Could anyone recommend places to go with a 2yo in Edinburgh please?

[olivo]

Taking our dd to Edinburgh in Oct for a few days, she'll be 2.2. Can anyone recommend some places to take her please? I haven't been to Edinburgh since i was little. She's quite boistrous BTW! Thanks.

Royal Museum (it's free) in city centre.
Botanic gardens if weather is nice.
The Meadows playground.
Gorgie City Farm (also free)

thanks jammydodger, i'll start my list with these! and I like the soundof 'free'....

That's ok! The Royal Museum is a must - big space to run around in, animals (stuffed!), lots of interesting things to look at, a kids' hands-on bit, and a fab coffee shop too..and the Scottish Museum, also free, is right next door.
Another good rainy day one is a trip to the Ocean terminal - it's just a shopping centre, but it's a good one for littlies.. has fish in tanks, lots of space to run round in, the Royal Yacht to look at through the big windows, a soft play, and lots of shops.
We used to live in there during the winter months when we lived in Edinburgh!

A fair bit of the museum is shut off at the moment as it's being refurbished.

East Links Family park near Dunbar is great.

Commonwealth pool - there's a reasonable soft-play there too (clambers).

There are nice play sreas in the meadows and princes st gardens.

You can feed the ducks on the loch in Holyrood park (the swans can be a bit intimidating though!).

Have fun!

ocean terminal is a must if it is really pee-ing it down one day.

thank you, these are a great help. I'm really looking forward to it!

not edinburgh but glasgow but it is free!!!

the butterfly farm is amazing

my daughter (2.4) recently loved walking up to the castle through the gardens - she loved walking up and running down bits of the hill. There is also a bridge over the railway on the way that has glass see through bits, so they can watch the trains go by - which my dd loved

The zoo?

Going on the open-top tourist bus might be fun for her, but nice for you too as a way to see a lot of the city.

thanks for all these suggestions, they're really helpful. obviously, a lot will depend on the october weather.....
has anyone been to the zoo? I am not a big fan of them but i know dd will like it if there are things that aren't at our zoo, like lions, giraffe etc.

the zoo is very nice. easy to get to on a bus

it is very hilly and can be tiring to walk round - you can get a 'safari' bus for free that takes you on a tour of the zoo up to the top of the hill and then its easier to walk down again

there is a brand new chimp exhibition - the biggest in europe i think - its meant to be AMAZING - also 'rainbow landings' wehre you get to hand feed the tiny parrots. children love it

avoid the big cats -except the lions - if seeing animals in small cages upsets you and the polar bear who just paces...paces...paces...paces

head towards the safari bus and go to the chimps and rainbow landings and you will be fine