Visiting Art Galleries in Edinburgh

If you base yourself at Craigwell Cottage for your stay in Edinburgh, you will be within easy walking distance of the City Centre Art Galleries. A short stroll up Calton Road turning up New Street and into East Market Street will bring you to the nearest of these, the City Art Centre, which often hosts interesting exhibitions. Directly opposite is the Fruit Market Gallery. Another short stroll, cutting through the beautiful East Princes Street Gardens, will bring you to the National Gallery and the Royal Scottish Academy situated at the bottom of the Mound, and linked by the Weston Link. In the Weston Link you will find a cafe and restaurant, and there are often opportunities to participate in art-based activities and create your very own masterpiece.

Christmas is Coming

Wi-Fi arrives at Craigwell Cottage

It's here! At last! Craigwell Cottage guests can now have the
advantages of our new O2 home network for the duration of their stay.
Initially we will be charging a small fee for the use of the network
as not everyone will want it, however this policy will be reviewed
frequently. I'd you are looking for somewhere to spend a few nights in
Edinburgh, and want to be able to use your own laptop computer while
travelling, then why not try a stay at Craigwell Cottage?
We're close to the Scottish Parliament, the Royal Mile, Edinburgh
Council's Headquarters, and with great transport links nearby, we're
within easy reach of many parts of Edinburgh.

MY guests are the best!

Hi Susan

We had a lovely time staying at your cottage. We thought the accommodation was fantastic, very clean and had everything we needed. And what a fantastic location! We didn't have to use the car at all!

Shame the weather wasn't a bit better on Saturday / Sunday but we didn't let it stop us. We were straight out on Saturday after we arrived exploring the Royal Mile and then over to the new town. We went in the National Gallery and did a bit of shopping and then out for a meal and few drinks – we even tried haggis for the first time, which we were surprised to find was actually very nice!!! Sunday we spent most of the day in the castle, then a bit more walking around admiring the stunning architecture. We found Greyfriar's Bobby, and had a walk up to the 'Parthenon' to admire the fantastic view of Arthur's Seat, which we spent the following day climbing!

Overall we had a great few days in Edinburgh, and are very grateful for your hospitality.

Thanks once again.

Things to do on a rainy day in Edinburgh

When you're travelling with young children, it's always good to go
armed with some ideas of what to do of the weather is foul and you're
on need of some indoor activity. During our October break we spent
some time at the Ceramic Experience just near Ocean Terminal, making a
lovely surprise for Grandma's birthday.

Edinburgh short breaks

Edinburgh is a wonderful place to spend time at any time of year, but
my favourite time of year is in September or October after the frenzy
of the Festivals is over and Edinburgh is getting back to 'normal'. I
took this photo while out shopping on a Saturday afternoon. We were
just heading from Princes Street up to the Royal Mile as we wanted to
price some pieces of kit to complete a kilt outfit before the party
and dinner season got into full swing. On the way the view from
outside the Royal Scottish Academy through the Waverley Valley towards
the Forth caught my eye, and armed with only the camera on my phone I
still think I captured quite a good shot. Hope it will inspire you to
come and stay at Craigwell Cottage some time.

Places to Visit from Craigwell Cottage

Just because you've decided to book a stay in a cottage in Edinburgh,
doesn't mean that you have to spend all your time in our fair city.
Basing your holiday at Craigwell Cottage means that you are only a few
minutes walk from the main railway station, Edinburgh's Waverley
Station: the only railway station in the UK to be named after a novel!
During our October holidays this year we set off for a day in Glasgow
as we'd heard good things about the Kelvingrove Museum and Gallery,
and had been meaning to visit for ages.
A kids go free offer meant that I'd we set off after 9.30 and returned
before 4.30 or after 6.30 we could get 2 adults and 4 children to
Glasgow by rail for less than £18.
Forty-five minutes later we were in the centre of Glasgow, and a quick
trip on the Underground and a short walk and we were there. We enjoyed
looking at the design rooms, with their Rennie Macintosh pieces, and
at the collection of art by the 'Glasgow Boys'. The children liked the
animals, the mini museum and the climate displays.
We tracked down the basement cafe which we'd heard was worth a visit,
and can confirm that all 6 managed to find enough to satisfy the picky
eaters in the party.

Craigwell Cottage Weekend

We find out over the course of the weekend the relationship between Craigwell
Cottage and the Scottish Desert.

Dynamic Earth Visit

As agreed with Lottie and Scottie yesterday, it was to be a trip to Dynamic Earth today. So after our delicious breakfast from The Manna House, it was off up Campbell's Close to the Royal Mile, then over the road past Canongate Primary School and up to Bull's Close to find a shortcut through to Dynamic Earth. Plenty of photo opportunities en route as we passed the Scottish Parliament building with its interesting ultra modern facades. Lottie had been watching some kids show on BBC this morning about kids setting rules for their parents and says she's banning me from taking more than 5 photos a day.
Susan McNaughton
October 2008

Visiting the Garden at Craigwell Cottage

Our first morning at Craigwell Cottage looked a bit drizzly, so the
idea of walking over to The Manna House for croissants turned into a
quick trip in the car. But the croissants, petit pains au chocolat and
Mediterranean cheese swirls which we brought back were soon polished
off, and we were ready for a bit of light DIY. But it was not that
simple. Having dismantled the bed which had reached the end of its
useful life, we opened the new box to
find that the new one was in an even worse state. Time to hit the
phone. While Sandy took the old bed off to the dump (where he had to
put up with the predictable comments), we climbed up to the garden and
took some photos looking over the rooftops to Holyrood Park.

An autumn weekend at Craigwell Cottage, Edinburgh

Just beginning to experiment with my new iphone and mobile blogging - so forgive this photo! It was meant to show that the minute we arrived at Craigwell Cottage for the weekend, we kicked back, and relaxed in front of the TV while the kids got ready for bed.

No, we're not crazy! But as Sandcastle Cottage is booked during the
school holidays, we've decided to take the kids to the big city for
the weekend. Yes, our first stay at Craigwell Cottage in the heart of
Edinburgh's Old Town. I'm hoping to put up some blog postings about
what we do while we're here. More to come.

View of Edinburgh Castle from Starbuck's Princes Street.

Edinburgh Castle today

We went shopping for a little while this afternoon, and when we were in Princes Street we snapped this photographs of Edinburgh Castle in the late afternoon sunshine.

Went shopping in Princes Street today.

Walk around Arthur's Seat

While you're staying at Craigwell Cottage, it's only a short walk to
Holyrood Park. In a little over an hour this morning a friend and I
walked round Arthur's Seat on footpaths, enjoying the early autumn
sunshine. There is a useful guide to walks in Holyrood Park available at:
http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/holyrood-park-suggested-walks.pdf

First mobile post

This could be the start of something good.