Anyone with tips for my surprise trip to Edinburgh for my husband?

[MrsHelenBee]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to organise a surprise long weekend in Edinburgh at the end of October for my husband.

Neither my husband nor I have ever been to Scotland, so I'd love some recommendations for where to stay, the best places to go, good restaurants, maybe good car hire companies etc.

I'm hoping to explore the city, but we're also very much 'escape to the countryside' people, so any tips on where to go for walks and views would be great.

I haven't got megabucks to spend, but I'd like us to have a really lovely hotel.

Any ideas or tips would be great as I'm one for recommendations, rather than booking blind!

The Witchery used to be good / romantic

www.thewitchery.com/Intro-Suites.html

We really like the Bruntsfield Hotel. It's walkable to the city center, but there is also good bus transportation. It's across from Bruntsfield Links and the Meadows so nice for walks. It also has a good restaurant, Brasserie.

www.thebruntsfield.co.uk/

If you are up to it, you should climb Arthur's Seat.

My lovely wife has booked a break for us in Edinburgh at the beginning of November!
I am really pleased as I have never visited before.
We are staying
Novotel here
As we are both vegetarian and I am GF we have already been looking at cafes and restaurants. Any recommendations welcome!

Can people suggest some good pubs or venues like Chapter in Cardiff, Cornerhouse in Manchester?

Are you ok with me coming on here MrsHelenBee? I can go to start my own thread if you want?

I second Cafe Royal. It's a gorgeous space, we went into the bar just for a drink (they do do bar food) and booked a table for dinner in the restaurant that night.

We have also eaten at The Witchery, but that was twenty years ago! It was fabulous then.

A fab place for coffee is Wellington Coffee on a corner of George Street.

I'm a GF veggie - many restaurants in edinburgh will cater for you but I especially recommend the 3 birds in Brubtsfield, and Hendersons

We love the Oxford Bar, especially fun for Ian Rankin fans.

A brilliant place to stay is the Castle View Guest House (Castle Street, just off Princes Street). It is incredibly cheap, but the rooms are well appointed and as good a breakfast as you'll get anywhere. The downside is that you have to walk up a lot of stairs to get to it.

Arthur's Seat feels like being in the countryside, and you don't have to leave the city.

Le Monde is a gorgeous hotel too, the food was lovely when I was there.

I'm from Edinburgh so don't really know too much about hotels but what kind of feel are you looking for? Boutique style, glam, homely etc? I've heard The Glasshouse is nice.

There is a rather posh looking B&B that gets a really good name but can't remember what it's called.

I wouldn't bother with a car for a few days tbh. There are plenty of countryside type things in the City (Arthur's seat, Calton Hill, Botanic Gardens, the Meadows and you can also go to the beach by bus or if you are really bored :o you could jump on a bus down to Peebles or out to the Coast or Up to South Queensferry to see the bridges.

Go to see Greyfriars Bobby statue at the top of Chambers street (where the Museum is - that's also worth a look if you have the time) and take a wander in Greyfriars Kirk graveyard.

Edinburgh is the best city for just wandering about - it's hilly so take your comfy shoes and brave some of the staircases up to the High Street.

The Gallery of Modern Art is set in Parkland too and nice for a wander about.

take a wander in Greyfriars Kirk graveyard

This is one of my favorite things to do in Edinburgh.

You can walk up Arthur's seat, but I think the nicer walk is around the crags. Lovely place to watch the sunset.

The Kitchin in Leith is fabulous, and lunch is really good value for what you get.

Bar crawl down George Street (behind Princess Street).

Antiques and art galleries on the road in the new town that leads down to the water.... Name is escaping me?!...

Coffee in the meadows.

The underground passages?

I would love a weekend in Edinburgh , very jealous!

There's a bar covered in millions of fairy lights which is gorgeous. It's called the Dome.

We went on this it was an hour and was good fun.

Nice pubs in Rose Street for bar lunches. Walk down the Royal Mile from the Castle to the (very ugly) parliament building and then up Arthur's Seat.

Thanks everyone, I'm slowly but surely making a secret list of places to visit and eat, and accommodation to look at, which is exactly what I needed - you fab people!
WankerDeAsalWipe What a lot of tips, thank you so much - great as you live there, so you really have the lowdown. Re the car - happy to go without and save the money for spending and spoiling ourselves, especially if there's so much to do on foot and easy options for buses etc, but we live in Southampton so will be flying up on a Thursday evening. How far away is the airport from the hotel? Is it going to be silly money to cover the transfer in a taxi?
In terms of hotels, I don't think I'd thought about the feel (this whole plan has only been coming together for the last week or two and I've had little time to research it with a toddler and baby, and a manic week generally. We never get grown up time to ourselves, and I really want to spoil my husband. A little luxury is what I had in mind, but that's about it. A room with a view would be lovely, but not essential as we'll be out and about. I'll keep it secret until the airport run on the day, so I'll have to pack a bag on the quiet for him. He has plenty of shirts and ties, so we can have a nice meal, but I need a hotel where we're not going to look stupid rocking up to breakfast in jeans and a t-shirt - lovely as it is to dress up, I'd hate to have to make an effort every morning. And it's not really us. That said, I don't want to stay in a Premier Inn-type place. My husband works across the country and stays in Travelodge/Premier Inn hotels every week and has come to loathe them as a result.

Thanks Awks - like the sound of a few tipples in that bar one evening, and the tour looks like a bit of fun too. Want to cram as much as possible and have a feeling we're going to be spoilt for choice!
Thanks dementedma - my husband's very much a pub person, but I think we'd both enjoy a lunch like that for one of the days.
DaftVader36 - I'm guessing you've been enough times to know you'd like to go back and stay longer, which sounds like I've made a good choice. We wouldn't normally afford something like this, especially with our young family, but we've had a rough 18 months and I want to do something special to mark our anniversary as, for one reason or another, we've not marked any of them since our first, which is gutting!

I'm no longer in Edinburgh but not too far away and still have family there. You can get the tram from the airport right into the city centre- Edinburgh isn't big by City standards, you'll be about 8 miles from the city centre to the airport. I think there is still a bus service too. Taxi from the airport is usually a premium, but wont be megabucks. If your hotel isn't in the centre, you could still get the tram in but get of near the railways station and grab a taxi from there.

This might be worth a look:

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/HotelsList-Edinburgh-Boutique-Bed-And-Breakfast-zfp18668.html

and this is The Glasshouse:

www.theglasshousehotel.co.uk/

I've heard people get some cheap deals here.

If you like seafood there are loads of places probably best heading down to Leith I think.

Edinburgh is fab, you could fill a year worth of weekends and still come back for more - comfy shoes and plenty of room on your memory card for photos.

If you go to the Gallery of Modern Art (I would recommend it, has a fab cafe) then walk down the Waters of Leith to Stockbridge for a potter about, it has some lovely shops & cafes. The Dogs in Hanover St does good food at very reasonable prices. The Portrait Gallery on Queen St is worth a visit for the building alone & again has a good cafe. The Galvi Brasserie at the Caledonian Hotel is good.

It might be worth checking out Groupon or Amazon local and that sort of thing to amass some voucher treats.

You can get the tram from the airport now.

You can get the tram from the airport into town. Don't think it's very expensive. Certainly cheaper than a taxi

The Filmhouse cinema (art-house) is a great venue for films and has a nice bar/snacks area. Also new-ish pub opposite by Innis&Gunn brewery which is meant to be good. Cameo film house further up the road also good.

David Banns vegetarian restaurant is best veggie food I've ever had.

MistressWeatherwax That's very handy to know, I'm veggie!!! Hooray for somewhere which specifically caters for people like me. There's little choice near me, without me having to ask chefs to go the extra mile as I have allergies, including some fruits and all nuts, so it can be a nightmare negotiating a menu.
That said, my husband is very much the carnivore, so I don't get much chance to look for such places anyway. He's come round to some veggie meals I cook though and doesn't mind it as a one-off every now and again.

Everyone, thanks for the tram tip, that's great, and a much more fun way to travel than a taxi (which my husband also has to do to death with work too), and with nothing like that in Southampton and where we live, it's always really refreshing to have the option of something new.
WankerDeAsalWipe - thanks for that too, would never have considered looking for vouchers. I've heard so many complaints about Groupon and people not getting what they thought they'd purchased, that I never joined. Have you used them and got on ok with deals? Didn't know you could even get voucher-type-deals on Amazon.