Family Day out In Edinburgh

[colette]

We are thinking of going through to Edinburgh on Sunday for a day out as it's my birthday.Possibly the castle or I quite fancy the haunted lane underneath the royal mile ( have forgotten the name).Is the castle quite pricey to get in? Would we be better joining the national trust first?
We would also like to have lunch somewhere nice but not too expensive . ( all round cheapskates I am afraid)
Haven't really been through ( live in Glasgow) since having kids so would like a family day out but good for grown ups as well iykwim- lunch can be in a cafe or restaurant . DD is 9 and ds is 4. Would love some local knowledge as I have been sitting reading "the list" magazine for about an hour and am none the wiser. Any tips/reccommendations wellcome- thanks

I don't really like the castle that much as it's disappointingly non-old-fashioned in many parts - though there is the exciting gun going off at 1pm. If you and your kids love castles it would go down well though.

This Sat and Sun I think the Royal Museum on Chambers St (a fantastic museum anyway) is having a special weekend of events and activities to mark its forthcoming revamp - featuring the red hot chili peppers apparently! () but also lots of child-friendly stuff. I definitely recommend this museum and the attached museum of scotland.

This is near the royal mile (as is the castle) so you could do an underground tour too - just wander along the RM and you'll see all the ad signs for these telling you when and where they set off.

Also nearby, on Forrest Road, are some great cafes including monster mash (retro bangers & mash with veggie options) and an italian place Cafe Sardi - nice food and they will make a fuss of the kids. The whole of Forrest Road and nearby George IV Bridge is full of restaurants so you will find something you like there.

(Obviously you'll need a handy map!)

Have fun... Edinburgh is fab.

thanks snowleopard museum sounds great and the cafes exactly the sort of thing I was looking for
We have kept meaning to go as it feels really different to Glasgow . Can't wait will look up all the details tomorrow

Hi we stayed near Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago and had a fab time thanks to lots of tips from mumsnetters. We went to Dynamic Earth one day and it was fab, very 'hands on' and child friendly. We also went to 'Mary Kings Close' which is the 'haunted street' under the Roayl Mile which was also fab although only takes an hour. I'mwww.mumsnet.com/Talk/2412/504808 trying to link the other thread..

didnt work! Some thought that Mary Kings would be a bit scary for DC's (9 & 6) so I phoned and they thought it would be fine. My 6 yr old dc was fine but 9 year old dd was a bit scared but all good fun!

dynamic earth botanics chambers st museumand runs in meadows, Grassmarket has nice cafe etc and 2 hotel offer kids menu

just remembered museum of childhood was fab and free!

yes on royal milemuseum childhood

botanics!

it's free to park on Sunday, the cafe's great or you can bring a picnic.

best views in town.

is it this page" hth

theresa your link this page"

Well done Scottishmummy! I'm useless at that sort of thing (as you may have gathered!)

however you travel in, but especially if you are coming in by car, have a look here for updates to road closures due to tram construction.

We went to Edinburgh Zoo the other day and had a great time. There are two brand new exhibits, one of which is a fabulous walk-through aviary full of beautiful free-flying parakeets that will perch on your hand to drink from little (overpriced) pots of nectar. It was so lovely to feed them.

The other new exhibit is a wonderful chimpanzee enclosure.

The nine year old might also enjoy the animal handling session. My two sons (and I!) had enormous fun handling a python, a cockroach, and a rat. Not to everyone's taste, though.

The zoo website is a bit rubbish and gives no insight into these lovely opportunities.

The zoo is lovely - but I would always take your own food - the cafes are rather rubbish imo and hugely overpriced. The castle costs an arm and a leg unless you are members of something - we are members of English heritage so get into Historic Scotland stuff for free as well. The museum is wonderful as well - don't know what we're going to do whilst it's shut (in-laws live in Edinburgh)

I didn't know there was such a fabulous botanical garden in Edinburgh expat. I've just googled it and it looks lovely. Will definitely be heading there next time we go to Ed.

It's brilliant isn't it - very pushchair friendly as well.

it has been, bookbinder. and that it is free to park in the roads around it on Sundays - well, at weekends. otherwise, it is controlled parking and you must pay attention to residents permit parking v. pay and display because Edinburgh wardens are VERY quick to ticket for transgressions.

the no. 8 bus goes relatively close the botanics if you chose to go, but again, check the council link i posted farther down, as there may be delays and diversions in stops due to tram construction.

my sil was telling me about the trams expat - sounds like huge parts of town are going to screwed up for years!

mainly at peak times and down at frasers end of princes's st

and it's going to cost £££, northern.

and they never asked the public if they wanted it.

they had what i thought was a VERY good bus system. cheap, too!

lots of ridership, too.

I love Edinburgh busses! It costs me a pound to go from my in-laws right into town - they live out some distance beyond Cameron Toll shoppinng centre - so that's a long way! Where we live it costs me £1.60 to go from the city centre to a stop about 5 minutes away from our house - a distance of 1.5 miles! I wonder what the fares on the trams will be?

fares £1.10 now

Thanks for the extra tips. Really think we should have longer ther Thanks for the tram tip ex-pat probably drive to waverley and park there.
Am looking forward to some more planning looking at your links when kids are in bed this evening. This is fun