Edinburgh

[Pinkstars2501]

Hello. I'm planning on going to the Christmas markets in November. Looking at just booking one of the premier inns in the city centre as they're cheap and you know what you're getting.

I've never been to Edinburgh before though, is the royal mile in the centre/near the markets? Also looking for parking recommendations if anyone has any? Ideally we want to park up and then not need to drive again until we leave. We'll be going for two nights midweek.

Many thanks for any tips

The royal mile runs parallel to Princes Street, might be called The High Street if you look on google maps. The newish Premier Inn on market street is a good location.
It's a very compact city, everything is close to everything! The markets are usually on the east block of Princes street gardens and St. Andrews square but they've not confirmed yet if they're even on this year (wouldn't be a great loss if they weren't!!)
You'd be best to leave the car at one of the park & ride car parks (not Ingliston as it doesn't allow overnight parking) and get the bus into the city centre.
www.edinburgh.gov.uk/parking/find-park-ride/1

I agree. Park at an overnight permitted park and ride and then tram or train or bus it in.

I have recently stayed at the new premier inn called Edinburgh Waverley. It’s on Rose Street right at the back of Marks and Spencer. Found it very good.

The premier inn on Queen Street is also one of the brand’s highest rated throughout the UK. The PI you’ve mentioned is actually on Market Street I think. So just next to Waverley and a few minutes walk to where the markets start.

You can walk everywhere in the city. It’s really easy.

The York Place Premier Inn was the top rated in the country a couple of years ago, I remember there being a documentary about it where they compared the best and worst PIs and looked into the success of the chain!

York Place is good and the Royal Mile one. Both very central. Last time I stayed there we parked at the NCP Holyrood. Think it was around £40-£50 for two nights.

Both the comments above are correct. It’s the York Place one that’s highest rated, not Queen Street.

@emmathedilemma are the markets not that good? I know they're all similar really but was hoping they wouldn't be rubbish.

Thanks for the advice all.

Well they might be ok if you've not been to them before but they've had the same stalls in the same places for as long as I can remember! A lot of stalls are repeated and I suspect a lot is mass produced tat. Compared to Manchester Xmas market for example it's poor.

Confirmed on local radio this morning that the markets will be going ahead this year but on a smaller scale in the west princes street gardens.

Ah thanks for that, was holding off booking incase it was cancelled.

Edinburgh is still lovely for a trip though 😊

The city centre is divided by the railway, Princes Street one side of Waverley station, Royal Mile the other, uphill. Royal Mile is in the old town leading from Holyrood to the castle, Princes Street in the "new". The lower part of the Royal Mile would be about 20-25 minutes' walk from Princes Street gardens. You could also look for accommodation around West End/Haymarket, which is the opposite direction to Waverley, along the tram route.

We stayed here a couple of years ago, on Rose street, (Near Princes Street and the Market) www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/scotland/lothian/edinburgh/hub-edinburgh-royal-mile.html

There is a Premier Inn further down Princes Street which we've also stayed at. We thought we'd try the Premier Inn Hub as it was only a couple of nights and the location was great.

Rooms are very small but it has everything you'd need. There is a cafe next to reception which has 24hr tea/coffee. We didn't get breakfast when we were there as I think it was continental only; there was a 'cafe' a few doors away that did cooked breakfasts and there was a Weatherspoons a few doors further away.

DH and I stayed at Premier Inn hub this summer and a PP says it is functional and has everything you need. My only gripe is you can’t open windows but that is so often the way now with new buildings ( hate it personally). For breakfast I recommend The Larder just off royal mile, a bit pricy but lovely.