Edinburgh, Scotland
Highlights
Old Town
The World Of Illusions
Dynamic Earth
The Meadows
Getting there and around
In May 2024 we visited Scotland, spending time in Glasgow and Oban, and finishing in Edinburgh before returning home to Sheffield.
From Oban we drove to Edinburgh, taking the A85, A84, and M9. The drive was supposed to take 3 hours but with slow moving caravans at the start, and city traffic at the end, it was closer to 4.
On arrival into Edinburgh we parked our car at the Waverley Station car park, where we got a 20% discount through our hotel. With the discount the parking cost £38 for 48 hours.
There’s no need to have a car in Edinburgh. Edinburgh city centre is compact and walkable. Yes, it’s hilly, but we are used to that as we live in a very hilly city! We left our car parked until it was time to drive home. We didn’t use our car during our stay and got around the city by walking.
Accommodation
We stayed for 2 nights at the Premier Inn Royal Mile right in the heart of the old town.
Our m family room cost £160 per night which felt like a reasonable rate for a centrally located hotel in a capital city.
This Premier Inn was ok, if a little tired and in need of redecorating in places. The free WiFi was really slow and kept kicking us off. Our room was comfortably though and we had a great view over the new town and up to Calton Hill. We loved the central location.
Our star rating: 3
Our cost rating: 4
Old Town
Yes, Edinburgh is incredibly touristy and busy. And yes, every shop is selling either tartan or shortbread or both. It must be overwhelming to live here at times.
But there is a reason that the city is so touristy. With its historic buildings, street entertainers, student population, and views of the Castle and Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh is charming and has a real buzz to it.
We wandered the streets of the Old Town including the Royal Mile and Grassmarket during our time in Edinburgh, and soaked up the atmosphere.
We liked spotting the decorative heraldic flags, each one with a different colour and design.
We don’t really do a lot of shopping and when we do buy, we tend to get things second hand or online. But in Edinburgh we all had fun browsing the souvenir shops, and the kids spent their pocket money on some new toys.
The last time we visited the city was in February and a highlight for us had been the views from the castle. So we were looking forward to photographing the views this time.
However, we hadn’t realised that access and the views would be disrupted by stands being erected for the Royal Military Tattoo. Even though this event wasn’t for another two months, seemingly things get set up well ahead of time.
We didn’t visit the New Town during this trip, but in the past we have stayed in and enjoyed this part of the city centre too; particularly Princes Street Gardens. The St James Quarter, built since our last trip to the city, looked worth going to for those who like shopping.
Camera Obscura and the World of Illusions
After exploring the Old Town and walking up to the castle, half of us went to check into the hotel and have a rest, while the other half went to the Camera Obscura and World of Illusions.
The World of Illusions was fun to visit, but it is not a cheap attraction. Prices vary and are more expensive during school holidays. We paid £23 for an adult ticket and £18 for a child ticket. There is a 20% discount for early visits before 9am.
There were 5 floors of visual illusions, trick mirrors, shadow walls, puzzles and interactive spaces. We liked the webcams looking down on to the streets of Edinburgh, the mirror maze, and the vortex tunnel.
On the rooftop were great panoramic views of the city, reaching all the way to the sea. We could see the Palace of Holyrood, the New Town, and the George Heriot School. There would have been great views of the castle, had it not been totally obscured by the Tattoo preparations.
The main purpose of the World of Illusions building, is to house the Camera Obscura, a lens projecting live images of Edinburgh onto a wooden table in a darkened room.
The building was first set up as a visitor attraction by Maria Short who wanted to increase public access to scientific learning. She purchased the Laird of Cockpen’s townhouse on Castlehill, added two extra floors and a viewing platform with a dome, and installed the camera obscura.
In 1892, Patrick Geddes, an urban planner, took on the building and renamed it the Outlook Tower. It became a museum and urban study centre, where people were invited to come and learn about the world, Edinburgh, and city planning.
The illusions part felt a bit gimmicky. In many ways it would be nicer to focus only on the camera and views as the main attraction, like the Round Tower in Copenhagen. But clearly there is lots of money to be made from adding the illusions and charging more, and Max really enjoyed them a lot, we had lots of fun here.
Dynamic Earth
This section has been written by William (age 11).
Dynamic Earth was an incredible, guided tour around an immersive exhibit that made mine and my brother’s minds explode. The staff were lovely and it was very fun.
It was all about our Earth through the ages, starting with an explanation of how scientists have helped to change our understanding of how old the Earth is and how the Universe began.
Every 7 minutes the Time Machine/Lift opened. A staff member made sure we were in safely, and that’s when the adventure started.
In the Time Machine animations played showing evolution of Earth going back in time. The Time Machine transported us back in time and into a space ship, ready to witness the start of the Universe 13 billion years ago. A screen in front of us played and it showed how the Big Bang happens.
The screen shut down and then crashed down into a volcano and then we saw how plate tectonics shake the Earths surface. After that we watched a documentary about the ice age and glaciers.
Then we walked through a series of areas about different animals through the ages. We explored the planets oceans and learnt about animals of the deep. Then we went into an icy room with real ice!
After that we watched an immersive film in a 4D cinema about the different biomes on Earth. Finally, we reached a rainforest room with a real waterfall and sounds of the jungle.
After the museum section I had an ice slushy and my dad had a cup of tea. Then we went to the Planetarium Show called Look Up. This was all about the galaxy Andromeda and some of the stars and constellations we can see at night. We saw real photos taken by powerful telescopes.
The astronomer who did the show was really clever, and afterwards my brother Max, who is interested in space, maths and science, asked him loads of questions. He was very kind and answered them all.
We all agreed this was one of the best museums we’d ever been to, joint top with MoMath in New York.
The Scottish Parliament (or not)
We had lunch at Wuji, a Korean barbecue restaurant just across the road from Dynamic Earth. We had a selection of steak, pork and chicken to cook ourselves on the hot plate, plus a delicious spicy bibimap for Harriet who is vegetarian. The kids enjoyed the novelty of cooking their own food. The bill came to just under £50.
We had planned to visit the Scottish Parliament in the afternoon and had booked a guided tour. These tours have to be booked in advance but are free. Looking at it from Dynamic Earth, the building looked cool.
Unfortunately we could not persuade the kids this would be fun or interesting, and instead they asked if we could go to a playground.
When travelling as a family, sometimes you have to pick your battles, cater for different interests, and accept you won’t get to see and do everything as planned.
We cancelled the Parliament tour and walked 20 minutes to the playground at Meadows Park, via the fabulously named neighbourhood Dumbiedykes.
The Meadows
This section has been written by Max (aged 8).
The park was great and me and my older brother William played an imaginary game called space explorers Planet X and it was very fun. However the walk to get there was 20 minutes uphill.
After the game Will got a bad stomach ache and we had to go back to the hotel. Sadly we had to miss the Scottish Parliament tour and my Mum was sad about missing it but also happy because we got to go to the playground and had fun.
Final Thoughts
We like Edinburgh a lot! It’s a charming capital city with fascinating history and loads to do. There were lots of museums and galleries we didn’t have time to visit.
It was very crowded and at times this felt a little overwhelming, though we appreciate we were part of the problem of over tourism! Next time we will try and come out of season, so that it’s not quite as busy and the castle and castle views are visible.
We loved our short break in Scotland and will definitely be back!
