My trip to Edinburgh

Hi: You might be interested to hear that I used your website recently as an information source for a birthday weekend away in Edinburgh at Easter:
http://www.london-day-trips.com/edinburgh.html

Very good information in this travel site. We took in most of the sights listed including the Castle (which is a must-do), Holyrood House, St Giles, National Gallery & the Georgian House. However we were there for a weekend and you do need plenty of time which, for a day trip, is really pushing the bounds especially if you go there by train.

We flew up to Edinburgh from Stansted in just under an hour and the regular ten minute bus service only takes 15 minutes to get into the heart of Edinburgh.

The train takes at least 4.5 hours which, for a day trip would barely give you at best 5 hours for sight-seeing in what would be a long and tiring day.

Incidentally flying pre-booked works out around £40 - £90 each way whereas the train ticket can vary between £47 and £149 each way. You can get to Edinburgh before 09.00 on the early flight out of Gatwick and there is a return flight at 20.00 landing at a respectable 21.30, therefore giving you 11 hours, say 10 if you allow for the bus into Edinburgh (only £6 return) & a quick lunch.

Ten hours would give you time to visit the Castle, Holyrood and several more of the attractions listed. Frankly I doubt you would have sufficient time to visit anything more than the Castle, allowing for a much needed lunch after the arduous train journey.

This is Just a suggestion anyway. Cheap flights have taken off in a big way here in recent years whereas the train is frankly slow, dirty and comparatively expensive (Euro Star excepted). OK for shorter trips from London though.

As for the sights that you mention..............

I would add a bit more about the Castle as there is so much of interest there including the fact that it used to house American POWs on half-rations. You can see the cannon fire at 1pm every day bar Sundays and this place even has a dog cemetery!

Holyrood is interesting but special mention has to be made as to the lovely gardens which are also accessible to visitors. So too is the adjacent Holyrood Park, with challenging walks along the laid out prescribed paths.

The Gallery itself houses some wonderful works of art including some Rembrandts and a highly quirky but unforgettable work named The Three Oncologists - see:

But definitely much better as a weekend break so you can take in a really fun night-time Ghost Walk that accesses the catacombs hidden below the City...

Best regards