As a birthday present to the grandparents (my in-laws) we travelled with the extended family of my husbands side to Edinburgh. We stayed for a long weekend followed by a trip through the scottish highlands up to the Isle of Skye afterwards. Our daughter was 20-months old back then, her cousin 3,5 years. We had no idea what to expect taking her on her first city trip and then afterwards on long drives across the scotish highlands, especially as our girl has been known for not being very good friends with her car seat. Well – we have to start getting her used to it at some point!
Edinburgh is a fantastic city you can mostly explore with the stroller, museums are free and all offer great things to explore for kids. We stayed at a nice hotel in the city center and took the cab for trips further away. It was good the hotel had it’s own restaurant, which made it easier for us having a nice dinner with the family after bringing our wee one to bed.
Strolling down the streets of Edinburgh is an adventure in itself. We also took a tour of Mary King’s Close a warren of hidden streets that has remained frozen in time since the 17th Century. Of course it is a tourist attraction, but quite a good one ;).
Of course we explored Holyroodhouse and the beautiful ruin of the Abbey behind. They have a nice dress-up room just off the main gallery, the kids loved that one. We also walked through the famous Greyfriars Kirkyard where JK Rowling got her inspiration for her character names from – it is quite fun strolling arround looking arround for familiar names, especially for older kids reading Harry Potter. Of course we had to have tea at the elephant house afterwards where JK Rowling sat writing much of her early novels in the back room overlooking Edinburgh Castle – try the millionars shortbread, a delicious variation of the popular shortbread covered with caramel and chocolate!
Celebrating mothers day we dined out at Jamie’s Italian from british star chef Jamie Oliver. The good thing about having dinner in Scotland is that restaurants serve dinner earlier than on the main continent. We mostly booked at table for 6pm, got there early and could enjoy dinner with our little ones before they got too tired. Our drinks we could enjoy at the hotel bar after bedtime ;).
One night we could also discover a little bit of the night life with it’s nice folk bars, pubs and good restaurants – but one night gave us just a glimpse of it, definately something to come back to on a parents-only weekend or once the kids are older.
Continue reading our Scottish Highlands and Isle of Sky adventures with kids!
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