May half term, any recommendations?

[purplewatermelons]

We have a holiday abroad booked for May half term, but are moving it to August to guarantee nicer weather!

So I am looking for an alternative to book, ideally Mon-Fri. No budget as such, but not entirely sure what we want. There's me, DH and DD who is 8.

We are based in West Yorkshire and happy to drive a couple of hours, or travel on the train. We love the Lake District (DH's top choice, possibly also mine too but it's pricier than other places) and would love a lodge with hot tub type situation, but also thinking maybe we could do a few nights somewhere like Edinburgh as we've never been before.

Open to any ideas! Dd loves the seaside, animals (I was thinking Edinburgh zoo), castles, museums etc. We cycle and happy to do some walks but dd isn't very outgoing with outdoor activities apart from that, so no need to be near anything like Go Ape etc. When we go to the lakes we usually stay in Keswick.

If you've done a few nights away and had a great time, I'd love to hear about it

If you fancy Edinburgh then there's a campsite with caravans on the edge of the city but they don't appear to have hot tubs. www.meadowhead.co.uk/parks/mortonhall/
You could stay somewhere like Alnmouth in Northumberland which has a beautiful beach and is an hour on the train to Edinburgh a day trip, but you could spend 3 days in Edinburgh if you did the zoo, castle, National museum, camera obscura, dynamic earth etc.....there's even a beach at Portobello about 3 miles from the city centre. It's not a car friendly city but the buses are great.

You might also find Scotland is a bit cheaper as the schools don't have that half term break.

Oh great, thank you! Didn't think about Scotland holidays being different so that's a good point. We did Northumberland for a few nights last year and loved it, but I really fancy going to Edinburgh! Sounds like there is a lot to do to entertain dd too.

We can go direct from Leeds to Edinburgh on the train too so maybe it's a winner.

There’s masses to do! If you travelled up Monday and went home Friday you’d easily fill your time. The zoo is a full day out (take a picnic from the supermarket as the food outlets are a bit rubbish). Castle is half a day. You could walk up Arthur’s seat or Calton hill has great views and is much less strenuous. Get a bus down to the beach and there’s an amusement arcade and some nice cafes on the prom at portobello. The royal yacht Britannia might appeal. Walk along the water of leith if you want to escape the city centre - the section between Dean village and Stockbridge is particularly pretty and then you could head to the botanic gardens and there’s a play area in inverleith park. There’s also a big play area at the east end of the meadows.

Literally just came on here to suggest Edinburgh, we went last year in May half term, stayed Tuesday-Friday & visited the Zoo (amazing day out & only place in the UK to see pandas & koalas), climbed Arthur’s Seat, explored the city & on the way home went via the Kelpies. The weather was glorious, there’s no half term up there so wasn’t overly busy, the kids loved running around in the gardens off Princes Street. There’s also Camera Obscura but do pre-book this, we didn’t & couldn’t get in.
We drove up & stayed at the Marriott near the airport. It’s on the outskirts of the city but on the main bus route in & the buses run every 10mins & stop right outside the hotel. They go right past the Zoo & drop off in the main shopping street. There’s also a holiday inn express located well right next door to the zoo. Lots of hotels in the city centre too but not all have parking so if staying central I’d get the train. We LOVED our time there & thinking of going again!

We had a wonderful few days in Edinburgh at Easter a few years ago. Particularly enjoyed the trip to see the Royal Yacht Britannia - fascinating!