Edinburgh visit...

[TigerCameForTea]

Going to Edinburgh next week for four days, does anyone have any must do recommendations for us while we're there? We've got the castle and DH wants to do Arthur's Seat (I might be ill that day 😂) but, any other ideas would be great!
Thank you!

There's a delicious vegetarian Indian restaurant called Kalpna's, last time I was in I noticed it had lots of vegan options. Its maybe a 15 minute walk from your hotel. But only 5 minutes from the Surgeons Hall or Royal Museum.

Botanic garden is good - from memory, there is an excellent audio tour of the glasshouses

Although the Festival doesn't formally start until the Friday, the Wednesday/Thursday are preview days and the vast majority of shows will be on, venues open etc. Particularly around the Big 4 (Gilded Balloon, Pleasance, Assembly and Underbelly), everything will be in full swing from about lunchtime on the Wednesday onwards so head up to the George Square area for atmosphere, bars and streetfood (always good and plentiful vegan options) - you might even pick up a half-price show or two, or, even better, you could be offered free tickets - promoters want full audiences on these days as this is when the reviewers are in and they want to appear popular so they'll often wander around the gardens offering free or very cheap tickets in the 20 minutes before a show begins. We've picked up some incredible gems (and, to be fair, some rubbish) this way.

DH and I always take a few days off around the preview time and over the last few years we've seen the amount of people around on these dates grow and grow - it's pretty much indistinguishable from any other festival weekday now (weekends are always much busier). That is, at lest in the big venues - some of the smaller and independent venues won't yet be open.

Edinburgh caters really well for plant-based diets - there's a growing number of plant-based only eateries but most other places will provide options. Holy Cow is really good, 100% vegan and pretty close to your hotel. I also recommend Pumpkin Brown and Hula - both in the Grassmarket so very easy to get to, and GrassRoots, although that's a bit further away.

A walk along Water of Leith is lovely. Calton Hill has wonderful views and is easier to climb than Arthur's Seat.
Mary King Close is interesting but not if you are remotely iffy about small spaces.

Second the botanic garden, particularly towarss the end of the trip when you are citied out. So peaceful

That's what I was meaning earlier re free preview Fringe shows and 2 for 1 offers on those days. Yes, officially the 2 for 1 offer hasn't started, but there are so many promotions on, venues want the theatres full, so look out for people wandering about the venues with offers.
It's raining heavily just now. Hopefully it will clear up again, but if you are forced indoors, check out the ( free) Museum of Scotland, and the other various museums on the Royal mile, Dynamic Earth, and Surgeons Hall museum. The food choice for Vegans is plentiful. There should be plenty of pop up restaurants/street food choices at the Fringe venues as well

I'd skip the Rose Street pubs. And Festival Square is a bleak windswept affair, set back off the traffic thundering up and down Lothian Road. Wander down through the New Town and into Stockbridge for a change from the insanely over touristed Old Town. It'll be insane in the festival too.

Thank you to everyone for the replies, we've had an exhausting two days so far, walked up to Arthur's Seat today... I need my slippers!
Just a quick question, DH wants to do Mary King's Close but I'm not keen on tunnels / caves / enclosed spaces with no visible exits... Is this not going to be a good idea for me??

I didn't like Mary kings close i had to leave andI thought i would be fine Dds loved it but if you are not sure send Mr Tiger youcan find a comfy bar to sit in.

I would avoid Mary King Close if I were you OP. My friend really hated it but stuck it out nearly until the end when our guide had to radio for someone from reception to come down and guide us out.
Go straight through to the cafe which is really nice!

I found it ok @TigerCameForTea, there were enough people about to keep me relaxed.