Tell me about Glasgow/Edinburgh in March

[amberlyrose]

I found some ridiculously cheap tickets to Glasgow in March, so I think I'm gonna book it tonight. DH and I are both big soccer fans, so I'm hoping one of the teams will have a game going on at the time.
What else could we do in 6 days?
Hotels to look into?

We know it'll be cold, but that won't bug us- we did Amsterdam in February once.

[frlcb]

It will be colder than Amsterdam in February, but if you don't mind cold then you will be okay. We just stayed at the Radisson Blu in Edinburgh and really enjoyed it, it was a great location and fairly reasonable.

[wise_rita]

My ILs stayed at Ten Hill Place which is 5 minutes walk from the Royal Mile, and I imagine you won't pay Royal Mile prices. I've stayed at the Holiday Inn on Cowgate and it was good (great location).

It's likely to be more rainy than cold per se, so pack umbrellas and rain jackets.

Holyrood 9A is my favorite pub in town. Great food and less than 10 minutes walk from the pubs on Grassmarket with much, much better food and less drunken bar stank. It's a block east of Holiday Inn.

The best caramel slice I've ever had is at CQ Cafe, which is opposite the Grassmarket (on the eastern side). It's hard to find a place that will deep fry a Mars bar for you, so do some research if you really want to try one. Drink an Irn Bru (soda) just for the experience.

Best Indian food in town is Kismot, which wouldn't be too far if you were staying at Ten Hill Place but would be a 15 minute hike from Royal Mile. Mosque Kitchen is an Edinburgh institution if you want a seriously cheap lunch a short walk from the Royal Mile.

Dolly the cloned sheep is at the National Museum, which I got a kick out of. I didn't do a palace tour, which was pretty stupid of me and I wish I would have (in the freaking YEAR I lived there). The Sandeman's (I think it is) Free Tour is a good way to get a combined overview of the history and sites of the city.

For a seriously cheap/awesome shopping experience hit up Primark on Princes Street.

You can do Arthur's Seat in a few hours, but Calton Hill will give you the same views in half the time/energy expenditure. Climbing up the Scott Monument on Princes is cool, but again Calton Hill will suit your needs just fine if you're pinched for time.

If you find yourself on Princes Street, an affordable lunch option would be the very British meal of M&S pre-packaged sandwiches/salads and eating them out in Princes Street gardens, if it's nice/dry enough to sit outside.

I will shut up now. I am just reliving memories. I should make a Rita's Essential Edinburgh day tour plans. It would be affordable and awesome!

2 last thoughts: Edinburgh is incredibly walkable, but cabs are plentiful and affordable and won't rip you off. And Edinburgh is so much more interesting for tourists than Glasgow. It takes an hour to get between the two by bus/train, so plan the bulk of your trip in Edinburgh.

[amberlyrose]

Thanks! That is all very helpful info!
We were thinking of doing a vacation rental since my siblings and I may surprise our parents with tickets to go with us.
I didn't see much to do in Glasgow, so it may just be a day there for a football game and the rest of the time in Edinburgh (about 5 days?).
I'm a HUGE history nerd and I think the castle will be our #1 stop.

[wise_rita]

Jul 30, 2012 12:47:04 GMT -5 amberlyrose said:

We were thinking of doing a vacation rental since my siblings and I may surprise our parents with tickets to go with us.

My friend has stayed at the Edinburgh Castle Esplanade apartment. I saw pictures and it was adorably quaint, with a view of the castle (awesome in itself, but also a good location) and was reasonably priced.

[Waffles]

I'd definitely spend more time in Edinburgh than Glasgow. Aside from the castle, you should try to do a tour of the vaults underneath the city (google ghost tours edinburgh, there are plenty). I can't recommend one in particular as I've still not managed to do it after 6+ visits there :-(

I also second neeps' rec for Stirling castle.

[pittpurple]

I live in Edinburgh - feel free to come find me on the International Living board if you have more specific questions later on as I'm not on this board regularly.

Generally speaking, I think there's more historical options in Edinburgh, although Glasgow has a lot to offer as well for museums and shopping in particular. If you find a football match, it's easy enough to get out and back in a day (although make sure to know the timings of the last train. And the last train from Glasgow-Edinburgh is a cultural experience in itself, not necessarily the best experience but it can be hilarious)

The castle is definitely worthwhile and if you walk from the castle to Holyrood Palace (The Royal Mile) there are tons of cute little pubs and shops on the way (it's obviously touristy but I still love it) and if Holyrood Palace is open, it's worth a look (it closes regularly when the Queen is in residence). I think Arthur's Seat is fun and can definitely be walking up and down in an hour or so but Calton Hill is interesting as well since there's buildings on top of it.

I definitely recommend one of the vault tours, it's surreal to see how far down they go. Do you like museums at all? Just in case you don't know, national museums in the UK are all free, so you can pop in and out of them as you like. The Scottish Museum and the Portrait Gallery were both recently redone and are well worth visiting and there's a small modern art museum and the main art museum on Princes Street as well.

I would think something like one day at the castle/palace, one day at museums with lunch and some wandering around downtown, one day to Stirling Castle, one day to Glasgow and a day for whatever else jumps out at you while looking around would be a fantastic short trip. You could even consider renting a car for a day and going to see some more of the castles in the area - it's worth seeing one of the ruined castles, they are so atmospheric. You can get to Linlithgow Palace (a ruin on a small loch) in about 30 minutes on a train if that's easier for you.

And for weather - be prepared for anything! Our one nice week of weather this year happened in March, it's the only time I wore sandals so far this year. So just bring lots of options. It will probably rain most of the time but you might be surprised.

Again, let me know if you have any more specific questions, I'm happy to help! There are definitely neighbourhoods that are much nicer/easier once you start looking at apartment rentals.