Edinburgh near Christmas

[Inyourwildestdreams]

Have a trip booked for later in the year. DH and I plus 3 year old. Will be staying in Grassmarket area for a few days and planning on doing the national museum one day and the market in the evenings to see the lights etc plus a bit of shopping.

Any other places we should be looking at taking DC?

Can anyone recommend any nice cafes etc for a light lunch? Soup/sandwich type.
And any dinner recommendations with young DC? Grassmarket area specifically would be fab 😊 DC eats anything and everything.

Botanic Gardens Christmas Lights are usually fab.

Was going to also say the Botanical Gardens. Edinburgh Zoo, also.

Outside the city is Vogrie Country Park.

Edinburgh is compact and walkable with amazing bus service so you really aren't restricted in area.
Museum of Scotland is at right angles to Greyfriars churchyard and statue of Greyfriars Bobby ( the little loyal dog of the story) which many tourists like to see. There are quite a few cafes etc there in Forrest road or if you walk up it towards the meadows park there are nice cafes in the Quartermile development eg Soderburg. If weather is ok there's a great play park in the meadows- also an excellent one at one end Princes Street Gardens. Alternatively just walk down to princes street and go to M& S cafe!

I always suggest visitors don't restrict themselves to the old town / grass market which can be dark and gloomy. You need to see the Georgian (Bath type) beauty of the 'New town' - behind the other side of Princes St from the Gardens. From St Andrews Square ( Garvey Nicks and various restaurants) look down hill to see the sea and admire the pretty Georgian terraces. Some of these side streets have nice wee cafes.

Just to warn you in recent years the Christmas market has been horribly rammed, I would go early during the day to get the atmosphere but hopefully not as busy and go on a week day if you can.

Tastes differ but my kids loved 'our Dynamic Earth' from age 3 up. Disney type interactive museum in Holyrood park beside the ( very ugly Scottish Parliament building) and the lovely Holyrood Palace. They also adored Camera Obscura on the Royal Mile and the (free) tiny Museum of Childhood also on Royal Mile.

But as I said, don't spend all your time in the old town - maybe walk down pretty Cockburn Street ( Harry Potter like cobbled winding down hill) towards princes street too stopping for gelato in shop on it on way.

Edinburgh zoo has quite a few Christmas things on this year, Edinburgh castle lights and botanic lights are both worth doing for that age.

Agree about the Botanics lights. We go every year then have dinner in Stockbridge afterwards, kids are well into their teens now but is our Christmas tradition.

When they were small mine liked the maze in the Christmas market. There used to be a train that I have fond memories of but they are too old for those things now and am not sure what is still on.

There’s a Franco Manca in Stockbridge kids love. Agree we do botanics lights every year it’s always nice.

https://edinburgh-christmas.com/

Am not that link I posted will help very much, there appears to be v little info on it!
Might be updated over the next few weeks…

Definitely good advice here. I remember going when it was mobbed a few years ago and it wasn't at all enjoyable. Best going early in the day. Weekdays especially as suggested.

We didn’t bother with the Christmas market last year- it was so rammed it didn’t look any fun. The lights up at the castle were nice, and there was no problem finding places to eat.

Central library is just at the top of the street from Grassmarket and have a kids library with crafts and stuff, it's also a nice building

Agree with PP about Stockbridge and Botantics being lovely. Leith is actually really nice too, although I live there so would say that.

Portobello also lovely. Most places are bussable/walkable

If dry and not too cold Arthur's Seat is magical and you can do it with a toddler carrier or let him walk.

I went to Edinburgh for Christmas one year and was taken out for lunch somewhere in the city centre in a restaurant/cafe that had a central dome (maybe with stained windows in?). There was a huge tree in it and the decor of cafe and the tree was really elaborate and Christmassy. I don’t know what the place was called but it felt like a special festive outing.
Maybe a local could tell you what it’s called.

I think it’s actually called The Dome.

For dinner cannonball restaurant on royal mile, filling station royal mile, mamas pizzeria grassmarket all good for families.

Thank you all for your tips and suggestions 😊 We have actually visited Edinburgh a fair few times and usually stay in the new town but had a decent hotel deal for the old town this time and thought we’d change it up a bit! Have never stayed near Christmas though so was specifically thinking of Christmassy activities to do with DS 😊 I’ll definitely look at the botanic gardens - that sounds great 😊

Will definitely keep in mind how busy the market can be. We are staying a few nights during the week and we were planning on doing shopping/market during the day for a proper browse and then just having a wander back through one evening to see all the lights etc rather than actually shopping while it’s chaos in the evenings.

Thank you for restaurant suggestions too 😊

The Christmas carousel in top part princes st gardens is lovely. There's also sometimes a charabanc type little 'Santa train' through the gardens - the driver rings the bell and sounds the horn loudly when passing by anyone which my daughter always enjoyed...
The Dome in George Street mentioned below is I suspect already fully booked for lunch and dinner all November and December- however your child might like to walk past it to see the snow - there's usually a snow machine on roof spilling flakes over the decorated pillars - and you might be able to steal a peek at the Christmas tree inside.