Let's go on holiday...to Edinburgh

 
We've been away to Edinburgh as a family twice: once when Angus was 14 months and about to start walking and more recently when the boys were 2 and 5 years old.

Edinburgh with a One Year Old

I'll start off with the first holiday, as my memories of it are more sketchy!  We stayed in a self-catering apartment in Leith: two bed new-build with car parking and a lift.  This was before we started Air BnBing and we booked through a different, local website and with most you can choose to filter through those that provide a high chair and cot.

There were a few highlights but we mostly walked about, stopping at coffee shops.  We ate lunches out everyday but had dinners in (far more choice these days with Uber Eats, Deliveroo etc.!)  We took Angus to his first art class at Joy Tots cafe around the corner on Ferry Road.  The cafe is perfect for toddlers and under and the class was perfect messy, arty fun.

We were still at that stage of getting up early and being ready to get out the house by 9am and then getting a nap in.  We used Edinburgh Council's website directory of play parks to find little local places to burn off the last of his energy.  Our big ticket play park trips were to Leith Links, the Meadows and Princes Street Gardens.  Leith Links is an open green space with a lovely little play park.  The Meadows is the same but with two great play areas.  Princes Street Gardens has a castle themed play park, see below.

We had a really great visit to the National Museum of Scotland.   His favourite bit then was the Adventure Planet hands-on area and the animals.

The stand out part of the holiday was our trip to Portobello beach.  It was Angus's first real play in the sand.  It is lovely to walk along the promenade and there was a great...you guessed it...play park there too.  I hadn't been to Portobello before but had heard it was like a mini Brighton - it's not.  More like a mini Southwold.  There aren't as many cafes and shops as I had thought there would be but still a really lovely destination.

Let's fastforward four years...

Edinburgh with a Two and Five Year Old

This holiday we stayed in an Air BNB house just off Leith Walk.  We parked the car in the drive and got around by bus, which is so easy in Edinburgh (just be aware you need the exact change).  We got a Family Day Ticket and never had to fold up the buggy luckily.

On the way over, we went straight to Edinburgh Zoo and had an amazing day in the sun.  Then checked in.

The next three days were rainy with the odd sunny spell.  The Oor Wullie Big Bucket Trail was on and we spent a lot of our time, finding and collecting the sculptures.  These kind of trails make for an excellent way to explore a city.

Day 2 started with a tram ride out to the Gyle Centre.  Both boys loved the tram ride.  It was definitely more about the travel than the destination!  Coming back we got off at the West End and walked along past Haymarket and down Princes Street.  That evening, I went out with Grandma to the Vue cinema at the Omni Centre, every film, any time is £5.99.  This would have been a good wet weather option for Angus too.

On Day 3, we planned a visit to the National Museum of Scotland.  We started by rushing to the booking place for Wee Mornings as soon as the Museum opened at 10.  The sessions start at 10.30 and it was fully booked by quarter past.  The workshop was great with friendly leaders, bubbles, colouring, songs and lots of sensory activities.  It was perfectly pitched to the 8 month old babies and our whopping 5 year old.  We enjoyed visiting lots of different exhibitions and barely scratched the surface.   The brasserie looked expensive and uninviting so we left the Museum for lunch.  We went to the Elephant House, which is one of my old favourites. The food is tasty, not too expensive and they cater well for children.

We walked back around via the Royal Mile, via the Museum of Childhood (well worth a visit but lots of steps) and into the Museum to see a little more and stop at the cafe.  The cafe is very expensive.

That night, Gareth and I were lucky enough to get a date night and went for a walk on the South Side, stopping at dinner at Ransacked Black Oven, which was delicious.

Day 4 was our last full day on holiday.  we took the bus to Ocean Terminal.  They quite often have events on for children but not  this time.  There is a soft play, which we didn't visit but we did have a coffee in the Debenhans restaurant overlooking the Brittania.  As we were walking back through Leith, the heavens opened again and we took refuge in the Printworks Coffee shop.  This was a fab choice and we had a great lunch.  This is the joy of Edinburgh, you can't turn around for a great place to eat.  We took the bus to St Andrew's Square for a run around and we went into the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.  I wouldn't recommend the Gallery for young children (apart from the cafe) but we were collecting Wullies!

On our last day, we found somewhere local to park the car for the day, packed up with our suitcases.  We decided to go to Princes Street Gardens and the boys loved the play park there.  We walked down Lothian Road to find lunch and found a delicious one at Innes and Gunn.  There were still some Wullies to collect, so we went to Waverley Station and then got the bus to the car and drove home.

There were some places we really wanted to take the boys but the weather didn't let us: East Links Family Park, Gorgie City Farm and back to Portobello beach.

I hope this post gives you some ideas for a fab local holiday.  Any ideas for improvements, please leave the in the comments.