Sign in with Facebook
4 Stars - 42 Opinions
Trail to Arthur's Seat
A rainy Saturday at Edinburgh Farmers' Market
Petit Paris, Edinburgh
Scotland
What is the most economical way to travel from South Queensbury to Old Town Edinburg? I am arriving on a cruise boat, and would like to do an independent tour of Edinburg or hire someone locally. How do I hire a driver?
Bus X4 or 43 goes from South Queensferry to Edinburgh - that would be the most economical. However, it may be that others from the cruise are also wanting to go into Edinburgh, in which case you could share a taxi. I am sure that at the terminal there will be options available. Rather than hiring a driver to tour Edinburgh - a car is a waste of money and not feasible logistically - I would take one of the tour buses that leave from outside Waverley Station. Some of them are hop on/hop off and others are a regular tour. It's by far the best way to go. You get a running commentary and if you want, you can get off at a point that appeals to you and then catch another bus.
Try the links below for private tours;
http://www.mini-tours.com/
http://www.deverelimos.com/section.php?category=%2Fedinburgh_scotland_private_tours%2Fd_private_edinburgh_city_scenic_tour%2F
Other than that, take a taxi into the city should be around £15 where you can find a large number of bus tours as described above.
I was impressed with the variety Edinburgh gives you in a relatively small area of land. There is the New Town with Princes Street, the Princes street gardens, Charlotte Square, Rose street, and the Scott Monument. There is Calton Hill which is dotted with Greek-style monuments and gives great views of the city and landscape. There is the Old Town with the Royal Mile, the Royal Museum of Scotland, George IV bridge, and Greyfriars' Kirk. I love that Scottish accent!!!
The building on the left is the Royal Bank of Scotland. I have a certain Irish ex-boyfriend who does the sign of the cross every time he sees or hears of this bank....let's just say it's made him a large sum of money in a short amount of time.
Trainers for all the walking you are going to do. remember, Edinburgh is built on 7 hills, so leave the high heels at home.
It is also windy there, and colder, so don't forget a warm jacket and jumper. Take your scarf and gloves too. No jabs required, you can get everything you need here in Boots and Superdrug. Weatherwise, it is cold, but not freezing. Avg temperature is about 0-5 degrees celsius.
If you are lucky enough to be able to climb Athur's Seat, which is the plug of an old volcano, you can record spectacular views of Edinburgh and the surrounding countryside. I take my visitors as high up as I can via the trusty Renault, so they can hop out and snap a few memorable shots. I would suggest that you look at atypic's page as he and his lovely wife Pascale actually climbed to the top. That man is FIT lololol
Look at the website if you want to be here virtually.
I'm not a great fan of British sweets: to me, they seem to consist of nothing else but caramelized sugar covered in sugar, coated in sugar frosting, dusted with icing sugar... just far too sweet! But if you have a sweet tooth then Edinburgh certainly promises and delivers some great treats - such as FUDGE.
So after John had happily bought some Toffee on the previous day I found myself being dragged into the Fudge Kitchen (they have stores all over the UK, and their items can even be bought in their online shop) that was offering free samples outside their shop on the Royal Mile. As John watched the live demonstration by the 'fudge maestro' with wide, shiny eyes (quite literally like the proverbial child in a candy store, haha!) I just had to ask the man behind the counter what exactly the difference between Toffee and Fudge was?
He replied "Oh, nothing really. The ingredients are basically the same, it's just that Toffee is worked at a much higher temperature than Fudge, so it becomes harder."
"Aha, so it's sugar then?" I asked, upon which I received a slightly disapproving glare. "Well, we also add whipping cream, corn syrup, salt, natural flavourings & colourings, and sometimes also fruit, nuts & chocolate."
So, whilst my Scotsman was in culinary heaven, I tried a very small crumbly piece and then decided to steer clear for the sake of my teeth and hips ;-) We continued our stroll through the city (well, John was almost skipping down the street due to the sugar rush). I guess you have to grow-up with certain things in order to like them...
NOTE: Fresh fudge does not need to be refrigerated (unless you live in a very hot country) and will keep for around 10 days, or it can be frozen & then lasts for many months. I can't recall the exact prices, but I do remember that they were quite reasonable for something that also appeared to be extremely popular! (the shop was full with customers whenever we walked past here).
Opening Hours: 10:00am-06:00pm.
Watch videos on how fudge is made here: http://www.fudgekitchen.co.uk/fudge_made.asp
Latest Edinburgh hotel reviews
Sponsored Links
Comments