a day ago
I took my kids to the beautiful UK city with huge Lego ships and illusion museums
IF you're looking for the best views in Edinburgh, you might climb Arthur's Seat hill or make the ascent up the Royal Mile.
But with sons Ralph, eight, and five-year-old Max in tow, my husband and I marched up Corstorphine instead, a lesser-known member of the city's Seven Hills — but significantly more child-friendly.
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It's the home of Edinburgh Zoo and reaching the top rewards you with giraffes munching on a leafy lunch — a strong motivating factor to get my children racing up the steep path.
While a chilly breeze meant the lions and tigers kept a low profile, the newly arrived capybaras were keen to say hello.
We were also charmed by Haggis, a rare pygmy hippo born last October and fast becoming the zoo's star attraction.
But my boys' favourite was red panda Bruce, closely followed by the playful penguins.
Edinburgh was the first zoo in the world to house these birds in 1914.
After all our walking, it was good that our base for the weekend, the Novotel Edinburgh Centre on Lauriston Place, was an easy bus ride away.
And it ticked the boxes of each family member — a comfy double bed and spacious sofabed for the kids (me), cool bar with live music (my husband), basement swimming pool with jacuzzi (Ralph) and a waffle machine at the breakfast buffet (Max).
The location was ideal, too, with the street quiet but within strolling distance of Grassmarket, Greyfriars Bobby and the National Museum of Scotland.
Our taxi driver also told us that George Heriot's School next door had inspired JK Rowling's Hogwarts, to the kids' delight.
The hotel was just minutes from our next destination — Camera Obscura, the city's oldest tourist attraction, in a lookout tower on Castle Rock (home to Edinburgh Castle, unsurprisingly).
Martin Lewis gives travel advice about checking your passport
Earthquake simulation
Its five floors of interactive illusions — from the mind-bending Maze of Mirrors to the dizzying Vortex Tunnel — were as irresistible to my 21st-century kids as they would have been to our Victorian ancestors when it opened.
From here, we took a leisurely stroll down the Royal Mile.
The boys loved the atmosphere and were so full of energy that it took a lot of coaxing to stop them leaping into the Scottish Parliament's ornamental ponds.
Full soaking averted, we headed to Dynamic Earth — which takes you back in time to the origins of the universe.
Aptly located at the foot of Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano, it's an immersive experience with earthquake simulation, a 4D plane ride around the planet and a mini- iceberg that you can touch.
After a good night's sleep back at the hotel — followed by bao buns at its Tap Kitchen — we headed down the Royal Mile once more, this time by double-decker bus to the Port of Leith.
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Here, we boarded the Royal Yacht Britannia, which recently opened a new exhibition that includes an 11ft Lego replica of the vessel.
I feared my lads would be as bored as Prince Louis on an official engagement, but this wondrous yacht had them rapt.
So their good behaviour was rewarded with tea and cake in the Royal Deck Tearoom.
The scones were so big, even Prince Louis would have raised a smile.
