Leith--Does it work for me?

i was not a fan of Leith, so i would just spend the money and stay in Edinburgh.

I'm not sure of your hotel budget or what hotels you have looked at. Did you try motel one princes street? The location could not be more convenient.

https://www.motel-one.com/de/hotels/edinburgh/hotel-edinburgh-princes

I was there last Sept. and it had just been renovated.

I have stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Leith. It's fine and handy for Britannia. However, less handy for the more walkable bits of Leith. Probably good for your first night but not for a longer stay.

Thanks, Carrie, would really like a place under 300 USD. I think given our situation, breakfast is important. Most budget places I’m finding, including Motel One, are at least 375 USD.

Thank you for your input, Skye. What area would be the desirable area of Leith.

It's not that the bit where the Holiday Inn Express is less desirable - it's fine (modern apartments and a shopping mall) and very good for Britannia. But the older 'centre' of Leith is a bit further east down Commercial Street - where it meets the Water of Leith. Here you'll find cafes and a couple of really excellent restaurants (Martin Wishart and The Kitchin). Your mum probably wouldn't want to walk to the centre of Leith from the hotel, but you could get a cab easily enough or probably a bus.

Jacqui (Skyegirl)

Have you looked at the Premier Inn, Leith Waterfront? That is right beside the old Fish Market (now a Fish Restaurant), round the corner from the Tram Terminus. The #17 bus from the Airport stops at the Fishmarket, and there is an Asda Superstore very close by (which has other breakfast options at it's cafe).

Great views of the Firth of Forth from the hotel, and a number of evening eating options down in Leith (apart from the Ocean Terminal and the Fishmarket).

Jules, in 2023 we stayed in New Town at Tigerlily. It's a boutique hotel around the corner from the lovely Georgian House, a National Trust property.

Depending on your dates, that have twin bedded rooms starting at £404 total for a 2 night stay including a wonderful breakfast. We had 2 rooms and they were both quiet and comfortable. The in room amenities were great. Your just a quick Uber ride to the train station.

Jules, what are your exact dates? Are you looking for just one room for you and your mom, or will your husband be there?

If it's just one room that you need and it's, say, mid-October, I was checking out the Premier Inn on York Place (New Town) which is a wonderful location, and they have rooms available for under £200 for that period of time. I stayed there when I was visiting Edinburgh in 2023, and I really liked the location a lot. It's about a block from St. Andrew's Square. There's lots of restaurants in the area, and it has a really nice residential feel to it. And very safe. Not that anyplace around there really isn't, but I walked to meet a friend for dinner and left at 8:00 p.m. and didn't come back till 10 p.m. It was just a delightful walk back to the hotel from the restaurant. It's really a lovely area.

https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/scotland/lothian/edinburgh/edinburgh-city-centre-york-placest-james-quarter.html?

@Stuart, thanks for the recommendation. It does look like a great location on the water. I don't love Holiday Inns, in fact, I can't remember when I last stayed in one, maybe 30 years ago? But, the location right next to the Britannia with my mother, is appealing.

@jeanm, though the Tiger Lily is not in the "perfect" location for mom and I (a little far from train station and bus stop for her), I would love to stay there. For sure, I will keep it in mind for when my husband and I visit some day. Right now, they only have expensive suites for the two date spans I'm considering. If they had the standard rooms, I think my mom would love it.

@Mardee, I haven't purchased air, yet. But, likely, I would stay in Edinburgh on 10/7 and 10/8, and again on 10/14. 10/15 and 10/16. I would rather not break up the stay, but for a few reasons, I need to split it. One reason being some big thing (maybe motorcycles?) in Oban that lasts almost a week. I have looked at the Premier Inn locations. I did just notice that they are less expensive now than when I last checked, so thank you, I will keep them in mind. I would pay extra for breakfast if I thought it was worth it. Honestly, the continental would be fine, but there is no protein, (like yogurt). I really like the location of the Waverly Premier, but it doesn't look like it has plus rooms. If I don't have a breakfast, I'd like a refrigerator that I could stock. The York Place is probably too far. We'd probably have to take cabs all the time. There are some on the Royal Mile I should check out. I also would want twins, and I haven't figured out thru Premier's website how to ensure we get one. I really like the Ibis Styles on St. Andrew Square, but oof, its pricey for my dates, almost 400 USD/night.

Both the Holiday Inn Express and the Premier Inn recommended by Stuart are on the tram line, so transportation to/from the airport and Waverley is easy. It's not fast, though, and I don't think it makes sense to stay there for two nights when you're planning a day trip by train on the second day. In fact, I think it makes more sense to stay those two nights in Glasgow.

Hi G3RRY, the idea was we'd go to the Britannia the first day. I added a night to Leith because the rooms there are about half the price of Edinburgh city center and the trip to Stirling was only a bit longer than leaving from Edinburgh. Plus, it would likely be less hectic than packing up and leaving the next day. There really isn't anything we need to desperately see in Glasgow, and a lot in Edinburgh. If the trip was longer, absolutely I'd spend a bit in time in Glasgow. I'm still considering the Premier chain in Edinburgh, breakfast is the issue.

I've just checked the PI breakfast menu, in case my memory was wrong, and they do have yoghurt.

Thank you Stuart. I found a complete menu. You are correct, the continental does include yogurt

I’m thinking you meant Fort William?….not Port Williams? Typo?
May I ask why you are going there?

SJ, Thank you. Slowly losing my mind planning two trips at the same time. The one with mom, is challenging. Yes. Fort William. We are doing the scenic train ride to Malaig and a trip to Glencoe.

The only thing you're going to see in Edinburgh during this stay is the Britannia. Now, I haven't seen it, so I can't say whether it's worth the inconvenience of staying in Leith for this part of your trip, but it's very easy to get to from other parts of Edinburgh via tram. So maybe move it to the end of your trip and save yourself some money by staying somewhere else entirely. If you don't want to go to Glasgow, why not go directly to Stirling and stay there two nights?

I also would want twins, and I haven't figured out thru Premier's website how to ensure we get one.

To make sure that you get a twin room with twin beds, when you go to the Premier Inn website at the location of your choice, plug in your dates and so on, and then scroll down until you get to the section that says "Our Rooms." Right below, they will have a horizontal list of the type of rooms that they have available. For instance, I'm looking at the Premier Inn York Place right now, and they have Double, Twin, Family, and Accessible rooms available.

If they don't have it listed, then it's not available for that particular location and/or dates. I booked a Premier Inn in Munich for my sister and me in late November, and they did not have twin rooms available, so I booked us each a separate standard room. Fortunately, the cost was only around €73 per room, so no hardship to split up. 😊

G3RRY, I'm not sure I understand what you are getting at. I don't have two days worth of things to see in Stirling. I can't go immediately to Fort William from the airport because I want mom to enjoy the train ride and she won't if she's sleeping. Further, I can't get to Oban until more midmonth because there is some big thing going on. I have at least 7 things I want to do in Edinburgh, including a day trip to Stirling and the Britannia ship. I'm not so much staying in Leith to visit the Britannia, because I know I can do it from Edinburgh. But if I don't have to absolutely stay in Edinburgh on the days I won't be visiting sites in Edinburgh city center, I can save a lot of money staying elsewhere. I have looked at going to Stirling from the airport, and proceeding from there to Fort William the next day.

At the end of our trip, we will stay in Edinburgh city center for three nights

Mardee, figured it out. We had a problem with our room in London, so I want to be extra cautious.

Jules.
Citylink do run a coach-bus from Edinburgh Airport to Stirling, the #909, every two hours- journey time 1 hour- at 0732, 1013, 1143, 1343, 1543, 1803, 1853, 2109 and 2249.
So easier than tram or bus to Waverley/Haymarket then train.
You could reverse commute from Stirling to Edinburgh and use an Edinburgh plus bus ticket to get around in the city on day(s) you go in- https://www.plusbus.info/edinburgh (£5 per day, £3.30 with railcard for all buses and trams in Edinburgh, except the airport).
Stirling should be a lot cheaper to stay in.
The first departure and the three late afternoon departures extend to Bridge of Allan (and Dunblane)- but B of A has lots of local service buses from Stirling as well.
Bridge of Allan is just a couple of miles beyond Stirling, rather a nice little village, a one time spa village- it also has a railway station on the Edinburgh and Glasgow lines. One of those places known domestically, but entirely off the international tourist map.
It should be a shed load cheaper in Stirling/B o A then Edinburgh.

I really like the Ibis Styles on St. Andrew Square, but oof, its pricey for my dates, almost 400 USD/night.

Jules, obviously you know your mom's capabilities better than I do, but the Premier Inn York Place is only about two blocks from the Ibis Styles hotel and a whole lot cheaper. I don't think it's as far out as you think it is.

Jules, I'm sure you're head is spinning with all the options.

I had mentioned in another post that you could take the bus directly to Stirling from the airport. Spend one night in Stirling recovering from your flight and visit the Castle and the Old Town.

The next day, after you've rested, take the train from Stirling to Glasgow to connect with the West Highland Line to Fort. William. The total journey takes about 4½ hours.

If you prefer 2 nights before heading to the Highlands, besides the Castle, you could visit the Wallace Monument, the Battle of Bannockburn Visitor Center, the Church of the Holy Rude and more in Stirling.

Outside of Stirling you could always visit Dunfermline Abbey and Palace, Linlithgow Palace, Falkirk or Callander. Add a nice lunch with a view or in a historic setting and you and your mother would have a great day trip.

Save visiting Edinburgh for the end of your trip.

Jean, yes, my head is spinning. I took her to get a passport today. Good news is that she is quite excited. Less good news is that she walks at a snail's pace. I'm not sure she could walk a third of a mile. I told her again she needs to train. Because of the way I've structured this trip (with the help of my forum friends) I'm not concerned about our time in the highlands. We will mostly be on trains, buses and ferries, and I can get hotels next to the train/bus/ferry stations. I'm very concerned about how we'll do Edinburgh and Stirling.

There are some difficulties in planning this itinerary beyond my mother's strength and stamina. Our plan is to leave about a week after I get home from a month in Ireland(not ideal). That puts us at about October 6. We can only be gone about 10 nights, and that is really too much, it's really difficult for me to be gone basically a month and a half. So, I can't add days to the trip. Then, there is some rally in Oban/Mull, that I really need to plan around. Right now, I have us getting to Oban on the 11th and taking the ferry on the 12th. I have an email into the tour people to get a sense of whether it still will be chaos when we arrive. Lastly, is the sticker shock. Her last experience with hotels was pricing at about 75USD, and actually, I've never paid as much as the hotels in Edinburgh, anywhere in the world. Edinburgh hotels are looking to be double in price to Stirling or Leith. I explained to mom today that this is her one and only trip to Scotland. If she's going to have a nice time, the hotel needs to be close to transportation, close to what we are doing and should probably have breakfast.

Right now this is my itinerary:
Arrive Edinburgh 8am, sleep Edinburgh/Leith/Stirling whatever I figure out 2 nights
Fort William 3 nights (historic train ride to Malaig and bus ride to Glencoe)
Oban 2 nights (ferry/bus trip to Mull and Iona)
Edinburgh 3 nights

This is what she wants to do in Edinburgh:
1. Spirit of Scotland show, .8 miles from St Andrew’s Square (bag pipes, music, dancing)
2. Tartan Store (hopefully a "legit" one)
3. Edinburgh Castle **
4. Royal Mile
5. St. Gile’s Cathedral**
6. Brittania (9:30-6, 25 euro, 23 min direct tram ride from St. Andrew’s)**
7. Stirling castle**
8. Palace of Holyroodhouse**
9. National Museum of Scotland (free 10-5)
10. Eyewitness Travel “New Town Walk”, esp. Dean Bridge
11. Scottish Parlament

We can eliminate the Spirit of Scotland if we encounter bag pipes elsewhere.

So, if I stay in Leith, I can do Britannia, and I need to knock off something else on the list. I can't really stay one night in Stirling, because I think moving that soon is not in her best interest, plus that gets us to Oban during the rally. If I stay two nights in Stirling, I can do some of the lovely things JeanM suggested, but we sure aren't going to be able to see the rest of the Edinburgh stuff if we leave it all to the end.

Further, today she starts talking about the place she thinks her ancestors are from and as far as I can see, we couldn't get there by train and I'm not sure there is even a town in the area. (Supposedly the town is Waterhead, and in the lowlands, south of Glasgow) Her ancestor came over in the late 1700s so a long time ago. Tonight I'll comb thru the genealogy stuff again.

So hopefully, all that drama is helpful in explaining what I'm trying to do. At this point, I'm pretty experienced with trip planning stuff. But doing this trip with mom on my own, trying to make sure she has a nice time and nothing happens, is stressful. It maybe sounds corny, but I couldn't do this without my forum friends. I'm really quite grateful. I know from experience that trying to help folks plan their travel is time consuming.

Jules, my last trip to Scotland was 2023. We were a party of 4 ranging in age from 66 to 80. While I'm a walker, I knew the others wouldn't be up for long walks or some of the hills/stairs in Edinburgh. So I planned our days carefully, made sure we had places to stop for a rest and used Uber when needed. It really wasn't that expensive, usually under £10 for 4 of us.

In your situation I would stay in the city center. You'll have easier access to restaurants and the train station for both your Stirling trip and your Glasgow/Fort William trains. And keep in mind that a taxi/Uber will drop you off closer to the Britannia than the walk from a Leith hotel to the ship. Save your mom's energy for touring the Britannia.

Right now the Premier Inn City Center/York Place that Mardee suggested has a twin bedded room for arrival October 7 for only £326 with advance purchases or £383 for pay on arrival. That's for a 2 night stay. There's another Premier Inn available for those nights, the Premier Inn City Center/Waverly for a similar rate. Either one is a bargain in high priced Edinburgh and both are in good locations.

Now, the genealogy stuff could put a wrench in your plans. Good luck.

Jean, I think you are spot on. It sure is a lot easier for me, and likely better for her.

When my husband and I travel we easily log 20,000+ steps. This will be quite interesting. I'm a person that needs to be on the move!

This could actually be a case where the Edinburgh HoHo buses work well- last time I looked Lothian transport had withdrawn all bus routes which actually went to Holyrood House (although several still get fairly close). There are a number of HoHo companies, although the Edinburgh Tour at £28 for 48 hours (for 3 routes) actually isn't a bad investment- https://edinburghtour.com/grand-24-48/#buy

It takes you to the Britannia, Holyrood, Edinburgh Castle and the Botanic Gardens.

And the PI at Leith is £246 for those two nights- Stirling is £183 or £206 for a Premier Plus Room (all rates pay ahead).

The Mull Motor Rally is cars, not motorbikes.

Hi Jules, I don’t mean to add more info to complicate things, but when we were in Scotland last September, we traveled down from Edinburgh through East Lothian and back by bus. I really loved that area and thought if we return, the bus ride was so manageable I would look into less expensive places to stay there. It’s in Aberlady, East Lothian.

I happened upon this BnB and thought I could share it. It says the bus stop going into Edinburgh is right across the street, but I am not sure which one it is or the frequency of its routes. Maybe Stuart could help out there. Anyway it has some of the Deluxe rooms that could be made into twins. All are considerably less than Edinburgh proper. (£245 night approx) It may not be an option for you and your mom considering it’s away from the center, but I thought I would share it in case you wanted to consider another option.

https://www.theleddie.com/about-us/

From Aberlady the X5 (Lothian East Coast Buses) hourly, 45 minutes to Edinburgh, or the 124 Lothian East Coast every half hour- 75 minutes or so into Edinburgh. Both buses extend in the other direction to North Berwick. The 124 runs until 0045 for the night birds. Both buses call at Longniddry Railway Station on the East Coast Main Line to catch trains from North Berwick into Edinburgh (for a faster journey).
Longniddry is a 7 minute journey from Aberlady, and is a better rail interchange point than North Berwick.

The 124 is normally double deckers, the X5 single decks.

Hi Jules. I’m not sure if this idea has been mentioned before, but have you looked into renting a small travel type wheelchair for your mom? You might be able to rent one there or you might even be able to bring one with you. My Mom was from Scotland and most of my relatives still live there so we would go there quite frequently as I was growing up. When she was 83 just the two of us went together, which was her last journey “home”. She didn’t want to use a wheelchair, she was a stubborn little lady :-) but it quickly became apparent that walking any distance was going to be extremely difficult. One of my cousins brought over a wheelchair for her and for the rest of the trip we were all pushing her around and she was comfortable and able to go to so many more places than if she had tried to walk. She was able to relax and really enjoy herself. Have a wonderful trip with your mom. Those are memories you will keep with you forever.

Jules, just to give you an idea of prices.

It's now 3:30 in the afternoon in Edinburgh.

Uber from the Premier Inn to Britannia is £10.86.

Uber from the Premier Inn to Waverly Train Station is £4.95.

Forget HoHo bus and regular buses/trams. Taxi or Uber is door to door.

You and your mother are worth it!

Saf, thanks for the suggestion, I will keep in mind. Right now, I'm just trying to get her to agree to work with a cane a bit. I think it might be helpful on uneven surfaces. I'm going to encourage her to get some Merrill hiking shoes for the stability and for better traction.

Thank you, Jean, those prices do sound good. I believe a get a small monthly Delta credit for Ubers.