Edinburgh selfcatering accommodation, Scotland

Editors pick holiday accommodation Edinburgh

Tranent

Saint Martins House, Tranent.
12 Bedrooms. Sleeps 20.

North Berwick

Lofty Links, North Berwick.
4 Bedrooms. Sleeps 8. Pets.

Cramond Village

Cobble Cottage , Cramond Village .
2 Bedrooms. Sleeps 3. Pets.

Sheriff Hall

The Granary, Sheriff Hall .
4 Bedrooms. Sleeps 10. Pets.

Stay in Edinburgh, Scotland's capital city centre

Anyone who visits Edinburgh remarks about the unique shopping experience in the city. Maintaining the Scottish tradition for independently and family-owned shops and boutiques nestling side by side with familiar high street names, you will be completely over-whelmed with the choice available.

Princes Street offers the ultimate shopping experience like no other, combining as it does shopping with sightseeing, overlooked by the magnificent castle. Decidedly Scottish-flavoured, designer boutiques are neighbours to national designer brands, the ultimate homage to style at its funkiest and best, with top couture from the four corners of the globe. The famous 170 year old Jenners department store is a few moments away on St Andrew Square, where the nobility – as well as the fashion conscious residents of Edinburgh – have shopped for generations.

And if you like to mooch where old meets new, the New Town provides a wonderfully eclectic profusion of galleries, craft and second-hand shops all worth a serious browse for that unusual gif to take home as a memento of your stay in Edinburgh. Staying with all things Scottish for a moment, the historic Grassmarket area of the city, with its wonderful independent merchants, designers and artisans is well worth a visit. Aside from the magnificent shopping, you’ll find some of the best restaurant in the city and some vibrant and quite traditionally independent bars and pubs.

Although perhaps ‘better’ remembered as the haunt of the infamous duo of Burke and Hare, you’ll be hard-pressed to not find some of the best in traditional food, drink and even music.

Edinburgh offers a shopping experience like no other. Whatever your mood and whatever you're looking for, the city has something to suit. From the High Street favourites of Princes Street to the funky boutiques of the New Town and West End, you'll be spoilt for choice.

Nip to Leith

While in Edinburgh, the city’s historic port of Leith to the north east is well worth a visit. The docklands there have been completely transformed over the years, with over 70 shops, 15 restaurants and bars, a multi-screen cinema, incredible views of the famous Firth of Forth and the five-star, not to be missed visitor attraction, the Royal Yacht Britannia, as famous now as it was for the decades it spent plying the high seas as the private yacht of the Royal Family.

Festival Fever - Edinburgh

Edinburgh is centre stage in the festival world every year with its annual series of international and other highly acclaimed festivals and events that take place in and around the city. It’s really what Edinburgh does not so much as well, but best.

The first main series of events includes the Spring-scheduled Ceilidh Culture (the annual festival of traditional arts that showcases not only the best in home-grown talent but also acts from throughout the world), the Science Festival (spread over 25 or more venues, with more experiments and hands-on events to keep even the most inquisitive mind active) and the Edinburgh Film Festival (a vital outlet for up and coming film-makers and directors and now ranking increasingly higher each year as an event for showing new films).

The Children's Festival is usually held in late spring to very early summer. It is all the great things theatre – but for children from 1 year upwards.

The world-famous "Edinburgh Festival" - the title has very much become an acknowledged “generic” term - is an incredible cultural happening that takes place annually in Edinburgh during August. There are actually a mixture of different festivals and events all under the one umbrella, including:

The International Festival - a three week celebration of the arts through music, opera, dance and the visual arts.

The world-famous Fringe Festival - responsible for bring us some many of Britain’s top and best-loved comics over the years.

The incredible Edinburgh Military Tattoo - unquestionably Edinburgh’s most iconic event with its military and music.

The Jazz and Blues Festival - both traditional and contemporary, held all over the city.

The Edinburgh Book Festival - the largest of its type in the world, featuring hundreds of authors, debates, readings and speakers.

The Edinburgh Mela - Scotland's largest and most important multi-cultural festival.

When The Edinburgh Festival and the Fringe are on (mid August to early September), is an exciting time to be in Edinburgh on holiday in self catering acommodation; the streets are full of people and entertainers and there are shows everywhere. Make sure you book your holiday accommodation in Edinburgh early as all the best flats and houses are booked up well in advance. You might be lucky and find late availability self catering flats but failing that there are plenty of guest houses, hotels and bed and breakfast in Edinburgh.

At the end of November, Edinburgh comes to life with month-long Christmas festival, complete with traditional German market, attractions and entertainment continuing right up the world famous Hogmanay celebrations.

Carlton Hill

Culture in Edinburgh - Museums and Art

As to be expected from a major European city with history, heritage and culture creeping out of every crack, Edinburgh has many museums and art galleries, all equally worth visiting. Bear in mind that you won’t manage to get around too many before culture-fatigue sets in, so plan the ones you want to see with care!

However, if you are only on a short self-catering break, or a quickly orgainsed city break, perhaps the National Gallery of Scotland, situated on "the Mound" adjacent to the Princess Street Gardens, should be the one to visit. From afar, this imposing building is very reticent of the Parthenon in Athens, albeit in somewhat of a more complete state! There are priceless – some, in fact, more than priceless - works of art from throughout the world from so many of the famous and iconic artists and painters throughout the centuries, including Botticelli, Constable, Degas, Gainsborough, Gauguin, Monet, El Greco, Raphael and many, many more.

If you are with the family and you have children, the wonderfully noisy (some say the noisiest in the world!) Museum of Childhood on the Royal Mile should be on your itinerary, tracing, as it does, all the old toys from your - and your parents’ and grandparents’ childhood. You can reminisce, while your children can see what it was like in the days before computer game consoles and nag-factor marketing. There are five separate galleries from trains to teddies and dolls to dressing up.

Nearby you'll also find the Museum of Edinburgh, the Edinburgh Brass Rubbing Centre and the Writers' Museum.

There is also no shortage of gardens and parks (144 of the latter!) in Edinburgh, and the Royal Botanic Gardens and Glasshouses are nothing short of spectacular – a must if you are on a romantic short break in the city. For the green-fingered, they host a series of talks, exhibitions and event throughout the year. The 263 hectares of relative Edinburgh/Lothian wilderness that is Holyrood Park is also worth a visit if you want to walk off 'the morning after the night before'. With moorland, hills, fields and lochs you can easily forget you are only a few minutes from the vibrant city centre! Arthur's Seat, an 800ft high eroded stump of lava flow that erupted over 300 million years ago is worthy of a photograph.

The Greyfriars churchyard is possibly Edinburgh – if not one of Scotland's - most famous churchyards, all very much down to Greyfriars Bobby, the terrier dog who sat by his master's grave for years until his own death. Countless hundreds of thousands of visitors have had their photograph taken with tenacious little Bobby's statue just outside the churchyard. Others graveyards in the city are famous for their world-renowned ‘residents’, including novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer Robert Louis Stevenson, economist Adam Smith, and anti-hero of Spike Milligan, William McGonagall, said to be the world's worst poet!

Edinburgh is dominated by its castle - allow lots of time and if possible go on a clear day so you can see the lovely views over the city and beyond. There is so much history to absorb it is hard to take it all in. Edinbugh Castle is a 'must see' if you are spending your holiday in Scotland. Leading down from the castle is the Royal Mile, the heart of the Old Town with many fascinating houses and museums to visit as well as St Giles Cathedral. At the bottom is Holyrood Palace and the new Scottish Parliament building. The New Town starts with Princes Street, and north of it lie the 18th century crescents and squares with their elegant houses and flats (many are available to rent as self-catering holiday flats and houses). Walk around the New Town in Edinburgh to take in the stunning architecture. There are lots of holiday cottages in Edinburgh to rent in the Georgian New Town as well as Edinburgh 's Old Town.

With so many art galleries and museums in Edinburgh - (all are worth visiting) but if you only have time for one then perhaps The National Gallery of Scotland is the one to explore. There are also plenty of parks and gardens in Edinburgh, and the Botanic Gardens are spectacular. Leith has now been developed and has lots of excellent restaurants and wine bars on the waterfront. You can also visit Royal Yacht Britannia which is berthed in Leith. Edinburgh has a range of holiday accommodation and so many historic sights that you won't have time to visit everything! Edinburgh is a popular desination for short breaks so if you are looking for weekend self catering accommodation then try here. If you want to spend Hogmanay in Scotland then Edinburgh, with its Hogmanay Festival, is a great place for New Year. Whatever type of holiday cottage, flat or house to rent for a vacation of short break in Edinburgh then you will find it here.

FAQ about Self-catering holiday accommodation in Edinburgh, the Capital city of Scotland which vacation activities to do and where to go?

Being a capital city, is Edinburgh actually suitable for a cottage holiday or is it self-catering apartments or town houses?

The centre of Edinburgh and the immediate suburbs offer a great selection of self-catering apartments and houses for vacation rentals. The outer Edinburgh suburbs and its environs, together with the surrounding Lothian region is truly wonderful holiday cottage territory. Edinburgh is a wonderful centre of focus for a cottage holiday.

With so much to see in Edinburgh what do you recommend?

It goes without saying that Edinburgh Castle is a must as is a stroll along Princess Street. On the way to Hopeton House at South Queensferry, which is Scotland’s finest stately home, you'll see the Forth Bridge, which is one of Scotland’s major landmarks and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Simply just strolling around Edinburgh is an absolute must.

Is transport access to Edinburgh easy?

Edinburgh's central location makes visiting very easy whether by train to Edinburgh, or by road taking the A1 (in the East), the central A7 or the M8 from Glasgow and the west. Edinburgh airport is only 8 miles form the city centre - and you can take a tram directly between the two.

Why choose self-catering in Edinburgh?

Self-catering accommodation gives you a place all to yourself. A kitchen and living room, bedrooms and bathroom, often a garden as well, giving you a relaxed place to stay and the freedom to cook in or eat out. Many people look for pet friendly self-catering so that they can bring their dog on holiday with them. Self-catering is much more flexible than B&B or a hotel but being a capital city you often need to book in advance - especially during the summer Festival months.

Do you have to book to visit Edinburgh Castle?

To guarantee entry to Edinburgh Castle on the date and at the time of your choice, you must buy your tickets online in advance. The best price for entry to the castle is online.