Edinburgh Travel Tips
How to get there, how to get around, where to find stuff and how to ask for it. These are tips from the local insider to make your stay here a breeze
Smart City Hostel - Trekker’s Hostel Highlights
Barely a year and a half old, Smart City Hostel is located at the bottom of a hill just off the Royal Mile. It is following the way of newer hostels, with the shiny, modern look. Unfortunately, this means that a lot of the vibe that makes a hostel so much fun is lost to glitz and glamour. Catering mostly to large groups with 622 beds in summer, they also offer winter student accommodation. There is a licensed bar and the Smart City Café, a small meeting room and a great outside area for BBQ’s, in summer the chef cooks up a great feast there. All the rooms are en-suite, shower gel and shampoo are provided, on the girl’s floors there is also lotion and conditioner.
Date: June 25th, 2008 |
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Booking a Hostel in Edinburgh
Edinburgh is one of the favorite cities on a backpacker’s tour - there’s culture if you want it, and more partying than you can handle. But finding the right hostel to stay in during your trip to Edinburgh isn’t always easy - especially with so many booking sites to sift through. What’s more, many of the sites are actually listing the same properties, so what makes one different than another?
Some hostel booking sites are going to seem pretty much the same, so things to look for that will set them apart - and …
Date: December 17th, 2007 |
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Come to BootsnAll’s Annual Holiday Party
Travel enthusiasts are always looking for places where their wandering ways don’t make them stick out like a sore thumb - so if you’re in the neighborhood of the U.S. Pacific Northwest in early December, we’ve got just the spot for you:
WHAT: BootsnAll Holiday Party
WHEN: Saturday, December 1, 2007 from 7pm until 11pm
WHERE: Lucky Labrador Beer Hall, 1945 NW Quimby St., Portland OR 97209
This is a great opportunity to be surrounded by other travel nutters who love not just Edinburgh but all corners of the world. Members of BootsnAll come from all over to help us celebrate every year, and …
Date: October 25th, 2007 |
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Touring Edinburgh/Scotland
I’ve been ranting alot recently, and I’m thankful to get it all off my chest, but I thought it appropriate today to get back to some down to earth travel advice. It is afterall (supposed to be) a travel website first and a soapbox second 
I’ve come across several tours in Edinburgh and further afield to suit the culture buff, the historian, the drinkers, the nature enthusiasts as well as the casual sightseer.
VisitScotland organises a range of tours to suit all tastes. All tours include…
The Hogmanay break, taking in Edinburgh’s renowned New Year’s celebrations in the Princes …
Date: October 1st, 2006 |
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Tim’s embarrassing situation displayed for all the public to see
Tim’s a nice guy, a real Gentleman. He’s the kind of guy you meet who seems quiet at first but once he open’s up you find there’s plenty beneath the lid. I’m not talking double over head cams or sub woofers - he’s a smart fella and knows how to make you laugh. I was not at all surprised when I received a text message asking me to join him for a pint on Wednesday night. I was surprised however to learn he wanted to go to the walkabout, an uber-cheesy chain bar in the Omni centre that’s popular with travellers who don’t know where to go yet and locals who should no better. I reread the text message and it all made sense “Shitty bar but there’s a bikini comp on”.
Date: September 30th, 2006 |
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Castle Rock Backpackers - Trekker’s Hostel Highlights
Located at the foot of Edinburgh Castle you are welcomed by exceptionally friendly staff along with stunning wall art, coat of arms and suits of armor. Castle Rock is one of the bigger hostels in Edinburgh with over 230 beds ranging from 4 to 16 bed dorms. The huge kitchen provides plenty of space and storage for you to cook to your heart’s content. There is a pool table in the large common room, a movie room with regular showings at 6pm and 9pm, not to mention the “Posh Lounge” for those who prefer a bit of quiet and an outside area that is great for BBQ’s. In the morning there is a decent continental breakfast for a mere £1.90 or you can head down to the Grassmarket and go to Biddy Mulligans for a 2 for 1 full Scottish fry-up, makes a great hangover breakfast and all you need is to show your little orange ticket from the hostel. On Thursday nights be sure to join the hostel for the local Pub Crawl, a great experience, visiting 4 pubs, or was that 3, might have been 5, it’s all a little hazy.
Date: June 21st, 2008 |
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Sample Some Haggis in Edinburgh
Let’s face it - Scotland isn’t exactly known for its cuisine, at least historically speaking. While there are some chefs these days that are doing more than just the usual meat and potatoes fare, Edinburgh probably isn’t the place to go for a food-centric holiday.
Unless, of course, you’re in the mood for some haggis.
Haggis is one of those legendary foods that often trotted out in conversations with the culinarily squeamish, but there’s very little reason it should be any more unappetizing than any other sausage. Of course, what’s the old joke about sausage? You don’t want to know how it’s made. Well, if you’re among that lot, you’ll want to look away, because you’re about to learn how haggis is made.
In most recipes, the innards of the haggis consist of the heart, liver and lungs of a sheep, minced together with onion, oatmeal, suet and spices. The entire mixture is then stuffed inside a sheep’s stomach (or a more modern sausage casing) and then boiled for about an hour. The end result is a large brownish sausage-looking thing, which is sliced into and shared. And though it might not sound very appetizing, unless you’re strictly an herbivore - give it a try. You only live once, right?
Date: October 29th, 2007 |
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Edinburgh Hogmanay
Edinburgh in winter might sound like it would be dreary, but it’s decidedly not. And one of the main reasons is that one of the city’s best festivals takes place at New Year’s - it’s Hogmanay in Edinburgh.
Hogmanay, which means “last day of the year” in Scots, is usually at least a two-day holiday covering December 31 and January 1, and it can even stretch into January 2 as well. Historically speaking, it’s a pagan celebration, and during the reformation it was celebrated in secret. Since the end of the 17th century, however, it’s been back out in public and these days it’s one of the best reasons to visit Edinburgh in the winter.
Some towns in Scotland participate in certain Hogmanay customs - like swinging big balls of fire around at midnight in a race around the town or blessing the household with a burning juniper branch - but if you’re looking for an all-night party to ring in the new year, then you’ll want to book yourself a room in Edinburgh.
Date: October 22nd, 2007 |
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Daily Dose 1.10
Edinburgh theatre asked to apologise for alleged anti-Semitism.
Does Edinburgh have too many buses?
Edinburgh University Alumni offer scholarships for poorer students.
Scottish diaspora return for conference aimed at boosing enterprise.
Date: October 1st, 2006 |
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Mushroom hunting in the Scottish countryside
I was quite surprised to learn that up until recently, magic mushrooms had been legal in the UK. Magic mushrooms are the name given for the collection of different fungi that are imbibed for by a user in order to have a psychedelic experience. As far as I know, magic mushrooms have been classified as dangerous (or class A) drugs in most Western countries (bar Holland of course) for some time. A self-professed “friend of the fungi”, I was happy to learn that there remain legal ways of sourcing and enjoying fresh local fungi. Like the …
Date: September 30th, 2006 |
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