Edinburgh Festival Season

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/scotland/surviving-the-edinburgh-fringe

If you’re interested in visiting Edinburgh during the Festival season, you need to book accommodation far in advance, and be prepared to pay a premium. I visited during August last year and reserved my hotel in late February/ early March and was surprised by how many hotels were already sold out. I was still able to find something that fit my schedule and (mostly) my budget but it required some sleuthing.

Some restaurants along the Mile won’t take reservations, but will have space available for walk ins. They’ll post this on their website.

The Festivals posted their performance schedules, and tickets went on sale, at different times. It requires some planning. Tattoo tickets go on sale before International Festival and Fringe. International Festival venues are small and will sell out. I bought a dining package for Tattoo and it was completely worth it as a solo traveler. I showed up, ate a lovely meal, met interesting people and then was escorted directly to our seats. I saw a show from all three festivals and the only one I really talk about with other people is the Tattoo. It was amazing.

The Mile will be crowded, but even though I don’t like crowds much, I never felt overwhelmed by it. The festival atmosphere was fun. It will take longer to get places than you think. Be nice to the Fringe ticket hawkers who will approach you. Stop and watch some of the street performers of off-Fringe shows. Some of them are quite entertaining.

you are talking about 2026, right? Your chances of getting anything for this year are low - places book up ages ago.

Great tips, and yes 2026 LOL.

For our own trip to the Fringe this year I found a few you tube videos that are helpful to the planning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC76IOTuGYQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK-mYc9tp2E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-m18vnqj_M

And to scope out possible areas for accomodation the current festival venue map will give you an idea. There are venues all over. But many are used year after year. Here is a link. https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/venues/map But I think people stay as far away as Glasgow to save on lodging.

I have just been in Edinburgh for 2 nights after having also stayed there for 3 nights 4 weeks ago. I was shocked at how much crowds had increased over that time frame. Lines out of every restaurant in the St Andrew and Waverly Station area. Shoulder to shoulder on Princes Street on the store side but less busy on the garden side.

Hotel-wise: I stayed in 2 different hotels. The first 3 nights I stayed in the Ibis St Andrew Square. I liked this hotel a lot although the room was tiny. I had splurged for a balcony room and of course I only used the balcony one time because of the rain and wind. It was very quiet as I was on the back side. Breakfast was a buffet but one of the nicest I've seen and included some hot items (porridge, scrambled eggs plus bacon and sausage). Staff was very nice. Room had AC (did not need it for my stay but I would want it in August). The location is excellent. Right on St Andrew Square with great restaurants just steps away on the square. It's a good walk to the Castle from there and not sure where the Fringe events are located. If it seems like a good location for your needs I'd recommend it.

At the end of the trip I stayed in Parliament House Hotel. This is an elegant older hotel and just lovely BUT BUT BUT....the elevator was out and I was on the 3rd floor (British numbering so their 1 is our 2, etc) and had 73 steps to get to my room. The reception person carried my bag up but I brought it back down at my departure. Staff here were also very nice and helpful. I only ate breakfast once. The continental array was much smaller than the Ibis. I opted for a cooked breakfast which was delicious especially since I'm not a breakfast eater nor am I usually an egg/salmon eater, lol. My room faced Waterloo Place and was fairly noisy from the outdoor tables at Howies Restaurant which I was right over plus the bus stops across the street which sometimes had folks playing loud music. It also had a lot of foot traffic after the pubs closed so quite a bit of drunken yelling and singing. The room was enormous, bed was great. There is no AC so I had the windows open as far as allowed (about 5 inches?) but it was not a lot of air circulation. I noticed when going in and out when the housekeepers were busy that there were lots of small fans out in the halls. I was not ever hot enough to need one but they were apparently available. I suspect it would have cut down on the noise if I'd been able to close the windows.

So....I'd probably opt for the Ibis over Parliament House just due to the potential elevator issue, the noise AND the AC.

A friend also stayed at the Apex Hotel on Waterloo Place, literally around the corner from me. Although she also fronted on Waterloo Place she had AC and with the windows closed did not notice any noise.

IF you decide on the Ibis, download the Accor app and book with it. I had booked a room here online and knew it was a refundable rate. When I started looking at the rate a few weeks later I saw a charge for 399GBP for "fees" AND an immediate charge for the entire stay. I contacted the hotel and they said "it's from your travel agent". Uh, no, no travel agent. I had inadvertently gotten onto a 3rd party hotel booking site instead of the Accor site. I cancelled, all money refunded immediately (well, within 24 hours) including the "fees". I let things rest for a few days and then rebooked via the app on my phone with no problem. I'm usually very careful when booking so am not sure how I got on the booking site I did but at least I was able to undo it without any financial loss to me.

@Pam, thanks for the Ibis Hotel information! The prices look reasonable. I plan to be there in late July, 2026 before the Rick Steves 8 Days Heart of Scotland tour. We plan to do the Tattoo and Fringe events.