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Charlotte Square
lovely edinburgh (c) ukirsari
Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh
Amy and Nicole
Hello travellers,
We r Planing for spending the new year in Edinburgh(from 29th of December till the 3d of January),and i was hoping to find some answers for these questions:
1) Would the shops will be open during this time?
2) How to get Passes for hogmanay festivale?is it already to late?
3) Is it still possible to enjoy the festivale if we couldnt get any passes or tickets for any show in that time?
4)Can you still see sightseegins by daytime ,or is the city "overshadowed" by the festivale?
Thanks for your help.
Hi
in answer to your questions,
1- Most shops in Edinburgh will be open for business at this time, one of the busiest of the year, although some may well be shut on 1st January, but normally reopen on 2nd January.
2- If you check out Edinburgh's Hogmanay website,
http://www.edinburghshogmanay.org, you can find out all the latest information regarding passes. They have not yet been issued, but if you register you will get updated,- go to the page marked Visitor Zone.
3- Hogmanay in Edinburgh is one of the biggest festivals of the year, so chances are you will experience the festive atmosphere, fireworks display etc, even if you can't get tickets for the street party/concerts.
4-You will definetely be able to see most of Edinburgh's sites at this time, on the 31st December(Hogmanay), some streets become closed to traffic in preparation for the street party, but it shouldn't disrupt your visit too much.
Some sights also may be closed on Jan 1st as it is a bank holiday in the UK. Check individual opening hours/days on
http://guide.visitscotland.com/vs/guide/edinburgh,en,SCH1/objectId,RGN560vs,curr,GBP,folder,ATTRACTION,season,at1,selectedEntry,sights/sights.html
www.edinburgh.org is the official tourist information site (the link above is from there).
Enjoy!
Scotland also has Jan 2 as a public holiday as we generally need a few days to get over Hogmanay. You should also have a back up plan as the weather has led to cancellation of the street party in 2 of the last 3 years.
I've said this many a time though, Scotland isn't really cut out for outdoor events in the middle of winter and I'd much rather see in the bells from the comforts of a nice bar or restaurant. You could however do a combination such as Le Monde had an first come first served policy on entry to the bars, once in you were given a wrist band so that if you wished to see the fireworks from George Street the pass would enable you re-entry afterwards. Lots of bars have ticket only access on the night as well so check their websites to confirm.
Got my facts slightly wrong, the street party was cancelled in 03/04 due to high winds and in 06/07 due to heavy rain (but only at 2030 on the night for which the organisers were roundly condemned).
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=114&id=1326712007
Walk along the Royal Mile ...even though it's touristy it's a lovely steep street from Holyrood Palace up to the castle. That I bought my first tartan blue and green Doc Marten's there. I still got them because I loved them soooo much!!! Maybe I should've warned ya that I am a shoe addict ;-) My friends call me Imelda...
Instead of going out, we opted to prepare food for ourselves with wholesome organic chicken, fresh vegetables and cheese.
It's open every Saturday 2am til 2pm.
First Saturday every month, slow food cooking demos
for a google map
" If you want food as fresh as it can be, visit the award-winning Edinburgh Farmers' Market. The market takes place at Castle Terrace under the imposing backdrop of Edinburgh Castle. Over 60 specialist producers currently attend the market." from the Farmers market website
If you are into rugby check out an international at Murrayfield Stadium. The best time is during the Six nations tournament but there are friendly games at other times of the year. The tickets can be quite cheap too. The picture was taken at Murrayfield when I went to see Scotland play Italy in March this year as part of the Six Nations tournament. The atmosphere is brilliant and its almost worth it just to hear the crowd sing 'Flower of Scotland', the unofficial Scottish anthem. A Scotland shirt/kilt/scarf!
Loch Ness is a huge tourist destination and the nearest city is Inverness. This is the road from Edinburgh on the way to Inverness. I consider this off the beaten path even though it is situated between two tourist meccas. It was a beautiful drive.
Stereo was Gaia. That is Gaia is no longer, everyone's favourite seedy, cheep little dance venue that had some great music and "sex-tag" has gone upmarket.
Stereo ain't that bad, but they've gone all posh on the clothes rule, the prices have jumped up and the VIP bar up the top - a really cool white - reeks of snoberry.
Gaia was so good. Tough. Fairly for Edinburgh. No footy colours, thats a given. I have seen people turned away because they looked too old - 35? What a joke.
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