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Edinburgh Visiting Essentials FAQ

Acknowledgements to Times Online

Clare Dight rounds up the essentials for visiting Edinburgh. These
guides appear every Thursday in The Times' Career section.

“EDINBURGH is what Paris ought to be,” the novelist Robert Louis
Stevenson once said, from which we know he wasn’t into nice frocks.
Shopping aside, the two capitals do compare in their history,
architecture, fine cuisine, high culture and hospitality. So arrange a
spurious meeting and go.

Arriving: There are about 40 flights a day from London to Edinburgh
airport, which is eight miles west of the city centre. It is not linked
by rail, but a 20-minute ride in an official white airport mini-cab will
set you back £12 to £15, says
http://www.bradmans.com/europe/edinburgh/index.html The Airlink 100
shuttle bus takes 25 minutes to the city centre and leaves every 10
minutes until 0020. A return ticket costs £5 ([url]www.flybybus.com)[/url].
Edinburgh is served by two train stations: Waverley in the city centre
and Haymarket in the West End. Train companies include Virgin
([url]www.virgintrains.co.uk)[/url], GNER (www.gner.co.uk) and First ScotRail
([url]www.firstscotrail.com)[/url].

Staying: The Scotsman hotel, one minute’s walk from Princes Street and
Waverley station, has everything a weary business traveller with
expenses could ask for: a computer and printer in every room, three
restaurants, 399 malt whiskies to try in the “399 Bar” and a 16m
swimming pool to ease the hangover. A standard room costs from £250 a
night ([url]www.thescotsmanhotel.com)[/url].

Rick’s boutique hotel is a Condé Nast Traveller favourite for its
friendly service, though as www.cntraveller.com notes, Rick’s is “not
strictly a hotel” but a bar and restaurant with ten rooms in an adjacent
Georgian warehouse. Still, homely touches such as a choice of classic
movies to play in your room as well as modem connections and business
services make it a welcoming retreat. Rooms cost a reasonable £130 a
night ([url]www.ricksedinburgh.co.uk)[/url].

Eating: Do your stomach a favour and avoid the neeps, tatties and haggis
of traditional tartan fare. It’s good stuff in a photo-opportunity type
of way, but Edinburgh’s culinary scene has much more to offer these days
than cullen skink. The city now has two Michelin-starred restaurants.
Restaurant Martin Wishart (www.martin-wishart.co.uk) in nearby Leith
offers Scottish ingredients with a French twist and good neighbouring
bars all around the Shore area. Try Wishart’s tempting taster menu for
£55 for six courses.

Number One at the Balmoral Hotel www.thebalmoralhotel.com) also sources
the finest Scottish ingredients and offers a reasonably priced,
three-course lunch menu for £19.95. TimeOut also recommends Oloroso, 33
Castle Street, for its views over the city and modern European menu.

Business etiquette: The Scots are a proud nation so it’s best to avoid
political independence as an opening gambit. You’ll also win few friends
in Edinburgh if you mention how much you love its more trendy rival
Glasgow.

Spare time: Edinburgh is easily explored on foot and wanderers will be
rewarded by a mix of fine neoclassical architecture in the New Town, and
medieval streets in the Old. The castle dominates the skyline and is
Scotland’s No 1 attraction, according to the tourist board.

At the end of a long hard day, there’s drinking to be done. Edinburgh is
full of pubs serving up independent brews until 1am and sometimes 3am.

The Edinburgh Festival: Edinburgh’s annual cultural festival in August
and early September is great for theatre, music, dance and comedy fans,
terrible for everyone else trying to organise anything when one million
extra visitors have the same idea. Be sure to book hotels, travel and
restaurants well in advance. For more in- formation, visit
www.eif.co.uk.

Quick gift: Head to Jenners, until recently the world’s oldest
independent department store (48 Princes Street) and buy anything own
brand, laced with whisky.

www.traveltimesonline.co.uk/businesstravel

ESSENTIALS

# Currency: Sterling

# Time: GMT/BST

# Tipping: Add 10 per cent to taxi fares and restaurant bills for good service

# Calling Edinburgh from abroad: +44 131

# Local area code: 0131

# For local information visit www.edinburgh.org

# Download a city map at www.edinburghcastle.biz/map.html

Further acknowledgements: Clare Dight

Edited by Joe Curry..ability (AT) zetnet (DOT) co.uk

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