Find Luxury Hotels in Edinburgh

• Climb up to Arthur's Seat [25], an extinct volcano. Wonderful view.
• Climb Calton Hill in the morning or early evening hours to experience a great sunrise/sunset over Edinburgh. However, try to avoid hours of complete darkness.
• Walk along the Water of Leith, a small stream that meanders through Edinburgh, providing a peaceful haven from the busy city.
• Walk around Holyrood Park which is just East of Old Town. Created by King James the VI in the 16th century, it is like a Scottish landscape in miniature, containing Arthur's Seat, three lochs, and the stunning Salisbury Crags.
• Walk through Princes Street Gardens, a small, beautiful park that lies in the small valley between Castle Hill and Princes Street.
• Walk down the Royal Mile from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The Royal Mile is the backbone of the sixteenth century Old Town and most of the buildings date from this period.
• Visit a classic Edinburgh bar on the Royal Mile, and relax over a pint of Edinburgh Ale and a classic single malt.
• Edinburgh has an excellent theatre and concert life. Europe's largest theatre, the 3000-seat Edinburgh Playhouse (top of Leith Walk) hosts major West End shows. The Festival Theatre frequently hosts opera and ballet, and the Usher Hall (Lothian Road) has weekly orchestral concerts all year round with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The Queen's Hall (South Clark Street) is home to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
• Explore the Old Parliament Hall where the earlier meetings of the Scots Estates, or Parliament, are believed to have taken place.
• For a cheaper option, the excellent Bedlam Theatre (Bristo Place) regularly puts on good student theatre and is the home to Scotland's oldest improvised comedy troupe, The Improverts.
• Follow a ghost walk around the back street surrounding The Royal Mile and learn about the sinister goings on of Edinburgh's past.
• Don't miss The Real Mary King's Close, a glimpse of life in the medieval Old Town.
• Be sure to go to a chippy and have a deep-fried pizza with brown sauce - or a deep fried Mars Bar - as this is a once in a lifetime never to be repeated taste sensation.
• Take in a football match at Hibernian F.C.'s Easter Road Stadium.

As well as the center of Edinburgh it is also worth checking out Leith and the West End when looking for a place to eat.

Rose St, running parallel to Princes St. is a pedestrian precinct that has a huge number of pubs offering a variety of pub fare food.

And if you're up to it, be sure to drop by a chippy (fish and chip shop) and experience such Scottish delights as deep fried pizza, deep fried hamburgers, deep fried blood sausage, deep fried haggis and deep fried Mars bars.

• A Room in the West End, 26 William Street, [42]. Recommended.

Excellent French restaurants include:

• Cafe Marlayne, 7 Fishmarket Close.
• Cafe St Honore, 34 Thistle Street Lane.
• Le Sept, 5 Hunter Square,, [43].
• Petit Paris, 38-40 Grassmarket.

Vegetarians are catered for with:

• David Bann's Vegetarian Restaurant, 56-58 St Mary's Street, [44]. Imaginative and tasty vegetarian food; some courses are suitable for vegans. Main courses cost about £10.
• Black Bo's, 57-61 Blackfriars St, [45]. Just off the Royal Mile.
• Henderson's, 94 Hanover Street, 0131 225 2131, [46]. Edinburgh institution, self service salad bar in the basement and Bistro round the corner.
• Kalpna, 2-3 Patrick Sq, [47]. £6 for lunchtime buffet.

Edinburgh also has a number of fine seafood restaurants; ones to try include:

• Fishers Bistro, 1 The Shore.
• The Mussel Inn, 61-65 Rose Street, [48].
• Maxi's.

Edinburgh has a wide selection of Chinese restaurants including:

• Lune Town Cantonese Restaurant,[49] 38 William Street,.

And Thai restaurants aplenty, of which a recommendation would be:

• Thai Orchid, 5A Johnston Terrace,. Not cheap, but very good, including for vegetarians.

Edinburgh hosts a number of excellent Indian restaurants including:

• Mezbaan, 14 Brougham Street, Toll Cross. A South Indian restaurant and a rare treat because it serves Indian "street food" dishes such as dosas. There also can't be very many restaurants in the world serving (vegetarian) haggis pakoras. And tasty they are too.
• [50]. Kebab Mahal, 7 Nicolson Street,,Very popular with students as it is close to Edinburgh University.

• Suruchi, 14a Nicholson Street,, [51].
• Namaste, 41 West Preston Street, 6 Broughton Street.
• Britannia Spice, 150 Commercial Street, Leith,, [52].
• The Bombay Bicycle Club, 6 Broughton Street.
• The Far Pavilions, 10-12 Craigleith Road,, [53].
• The Clay Oven in Churchill (Bruntsfield) is very good.

Other good restaurants include:

• Jacques, 8 Gillespie Place,, [54].
• Maison Bleue,. 36-38 Victoria Street.
• First Coast, 99-101 Dalry Road,, [55].
• reform, 267 Canongate, The Royal Mile,,