Edinburgh Hotels and accomodation
If you want to go on vacation or on business to the capital of Scotland, you should find an accomodation in Edinburgh you like on go4hotels.com.
Edinburgh (or Dùn Èideann in Scottish Gaelic) is the second largest city in Scotland, and its capital since 1437.
Its picturesque location on the rugged terrain near the North Sea, and a great number of Medieval and Georgian buildings make it one of the most beautiful cities and the second most visited tourist destination in all of Britain. Edinburgh's Old Town and New Town have been listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. Both large hotel chains and boutique hotels in Edinburgh have a presence in the urban centre.
One of the biggest events annually is the Edinburgh Festival which is a series of events between late July and early September including world's largest performing arts festival Edinburgh Fringe, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo as well as the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Room rates in Edinburgh may go up during this time, and prior booking is recommended.
Notable annual events in the city include Burns Night in January, celebrating Scotland's national poet Robert Burns, St. Andrew's Day in November, dedicated to the country's parton saint, and the massive Hogmanay street party around New Year's eve. Again, these events tend to attract a lot of visitors domestically and from overseas, so discounts for hotels in Edinburgh can require booking quite in advance.
The fortress on the Castle Rock was founded by Edwin, King of Northumbria, whose corrupted name is audible in the name of the city that grew around the Castle. Scotland and England fought numerous wars for the surrounding territory, with the Scots eventually getting the upper hand. King James IV of Scotland moved his court to the Holyrood Palace and thus made Edinburgh his kingdom's capital. Some Edinburgh hotels offer accomodation in the vicinity of these historical landmarks.
The Old Town has has preserved its medieval plan and numerous Reformation-era buildings. The imposing Castle is perched on top of a rocky crag which once was a volcano, and the Royal Mile runs down the crest of a ridge from it. Old Town is where some of the earliest high rise residential buildings were erected; as early as the 16th century ten-storey buildings, often with numerous vaults, were common. However, accomodation standards have much improved since those times.
After the defeat of Jacobite rebellions, the kings of Hanoverian dynasty wanted to leave their mark on the city and so the new streets north of the Castle were given names like George Street, Frederick Street, Hanover Street, Queen Street, and Princes Street, the latter being the main shopping street in today's Edinburgh. They remain some of the more impressive sights in Edinburgh, and are among the world's finest examples of Georgian architecture and planning. Several grand buildings in this area were rebuilt to house luxury Edinburgh hotels.
Greco-Roman influence is visible in the architecture of New Town which along with the large number of influential intellectuals living in Edinburgh then, such as David Hume and Adam Smith, earned the city its name, Athens of the North.
Edinburgh remains one of the leading cultural and intellectual centres of Britain, and has been declared the first City of Literature by UNESCO. The likes of Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, J K Rowling, Ian Rankin and Irvine Welsh have been or are residents of Edinburgh.
The city also boasts of a number of major theatres, art galleries, classical and pop music venues, nightclubs, stadiums and such.
The more southern and western parts of the city have traditionally been more affluent, and there is a greater number of detached and semi-detached villas. Edinburgh hotels in that part of the city generally compensate the distance from the city centre with improved facilities.
Leith, the port area, has undergone massive regeneration in the recent years, and Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia is permanently moored there. Hotels in Leith are largely in the quay area and offer great views of the sea.
The climate of Edinburgh is temperate, maritime, windy, with relatively mild seasons, seldom falling below freezing even in winter and not too hot in summer.
One can choose a lot of things to do in Edinburgh:
- Visiting the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, which shares a building with the National Museum of Antiquities. The Gallery contains Scottish portraits dating from 1500 to the present day. The museum depicts everyday life in Scotland from the Stone Age on.
- Visit the Royal Scottish Museum which is the most comprehensive museum in Britain under a single roof. It has four main departments for technology, geogoly, natural history and art, and archeology.
- Visit the City of Edinburgh Art Centre opened in 1971 with its permanent collection of Scottish paintings.
- Walk along the Water of Leith, a small river that meanders through Edinburgh, providing a peaceful haven from the busy city.
- Come in August or September and join the Edinburgh International Festival, the history of which goes back to 1947.
- Visit the spectacular Edinburgh Castle.
When you decide to go to Edinburgh you should first of all choose the accomodation you can book at go4hotels.com - there are luxury hotels in Edinburgh in the very centre of the city or cheap hotels Edinburgh, friendly, family-run bed and breakfast accomodations in the suburbs. The choice between the discount hotels Edinburgh or five-star luxury Edinburgh hotels is all yours.
Here on go4hotels.com you can book any accomodation in Edinburgh you like and spend you vacation in the splendid city, walking its streets, shopping or visiting museums. Be sure that the go4hotels.com will help you find the best hotels in Edinburgh options.