Area to stay in Edinburgh.

I understand that you are seeking to reduce walking. However, how do you feel about tourist crowds? The Royal Mile was one mass of people going in and out of one souvenir shop after another. It is also one big hill.

What are the key sights that you are hoping to see in Edinburgh? Are they really all there? My preference would be to stay just a bit away from this area..... When you decide to do Edinburgh Castle, just take a cab to the top and then walk your way down the royal mile. Edinburgh has an excellent public transport system of trams and buses that can help when you are tired of walking.

I enjoyed Premeir Inn York Place. Tram to/from airport stops at the front door. It is 10-15 minute walk to Royal Mile though. Many restaurants and shops nearby.

The Balmoral is nicely located

https://www.roccofortehotels.com/hotels-and-resorts/the-balmoral-hotel/

Here's another suggestion, you don't have to walk the whole way every time. :) We stayed out near the Royal Botanic Gardens and took the bus up the hill in the AM. You can walk back if you have energy, it's probably 15 minutes from New Town. The day ticket is just 4 GBP. Used this option just this month. Just make sure you have correct change! Newtown is another great area to explore. It's a bit away from the total tourist madness but is still lively.

We too stayed near the Royal Botanic Garden and took the bus. If you buy a day pass for the bus you can go back & forth and around town as much as you want. The Inverleith Hotel was great.

Love the Inverleith. We tried the apartments this time and it was quite nice.

Looking to go for 6, maybe 7 full days mid September. We plan to take 3 day tours and of course see local sights as well. I am always befuddled by reviews, you will see several that say it was great then some that rate it as terrible? I just think you can't make everyone happy. As long as the vast majority are positive I go with that. Reasonable? The tip about taking a bus up and then walk back sounds good. Thanks.

the bus service in Edinburgh is excellent and as has been said a £4 day ticket lets you use them as often as you like.Lots of options for places to stay ,so have a look I would suggest you look at the map of the city and put a circle around the area where the Royal Mile and North south bridge all meet. anywhere within a mile of that should allow you to walk everywhere but do consider staying at little further out as the buses will get you into the centre in minutes and very seldom do you have to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus.

Plus, it's fun riding the buses, especially if you are able to climb up the interior stairs and ride on the top level.
How about Bruntsfield or Morningside; you can get great bus service from there too.
I wouldn't stay right beside the Royal Mile: too busy and noisy.

Hope I am not getting too far off topic. I was thinking if we stayed 7 nights is that really too long? 3 day trips, local sites and wondering about. And with so many hotels non-refundable (unless you pay extra), maybe just book 3 and if we like it extend more days, if days not available have a couple fallback places. I am leery of committing to so much money and then find out it not to our liking. Generally we look for a room that averages about $220/ night.

I would not go with non-refundable reservations. How much different is the non-ref price? I usually don't look because I know I'm not going to book that.

I would not count on hotels having vacancies if you are visiting during high season. The hotel where I just stayed (mediocre) told me they are booked solid every night, all summer season. This was in a general conversation I was having about a maintenance issue in my room and said something like, not sure when it was last occupied. That's when she said they were always booked.

PS, it's your topic so you can add anything you want!

I would say seven days is a long time. But as you say, you can make day trips from Edinburgh--Glasgow, Stirling, the Borders, St. Andrews. If you want to visit the north, I would recommend shorting your time Edinburgh and actually staying up north. I did a recent trip that was three nights in Edinburgh, three in Dunked, and three in the Inverness area (Fortrose). I did have a car. But you could do a trip where you do a day trip or two out of Edinburgh and then head north to Inverness and do some day trips from there.

We stayed at The Inn Place Hotel on Cockburn St. for 3 nights at the end of April. It is a smallish place and was a bit hard to find until you were at the front door. It was a near perfect location (for us) as we traveled within Edinburgh exclusively by bus and we could get a bus on South Bridge or Princess Street to just about anywhere in the city, both streets are near the hotel. There was even a DIY laundry within 2 blocks. We arrived in Edinburgh on the tram from the airport and out of Edinburgh for a 2 week journey through Scotland on the train and Waverly was just around the corner.

The Inn Place Hotel rates were reasonable and offered a breakfast each day with, what else, haggis, among other things. I actually liked the stuff. Black Pudding was a bit harder to acquire a taste for. There were plenty of restaurants near the hotel; we had dinner at an Indian place that was very good, but there were plenty to choose from nearby. While in Edinburgh plan on High Tea at the Signet Library (you'll need a reservation). It was something very special. We had lunch at the Auld Hundred on Rose Street, start with the "Haggis, Neeps & Tatties" (very Scottish). This place was recommended by a Scot before we arrived in Edinburgh, we were not disappointed.

PS you didn't mention where-when the day-trips would occur. If you haven't made plans yet, I'd suggest a day trip to Stirling with a side-trip to Falkirk. We did this as a day trip from Glasgow, but from Edinburgh wouldn't be a great deal different. We took the early train to Stirling, took a taxi to arrive at the Castle when it opened, then took a taxi to the Bannockburn Venue (the AV was interesting and not quite what I expected), then a taxi back to the train station, a train to Falkirk Grahamston Station , taxi to the Falkirk Wheel (this was a very unique experience), then a taxi to the Kelpies, then a taxi to Falkirk High Station for the train back to Glasgow. You may arrive and depart at the stations in a different order from Edinburgh. Our only regret is that we didn't see the Kelpies after dusk.

This all sound like a lot of movement and traveling about, but it wasn't the taxi trips were brief and not expensive. If you'll be using the train for a day-trip this is another reason for being relatively close to Waverly. Happy travels .

I took the RS 10-day tour of Scotland last year. I went a couple of days early so that I had time for activities in Edinburgh. I loved Edinburgh, so I think 7 nights isn't too long, especially since you'll be taking day trips. I agree that Stirling Castle is a great trip and the Kelpies are definitely a sight to see. I prefer booking my hotels in advance and just choosing the free cancellation rates. I agree with staying a little away from the Royal Mile. I stayed at The Place Hotel for the RS tour and was able to get reservations for the 2 nights before the tour started. I liked it. It's located on the tram line on York Place, so very easy to get to from the airport. Scotland is wonderful, enjoy!

We spent 5 nights in Edinburgh last year and I wish we'd spent another night or two. We stayed just off George St in a cute little apartment located in an old school house. The door we entered said "Boys" above the door. We loved it. We walked everywhere except the last day when we took the bus to the Brittannia and then to Dean Village. We only did 1 day trip out of the city and filled our days very easily seeing all the sites. I would have taken another day trip if we'd stayed longer, but we'd just did 9 nights in Ireland & two in Liverpool so one must return home at some point. LOL