Where do I want to go on mother's day?

[Rae36]

Me, dh, 2 teenage sons, in Edinburgh. They'll go anywhere I suggest because it's Mother's Day. I'm not very fit so active is out. I wondered about Holyrood Palace maybe and then a cup of tea on the cafe? Or I wondered about getting the train somewhere, Linlithgow maybe? A whole day when I can make my family do anything I like and I don't know what to do.

Any suggestions?

What would you ideally like to do?

Well that's the thing, I don't know. I want to go to somewhere interesting that we can wander around , maybe learn something, have something interesting to talk about while we walk and there's a cafe at the end. I can't walk far or up hills though. Been to Edinburgh Castle fairly recently but apart from that have got out of the habit of going on days out so I'm out of touch really with what's going on.

I do meal out and long walk in the country but I see you’re not active so… lunch ojt and then theatre?

I think Linlithgow Palace is still closed so other than walk round the Loch there's probably not much to do there.
Royal Yacht Britannia and tea/ cake somewhere around The Shore
Botanic Gardens
Falkland Palace is meant to be lovely

Jupiter art land
Cramond island
The kelpies
Wallace monument

realistically, given the weather forecast, maybe better to do afternoon tea somewhere nice

Falkland Palace is lovely and so is the village, you can have a little wander around and last time we went we found a nice little tea room just round the corner. You might want to check it's open though, Scotland doesn't often open up until Easter.

Bear in mind, if eating out, everywhere will be busy, for me that is not relaxing like mothers day should be!

ds(19) asked what I wanted to do for mothers day yesterday (I don't have my own mum to visit anymore so will be at home for a change). He is going to make us a mini afternoon tea to share at home - I've requested egg mayo and ham sandwiches cut into fingers, chocolate brownies cut into bite sizes from a box mix and buying scones/jam/clotted cream. It will probably be served late afternoon because he doesn't get out of bed until at least lunchtime! Can't wait to see what it looks like 🤣

What about taking the train down to North Berwick for a bit of a daunder. There are lots of nice cafes and teashops to choose from.

You don't. Go the following weekend instead when it'll be less busy and take your pick of where you want to go and it's not going to be fully booked.

Whatever you do, I’d suggest doing it on the Saturday instead. On the Sunday nearly everywhere will be booked already for afternoon teas and Sunday roasts.

The roads will be busy with people travelling to their mothers, with their mothers or from their mothers.

P.s. I like a good museum myself.

Mary Kings close is good or a walking ghost tour.

Jupiter Artland doesn't open til April www.jupiterartland.org/visit-jupiter-artland/

Lauriston Castle is lovely and I think there’s a Mimi’s Bakehouse.

Britannia is a good idea, I've never been there. And there are plenty fast food type restaurants there for after.
It does seem like there are a few places that don't open till Easter. Mother's Day is badly timed.

I did wonder about a day out at the Burrell Collection but that's quite a lot of driving. I don't think it's very easy to get there on public transport. Anyone been there since it re-opened?

The Burrell collection isn't that far if you're already in Edinburgh, it's an hour in weekend traffic! People do that as a commute daily.

I know it's not all that far but we don't enjoy driving. Poor ds2 was hideously travel sick on any journey longer than 30 minutes for the first 10 years of his life so we would always choose a train if we can. We're all so traumatised by his early years. I still imagine a whiff of vomit now and again in the car.

We're going for Britannia, none of us have been there so hopefully it's fun. Even though we're not Royal family fans particularly, it will just be nice to do something together.

There was a pop up table tennis place in Ocean Terminal last time we were there, maybe it will still be open

I’ve just had a look and i think you will have two rather bored teens on your hands.

Why not nice lunch out followed by an easy walk.

Britannia is nice, not a royal fan either but my mum wanted to do it and we had a nice day, it’s interesting. Holyrood is a nice day out too, we did their Christmas stuff and thought it was well done - hope you have lovely day! We tried Linlithgow Palace one Mother’s Day and it was freezing and the cafe wasn’t open this time of year!

We had a nice day. The boys entered into the spirit of the day being for me, it was interesting looking round the Britannia, looking at all the weird and wonderful gifts the Royal Family had been given over the years, some suitably smutty jokes about Charles and Diana's honeymoon sleeping arrangements, a nice cafe with posh napkins. It wasn't massively exciting but it was enough for me for now and it was nice to be out all together. Thanks for all your recommendations.

Glad you had a nice day!