Recommend me a toddler friendly 2 day break!

[Ohchristmastree311]

Can anyone give any suggestions? We just want a couple of nights away as a family 😊

What we would like:

• toddler friendly (2 year old)
• will be 2 nights mid-week in January
• we’re west coast based. Don’t really want to be heading much further north than Pitlochry or further south than the border.
• Must have parking and a pool
• hotel/self-catering etc all fine

Ideally with toddler friendly activities nearby! Happy for these to be indoor or outdoor - although given that it will be January, some kind of indoor activities incase of horrendous weather would probably be good!

Have done Crieff Hydro a few times so looking for somewhere different. Have also been to Piperdam a few times and would rather avoid that. Auchrannie is too close to home.
DH suggested Edinburgh city centre - would there be enough indoor activities to entertain a toddler? Or one of the Macdonald hotels?

Stirling? The Stirling Highland has a pool but the Peak has a great pool and also an ice-rink and there should be other activities such as soft play/cinema etc. Great outdoor parks and walks if the weather is kind.

Edinburgh is great but it's big city and I think that specifically toddler stuff might not be based in the city centre but for 2 nights you wouldn't really have that much time to fill outside of swimming etc anyway. Even a year or two older probably inlocks much more things of interest in the museums etc. I'd say 4 plus unless things such as the zoo were possibilities but I guess in January that might not be an option.

There’s loads to do with a toddler in Edinburgh…..national museum, camera obscura, the zoo, portobello beach (yes, even in the winter!), soft play at the commonwealth pool, and most will tag along to “adult” galleries or museums. You can watch the trains in Waverley or ride on a tram which usually entertains them.

@BinBandit Thank you! We’ve stayed at the Stirling Highland quite a few times when it was just DH and I. I just wasn’t sure there would be much to do round about with a toddler apart from the usual Safari park etc which might not be the best in January.

@emmathedilemma I forgot about Camera Obscura actually! Our Dynamic Earth would probably be ok for a toddler too wouldn’t it? It’s been years since I’ve been so can’t quite remember what it’s like! We’re definitely not afraid of beaches in the winter 😁 we live at the beach on the west coast so we’re there most days on our walk come rain or shine 😊 it’s just not much of a novelty for him anymore lol.
Are you able to recommend any specific hotels?

Oh yes, I’ve been to dynamic earth with a toddler and they had fun.
hotels with pools and parking tend to be a bit further out but these are on good bus routes:
the village
holiday inn by the zoo
marriott on the A8 Glasgow road near Gogar (might be classed as “airport hotel”
or you could stay in the city centre and leave the car at Hermiston gait park &
ride

@emmathedilemma Thank you for all your info :) really helpful!! Novotel seems to get good reviews too 🤔 relatively central and a decent price! And they seem to have parking! Tempted to give it a go.

I think parking for the Novotel might be on a nearby public car park? Is it the one on the grassmarket?

@emmathedilemma Yes it was. We changed plans and decided to go with an Apex hotel instead 😊