going to scotland

[urgreat]

hi i am planning our holiday to scotland i have never visited scotland before can pls anyone suggest as to once reaching edinburh what all to see n where all to go. your advice will be highly appreciated. i am travelling with two kids aged 2aqnd a half n 7yrs.

[gourmand]

Edinburgh is a GREAT city!!!! Once you get there, there's a huge tourist center on Princes Street next to the train station. There are cool day trips you can sign up for at the center. That's probably the easiest way to get to the castles and to Loch Ness (boat ride to meet Nessy the monster!). If your kids are big Harry Potter fans, you will definitely want to check out the Elephant House, which is near the Edinburgh castle. It's walking distance from Princes Street (where all the shopping places are at). It's in the old town section. Anyway, Elephant House is where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter. It's a cute cafe that serves really good coffee and reasonably priced meals. It also faces the castle so you can get a really cool view of it.

Definitely check out Edinburgh castle. The old town section surrounding it has cool little museums too. There's a place right next to the castle that has this cool telescope thingy (great for kids). Plus really cool views of the city on the roof. There's also a kids toy museum in the old town section.

A short bus ride away from Princes Street is the Botanic Gardens. It's really really pretty there. Sometimes they also have special storytelling sessions for kids. Definitely check that out. There's a great little cafe across from the gardens called Lapeyre Cafe, they serve really good lunches (sandwiches, salads, etc).

I LOOOOOVE edinburgh! Have a great time and oh, don't forget to carry an umbrella with you. It does rain quite a bit!