in Edinburgh, here are three day trip ideas.

This 5-star hotel is located on Princes Street, just a short walk from the Royal Mile. Many rooms offer views of the Edinburgh Castle. This hotel has a Michelin-starred restaurant and is the top luxury pick in Edinburgh. If you want a high-end experience and are traveling as a family or as a group, this is a great choice. These modern, luxury apartments can accommodate two to six people in apartments with multiple bedrooms. This is where we stayed and it was wonderful.

With a brilliant location that is clean, modern, friendly, and quiet, it is hard to beat this place. The hotel is located just one block off of the Royal Mile. I really have nothing bad to say about this place and that almost never happens. We would stay here again, no doubt about it. Located just off the Royal Mile, this innovative hostel gets rave reviews.

Planning a trip to Scotland? Read all of our articles in our Scotland Travel Guide. Note: This post contains affiliate links.

When you make a purchase using one of these affiliate links, we get paid a small commission at no extra cost to you. I am partial to the Highlands but I could not help but fall in love with Edinburgh.

I was eyeing Vienna for grad school but changed it to Edinburgh after spending 5 days there last year. It is such a beautiful city! Love your site. I loved Edinburgh; in fact, i loved all of Scotland. People often compare Edinburgh and Glasgow which is a bit daft as they are both wonderful cities.

Really outstanding tips for Scotland and the world, thank you so much. Fast like 45 minutes each? How fast and what do you get to see and take in in that short time? Is 24 hour good enough in may after checking the weather forecast and adjusting sightseeing plans accordingly?

The tour time for the Scotch Whisky Experience is set, I think, at about an hour, but you can confirm this on their website. We probably spent 45 minutes in Camera Obscura. The highlight for me was the view over the city, but if you have kids aged 6 to 12, you could spend more time here going through all of the rooms. But for adults and older kids, the visit can be fairly fast. I would book your Edinburgh Castle tickets early, maybe 7 days before your trip, or even earlier, if you will be here in the peak season summer months.

For the Whisky Experience, we booked our tickets the same day, right after walking down from the castle, and had no problems getting tickets this was in July And I booked our Real Mary tickets just a few days before our visit. With the recent increase in tourism over the past 4 years, I typically recommend booking tickets in advance now. Cheers, Julie. Great information! We are planning to visit Scotland for 5 days in April.

If we start our trip from Edinburgh — where do we go next on the day 3. Its a bit too much for 5 days you may think. But I am just laying down all that i know. So, do you have 5 full days in Scotland or 5 additional days outside of Edinburgh?

You need 3 nights, at least 2 full days in the Isle of Skye, to make it worth driving out this way, so if you have 5 days, you have plenty of time to get to and from the Isle of Skye and see the Isle of Skye. Tour buses Tired feet? As an alternative to walking to the Canongate and Holyrood, jump aboard one of the open-top tour buses. They have fantastic on-board guides to supply an entertaining and knowledgeable insight into this fascinating city multi-language tours are available.

The buses will allow you to get on and off at your leisure to visit attractions, including the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Edinburgh Dungeon and the Scottish Parliament and provide a great introduction to the city.

Wind down after your busy day with a dram in a historic pub, relax as you dine in a restaurant, or maybe even catch a show or a gig? The next 24 hours are going to be just as awesome as the last! In fact, we'd say that day two is a royally good day indeed. Taking in the historic Port of Leith and the handsome Georgian New Town, you'll find there are some rather wonderful sites to uncover.

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh. Alternatively, you could take the Majestic open top bus tour as it also stops at the Royal Botanic Garden, a place you might want to visit later. Step on board HM The Queen's former floating Royal residence, where you'll see the engine room, a Rolls Royce and state apartments across five decks. After the tour, take some time to explore the Shore in Leith, one of the most fashionable areas to live in Edinburgh.

Royal Botanic Garden For the next part of your day, spend the afternoon touring the Royal Botanic Garden with its wonderful glasshouses, exhibitions and a world of colourful plants and shrubs.

It's located in the Inverleith part of the city and is 1 mile from the city centre. Wander back to the centre via Stockbridge in the elegant New Town - it's a bustling village-like area with a superb blend of independent retailers, delicatessens, charity shops, bars and restaurants. The complex includes public toilets, gift shops and a lovely restaurant and cafe so plenty of opportunities to sit and relax as well as hunt out.

National Galleries website. One thing Edinburgh is not short of is cafes, bars and restaurants. The Elephant House website. You might have to queue for a photo, but snatch one if you can.

He even has his own Disney film! You can explore Scottish history from the primaeval ages right through to the present day. Artefacts including the Millennium clock tower, Dolly the Sheep, the Lewis Chessmen, the Muonionalusta Meteorite and dinosaur skeletons are on display, along with 77, other items.

An hour or so may not be enough to get around everything you want to see, but entry is free, so you can always pop back another time or skip the next part of the tour and catch up later. National Museum of Scotland website. And no wonder! It towers over the city, perched majestically on top of a volcanic outcrop.

Plan to spend at least 2 hours here or more, depending on your walking pace. Check out Camera Obscura. Plan to spend about an hour here or more, depending on your interests. Visit Victoria Street , which J. Rowling used as inspiration for Diagon Alley in Harry Potter.

If you love Harry Potter, consider taking this magical Harry Potter walking tour. Walk along the Royal Mile. Visit St. This is a great way for first time-visitors to explore Edinburgh with a local and knowledgable guide. These museums are smaller in size and will not take long to explore.

Go on a ghost tour of the underground vaults. Edinburgh is one of the most haunted places in the UK, making it a prime destination for ghost tours. Enjoy this fun and historic tour of the Blair Street Underground Vaults.

But I am SO glad I went on a ghost tour of the underground vaults. Learning about the history of the vaults was one of this highlights of my trip to Edinburgh. Definitely worth it! Click the link to check out my review.