A few days in Edinburgh

[wombpaloumbpa]

Hi! Thinking of going to Edinburgh for a few days in October half term. Can fly from local airport so will be easy in that respect but wanted to ask

• will we need a car? Is there anything further afield we should visit? That a car would make easier?

• what is there to do that a 3 and almost 6 year old would like?

Any other tips welcome 🤗

The zoo would be good for kids.

The car question depends where you are staying. If you stay centrally a car would be more of a hindrance than anything.

I think there's plenty to do in the city.

I recommend the Museum of Childhood. But a bit depressing when you see your old toys behind glass in a museum.

Camera Obscura & World of Illusions is great for kids.

You absolutely do not want a car in the centre of Edinburgh! There's a bus or tram from the airport into the centre (both take just over 30minutes) and the entire centre and surrounds are residents permit parking zones or very expensive on-street pay & display or a handful of car parks. You can't really drive and park at the main tourist attractions.
The zoo is on very good bus routes but be aware that it's on the side of a hill so can be quite hard work with small kids.
The national museum, camera obscura, portobello beach and amusements, there's always street artists on the royal mile to watch, ride on a tram to Saughton park, botanic gardens, big play area at the meadows......it's a really good city for kids as it's compact and got lots going on.

@MiddleAgedDread thank you! So helpful and it sounds fantastic!

Personally I wouldn’t bother with a car @wombpaloumbpa 😊far more hassle than it’s worth in the city! I also wouldn’t bother with the zoo. It’s not great at all!

My 3yo loves Edinburgh! Have you thought about where to stay?

In terms of attractions that are worth a visit -

• national museum
• camera Obscura
• dynamic earth
• a wander around the mile etc and watching the buskers
• portobello beach

There are loads of places to explore - it’s a lovely city just for wandering around and going with the flow!

Our 3yo always asks to go to Wahaca in the city centre for dinner whenever we’re there. They give him a little “build your tacos” plate and he loves it!
He also loves when we get a takeaway pizza from Civerinos at Portobello beach and sit down on the sand and eat it 😊

We did a Glasgow and Edinburgh mix and DD loved the Glasgow Science centre so much we went twice, easy to get to by train, we also did the zoo which was great and easy to get to via bus. All his travel for DD was free so I'm not sure if that's changed.
You could do part of Arthur's seat but perhaps not the whole thing if they aren't used to that type of activity, it was very cold and blustery mid August so October likely to be worse.
We didn't do much other sightseeing as we were there to watch the European Championships but there was a fossil place nearish Arthers seat we would have liked to visit.

There are buses or trams to/from the airport. The cheapest (assuming that you are staying centrally) is the Bright Bus (also does HOHO tours)

www.brightbustours.com/brightbus-airport-express/

We visited Edinburgh at the end of a trip,staying 3 nights. DH and DD(16) were set on seeing the Falkirk Wheel (your two might like that if they aren't bolters) and The Kelpies (big horse statues) so we hired a car for 24 hours (hotel had parking), picking it up/dropping it off at lunchtime. It solved the pain of leaving our luggage somewhere and we had 2 half days of car use before a flight home.