Edinburgh is just capital:
What can you see in a two-day visit?

IT is late evening in the Castle and I am sitting watching the closing of the Edinburgh Tattoo. Lit by a single spotlight, a lone piper stands high on the ramparts playing the ‘lights out’ lament, and the effect is magical. I swear there are tears in my eyes. Edinburgh can do that to you.

Robert Louis Stevenson once said, ‘Edinburgh is what Paris ought to be’ and when you look down from the Castle on to its mediaeval lanes and elegant sweeping terraces, and then farther afield towards the 18th century ‘new town’ with its gorgeous Georgian squares and avenues, you can see he was not far wrong. The old town oozes history from every brick, yet this is also a capital in which 12 international festivals take place each year, attracting leading performers from across the world; it is where galleries display cutting-edge art, and where restaurants, bars and clubs create a lively cosmopolitan culture with a distinctly Scottish flavour. It also happens to have the highest density of Michelin-starred restaurants outside London.
So how can you take all this and distil it into a two-day visit? Unlike many other capitals around the world, Edinburgh is compact enough to be able to move around easily so let us explore how to get the best of the city in a couple of days.

Day 1
Check into your hotel (see below). Find a stop for the hop-on hop-off bus tour, a must for any visitor to Edinburgh. Your ticket will let you get on and off at any of the 24 stops along the one-hour route, which loops around the city visiting all the major sights. The buses are every 20 minutes, and include a guide who will tell a colourful local story or two along with the interesting history lesson. Other bus tours travel outside the city centre, to visit the Royal Botanic Gardens for example, or the Royal Yacht Britannia, aboard which HM The Queen and the Royal Family sailed more than a million miles during its 40 years’ service.

You will probably want to visit the Castle at this point and see the Scottish Crown Jewels, St Margaret’s Chapel and The Stone of Destiny on which previous Monarchs were crowned. Almost next-door is The Scotch Whisky Experience. For lovers of the dram it is an entertaining insight into how the spirit was created, and at the end you can enjoy a free taste. Non-whisky aficionados can try the Camera Obscura Show instead. From a mysterious Victorian rooftop chamber you see live moving images of Edinburgh projected on to a viewing table via mirrors and lenses. Pick up people on your hands and get the traffic to climb over paper bridges: lots of fun.

If it is getting close to lunchtime, head down to Market Street to the Fruitmarket Gallery Café. It’s a lovely art gallery with an excellent café that serves homemade soups and salads and some of the best cakes in the city. Now head to the Palace of Holyroodhouse at the opposite end of the Royal Mile (the buses stop here too), the official Scottish residence of The Queen. This was the home of Mary Queen of Scots and a critical episode in her reign took place here with the killing of her loyal aide David Rizzio. Other notable residents were James II, Bonnie Prince Charlie and Queen Victoria. If the weather is good, you can take a walk from here up to Arthur’s Seat in the adjacent Holyrood Park for some of the best views of the city.

Time for some tea now, and Eteaket at 41A Frederick Street is a tea boutique and café that serves just about every beverage known to man and a delicious cream tea too. If you have time for some shopping before dinner, head over to Multrees Walk in the New Town, where you will find Harvey Nichols, Mulberry, Armani and Louis Vuitton.

There are no shortage of restaurants in Edinburgh, but as you are staying in the Old Town, Ondine is one of the new gourmet eateries. Owned and run by award-winning chef Roy Brett, the menu is a showcase of Scotland’s fresh seasonal produce.

Day 2
Take a walk back in time to the hidden underground vaults around Mary Kings Close and recapture 17th-century life in plague-ridden Edinburgh. This is a warren of ancient streets where real people lived from the days when the old town was a rat-infested slum. It is very popular, so book this in advance.

Having managed to avoid the plague, take a ride to the Royal Botanic Gardens—known by the locals as ‘Botanics’. Scotland’s premier green kingdom has been in business since 1670 and is set in over 70 acres of landscaped grounds. This is also a lovely location for lunch, where the Terrace Café will provide some al fresco dining (look out for the squirrels and birds).

Just the afternoon left, so what to do? How about The Royal College of Surgeons Museum? Inside you will find William Playfair’s pathology Museum, the oldest in Britain, with its human anatomical specimens from the 18th century and an exhibition chronicling surgery from Roman times to the present, and the discovery of antisepsis and anaesthesia. Or for the more faint of heart, visit the National Galleries of Scotland, spread across three buildings in the New Town. Here you will find masterpieces from the early Renaissance to the present day by some of the most important artists in history.

No trip to Edinburgh would be complete without a visit to Jenners, Scotland’s most famous department store, and in particular, the new food hall which contains a feast of food and wines from all over the world. Finish your Edinburgh break with dinner at Restaurant Martin Wishart. Now in its eleventh year, this Michelin-starred restaurant is on the ‘Shore’ overlooking the Water of Leith, a 10-minute cab ride from the centre. Offering a mix of traditional and  modern French cuisine, the restaurant gave the city its first Michelin star and has remained at the top of Edinburgh dining ever since.

If you can stay a little longer, see the beautiful Rosslyn Chapel in the village of Roslin, about 30 minutes from the centre. Dating back to 1446, it caught global fame after featuring in The Da Vinci Code, and it is an astonishing piece of architecture: full of intricate and mysterious religious carvings and quotations that to this day cannot be explained.

This short visit will no doubt give you the momentum to return. Edinburgh always has something new to offer.

When to go in 2010?
Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival: July 30-August 8
Edinburgh Art Festival: July 29-September 5
Edinburgh Fringe Festival: August 6-30
International Book Festival: August 14-30
Edinburgh Tattoo: August 6–28
International Festival: August 13-September 5

Where to stay
Hotel Missoni, Edinburgh’s only five-star hotel to be opened in the last five years. It is right on the old town’s Royal Mile and quite probably one of the most unusual hotels you will ever experience. A collaboration between Rezidor Hotels and Missoni, the Italian fashion and interiors house famous for its colourful zigzag patterns, it is a vibrant and contemporary twist on luxury hospitality that is clear from the moment you walk through the door and notice the two huge mosaic urns. The ostensibly black and white interior is punctuated with bursts of brilliant colour, with large Missoni prints on the walls and the furniture is without doubt uber trendy designer chic, in total contrast to the ancient architecture outside. Your room will be equally contemporary, with a large silver leather headboard and zigzag linen covering the very comfortable bed, and the luxury bathroom will be brimming with Missoni toiletries, a heated mirror, a rainforest shower and plush dressing gowns. You may also enjoy the free mini bar, and other free services such as wi-fi access, two items laundered and local calls.

The Missoni is refreshingly different certainly, but the service is impeccable, the cuisine delightfully Italian and the luxury status reassuringly visible: a wonderful addition to Edinburgh’s already broad canvas. A stop for the hop-on hop-off bus is just around the corner.