1.5 days in Edinburgh at christmas

[merrymaryquitecontrary]

Flying into Edinburgh and can only stay one night before moving on as accommodation is very expensive. We arrive at 9am on a Friday morning, leaving 4pm on Saturday. Definitely want to do the castle and the national museum. Is the dungeons or Mary King Close better for teens? Also is there anything on in the streets at night like London? Is the Dean Village worth going to, or are there similar houses in the old town? Any recommendations welcome!

Real Mary King's Close would be my recommendation - it is, as it says, REAL. While I've not been to the dungeon, it appears to be one of those places set up with jump-scares, etc. I’ve done the one in York and it was a bit too ‘Disney’. Thoroughly enjoyed Real Mary King's Close - tons of history in a real setting (you are walking real streets that used to be above-ground) and very atmospheric.
In the evenings, we’ve done two different ghost tours: the vaults tour with Mercat and the ghost bus tour (can’t remember the company name). Both were excellent.
If you’ve got time, I’d recommend Camera Obscura too.

The castle and museum with lunch in between will fill the whole day. Avoid Dean village, it’s nice for a wander on a Sunday afternoon but not in the middle of winter. It’s not a village as such, just cobbled streets with cute houses.

I was just about to ask about highlights in Edinburgh.. we had to change our plans for north of Scotland so will arrive today at 4.30 for 2 nights .
Can I hijack and ask for highlights to fit in a day ? The weather is looking great so outdoor suggestions also welcome, or nice areas to mooch around , plus any great places to eat. Thank you!

@wohmum Arthur's Seat is a GREAT walk in this weather! And Dean Village, although terrible in winter, would be beautiful now with autumnal colours! Also, you can do a quick scan online for the free walking tours - I've done a few in Edinburgh and they always highlight so much more culture than I'd get solo!

In terms of Christmas, there's a nice market in the Princes St Gardens, however I haven't been for a few years. Make sure you wander down the Royal Mile, lots of gorgeous nooks and crannies with the lights!
Victoria St is GORGEOUS at Christmas for a short, pretty walk down the hill - esp if your teens like Harry Potter! Honestly I'd put that above Dean Village for prettiness in winter.

I'm confused

You arrive "today" at 4:30, but are posting today at 13:16

Surely you have already been here for almost 9 hours?

Botanic gardens are lovely and free of charge with two lovely cafes, then walk across inverleith park to Stockbridge and up into the New Town. You will dodge the tourist crowds that way.

Mercat tours are fantastic. The Christmas market will be on but it’s the same as every other Christmas market and gets quite packed.

Sorry - I meant 16:30….

thanks for the suggestions , we’ll try and get in as many of those as we can. It’ll be a lovely walking day tomorrow !

The castle is boring. With teens I'd do the skating and Christmas market stuff. The museum is good and free.

Scottish National Portrait Gallery is worth a visit if you have the time to do so.

Great suggestions everyone, thanks. My only concern with the Real Mary is that many reviews say it smells strongly of urine, and dd is autistic and has major sensory issues and that will be a real problem if that's the case? It's also really expensive, the castle offers a free carer but RMKC doesn't.

The St James Quarter is my daughter's spiritual home 😂 and she is quite happy in there for hours. She particularly likes Haute Dolci for a treat.

We went to Real MKC a few weeks ago. There was no smell of urine!

We were in Edinburgh Friday night to Monday morning. We did the hop on/off bus tour first to get our bearings, got out at Holyrood and walked back to have a mooch around the Old Town along the Royal Mile. Did Mary King Close that evening.

Really recommend Howie's for a lovely Scottish dinner. We also had great burgers at Bread Meats Bread and sweet treats at Coro the chocolate cafe.

Good to hear @TwigTheWonderKid !

Castle and museum will take all day.

At night you could do a ghost tour in the royal mile.

At Christmas there will also be the Christmas market and fairground rides in princes street gardens and that would be great for teens at night.

definitely recommend using Heritagexplore - find them in google to discover historic houses local to Edinburgh and book your visits to them. It's such a great platform!