Queensferry Hotels in Edinburgh

Managing our "social" reputation

2010-12-01T15:30:00.001Z

(by Angela Ewing, Marketing coordinator)
My name is Angela Ewing and my responsibilities include the management of much of our marketing activity at Queensferry Hotels. An important aspect of my role is to manage our social reputation in various social media channels.
Social Media has become an increasingly more popular channel as a promotional tool for us as a hotel company over the past couple of years. It is not just a case of us having a Facebook and Twitter ‘fan’ page, we use these channels as a way to connect with our customers by building a relationship, by updating on a daily or regular basis what is happening at the hotel, in terms of events such as wedding fairs, or corporate events such as the recent fashion and beauty night we hosted late November. It is also a great way to promote special offers such as discounted accommodation rates and late deals, or leisure club membership discounts which will not always be seen if we are just relying on our own website to promote. We understand that our customers are logging on to Facebook, Twitter etc every day so they are unlikely to miss anything that they may be interested in. We want to engage in a conversation with our current and potential guests so that they know what Queensferry Hotels stands for and what we have to say. Just as important to me is what our customers have to say to us.

YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and TripAdvisor offer fantastic ways for the customer to find out as much as possible about the hotel before they decide to stay. There are a vast amount of images that we have stored on Flickr for each of our hotels that cannot be viewed on our websites and we have interactive videos on YouTube where the customer can view the facilities of the hotels as well as view the Chef in action demonstrating his culinary skills, giving us the opportunity go that bit further to connect with our customers.

Trip Advisor is a fantastic website which allows potential customers to read the reviews of others that have already stayed at one of our hotels. Pictures and text on our own and external websites will not always encourage people to book and stay, but real positive reviews and images from people that have recently stayed at one of our hotels will portray an unbiased view on the service and facilities that we offer. It is very difficult to show customers in writing how great your service is, this is only something a customer can express and Trip Advisor offers the best opportunity to do this. Whenever I plan a holiday I always do my research on Trip Advisor first before I book anything, as it gives me more confidence in what I am purchasing. We know that our potential customers are doing the same so I know the importance of an honest and positive presence on TripAdvisor.

I look forward to conversing with you on any social media channel you use.

International Quality Award for Keavil House Hotel

2010-11-24T14:06:00.002Z

(by Alistair Bruce, General Manager)
Four star, Best Western Keavil House Hotel has triumphed again winning another Best Western Hotels International Quality Award for the very high standards at the country house hotel.

It’s manager, Alistair Bruce, gave special thanks to his committed team who not only ensure that standards are kept exceptionally high, but who are responsible for giving the hotel its unique personality that makes it a first choice for business and leisure travellers.

The Best Western International Quality Award recognises excellence in service, facilities and customer care and Keavil House was judged to have excelled in all areas.

Best Western Hotels is the largest hotel chain in the world, comprising a collection of over 4,000 independent hotels in 80 countries, so competition is tough. Strict brand standards have to be met before the hotels can then concentrate on the individual standards that give them their exclusive and unique character – a hallmark of a Best Western venue.

Alistair Bruce said,

“Rigorous assessments are part of belonging to Best Western. They ensure our guests receive consistently high standards, leaving them free to enjoy the charm of each individual hotel. At Keavil House, we have a head start in that the Victorian property is steeped in history and is set in 12 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens. Its location, only 10 minutes from the motorway network, means it offers peace and tranquillity but easy access to central Scotland for exploring the region, or reaching its business centres.

Best Western Keavil House Hotel is only 20 miles for Edinburgh city centre and the same distance from Edinburgh airport. The hotel has a fully equipped gymnasium in its Picture of Health Club with swimming pool and beauty rooms.

Catwalk at Keavil House Hotel

2010-11-24T13:59:00.000Z

Fashion and Beauty hit Best Western Keavil House Hotel big time last Thursday.
(by Lisa Stewart, Business Development Manager)

The four star hotel's sales and marketing team thanked their regular customers with an invitation to a fashion show by local designer boutique, La Vida, followed by beauty treatments for all the guests. The glamourous Elgin Suite with its dazzling chandeliers, sparkling grey and silver, offered a sophistocated setting.
The Team Challenge Company, Keavil Houses's partners in creative and innovative team building events, had guests betting round the black jack table while waiting for their turn in the beauty chair. Other guests enjoyed manicures, hair style advice and colour matching by a 'Colour Me Beautiful' consultant.

Champagne flowed and the hotel's award winning kitchens produced delicious canapes to complete an evening of decadence. Consultants from Keavil's own Picture of Health Club, offered advice on fitness routines and most guests left with prizes from the raffle, including La Vida vouchers and beauty treatments.

Destined to become an annual event, it was one of many complimentary events to be held for loyal customers of the hotel.

A Wedding To Remember

Best Western Keavil House Hotel is looking for a bride and groom to join Wills and Kate and choose 29th April 2011 as their wedding date. Amazingly it's still free in the hotel's busy wedding diary. With landscaped gardens, in full bloom by spring, wedding co-ordinators to help create the perfect day and an award winning restaurant, there's no better venue. Two lucky families can join the nation in a celebration of their own.

4 Stars and more for Keavil House

2010-03-24T17:35:00.000Z

Best Western Keavil House Hotel has been awarded 4 stars from VisitScotland. In March 2010, Visit Scotland carried out an unannounced quality inspection of the hotel. Achieving VisitScotland 4 star standard had been a quality goal of the hotel’s management team for over a year.
During 2009, the hotel had been awarded 4 stars from the Automobile Association, had received a Best Western International Quality Award and had been awarded Best Western Large Hotel of the Year accolade for 2009. This last award completes all quality goals that the team were aiming for.

Achieving 4 stars is not easy as it is not just about the quality of the rooms, public areas and facilities; it’s also about the welcome, friendliness and professionalism of the staff of the hotel. During the inspection the VisitScotland inspector was noted to say “you’re making my job so easy today as there really has been a significant improvement in the hotel in terms of quality of the facilities and the staff’s professionalism”.

Alistair Bruce, General Manager said “The whole team consistently excel in terms of customer service, they love being part of a winning team, which in turn makes my job so much easier. Their fantastically positive attitude subsequently rubs off on our guests experience and I am often quite humbled by the very kind words guests they say about them”.

So you get a lot more than just 4 stars at Keavil House; you get 4 stars and more!

Refurbished bedrooms at the Bruntsfield Hotel

2010-03-18T16:58:00.001Z

We have just completed the refurbishment of 10 bedrooms at the Bruntsfield Hotel. These rooms have benefitted from new fitted furniture, beds, fabrics, carpeting and 80cm wall mounted televisions and free Wi Fi internet access. The bathrooms have also been fully upgraded. Business conditions may be tough but we are lucky to be in the position that we can continually invest in the hotel to maintain the highest quality standards. You’ll see what we mean when you visit us.

Bruntsfield Hotel green update

2010-03-18T16:49:00.000Z

As part of the Bruntsfield Hotel’s ongoing policy for protecting the environment and to further enhance our Gold Award in the Green Tourism Scheme, we are at present replacing the boiler plant in one of the hotel’s three plant rooms. As is the case in many hotels, major improvement works often go unnoticed when they are in “back of house” areas. This new boiler plant will be much more energy efficient than the ageing plant it replaces and will also generate 30% more hot water at all times. The result is improved guest comfort whilst at the same time reducing the hotel’s energy use.

We have also now added the recycling of food waste to our existing recycling of glass, paper, cardboard, cans and plastic. The food is collected by Core, a registered charity based in Edinburgh, and is processed and used as fertiliser.

A warm goodbye and a happy retirement

2010-03-18T16:46:00.001Z

The staff members from the Bruntsfield Hotel gathered together on the afternoon of Wednesday 17th March to wish two of our members of the kitchen team good health and happiness in their retirement. Champagne, scones, jam and cream were the order of the day as we bade them a fond farewell.

Ella has been a loyal employee at the hotel for 13 years and will forgive me for telling you that she is 88 years old. She was 13 years over normal retirement age when she started employment with us. Ella travelled to work by public transport bus from the opposite side of town in all weathers of winter and summer. We will all miss her terribly.

Reg also worked in the kitchen for a number of years and decided to hang up his overalls and drying towel this year to enjoy his retirement. Reg will forgive me for telling you that we are purchasing less replacement crockery since his retirement!!!, and again we are all going to miss him. We are sure they will call in from time to time to visit us.

Keavil House is Best Western Hotel of the Year

2010-03-06T16:37:00.002Z

Best Western Keavil House Hotel has been awarded the "Large Hotel of The Year" Award at the 2010 Annual Members Conference. This award is in the hotel category for over 70 rooms and is given to the Best Western hotel in Great Britain who achieves the highest score for quality and guest service during 2009.

Commenting on this award, Alistair Bruce, General Manager, said "I am delighted to have received this award as it recognises the investement in the hotel and the hard work of all the staff at the hotel to provide great customer service. We faced stiff competition from other great Best Western hotels but I'm thrilled that Keavil House came out on top".

Best Western Keavil House Hotel, in Crossford, near Edinburgh offers 73 bedrooms, conference & banqueting for up to 250, an AA rosette restaurant and a health & fitness spa.

Elgin Suite opens

2010-02-24T11:25:00.000Z

Our "new" Elgin Suite at Best Western Keavil House Hotel has opened and is looking great. We've got a new design, a new lighting system and a new sound system. We're sure it will prove to be the Dunfermline area's premier conference, banquueting and wedding venue.

For conferences the new Elgin Suite can accommodate up to 250 people theatre style although it can be set-up in board room, caberet or classroom style layouts. We offer a range of catering options to suite all tastes and budgets and of course free WiFi for delegates comes as standard.

For banqueting we can cater for up to 200 people on round tables of 12.

For weddings the new Elgin Suite is superb. With its own dedicated entrance, own cloakrooms and bar and direct access to the hotel gardens it makes a wonderful venue for a wedding. A contemporary design sceheme, flexible lighting system, background sound & PA system and a skilled kitchen and service team complete the picture of weddings at Keavil House Hotel.

Why not come along and see for yourself?

New Elgin Suite coming soon

2010-01-31T20:57:00.001Z

The Elgin Suite at Best Western Keavil House Hotel is now closed for renovation and refurbishment. The builders, electritians, decorators and shopfitters are here in force!
On 20th February we'll be finished and the new Elgin Suite will re-open as the Dunfermline areas's largest hotel banqueting suite. A completely new look will ensure that the Elgin Suite is the area's best wedding, conference and banqueting facility.

Gold for Green management

2009-12-12T17:47:00.000Z

The Best Western Bruntsfield Hotel has been awarded GOLD status in the Green Business Tourism Scheme.

The Green Business Tourism Scheme recognises tourism businesses who actively operate their business in a sustainable and "green" way. The business is then awarded a category status ranging from Bronze to Silver to Gold.

The business must have management procedures in place to ensure that high principles of recycling, sustainability, energy usage, insulation, supplier selection and of staff awareness and training.

Gold status is highly regarded and is achieved by very few businesses. We are very proud that the Best Western Bruntsfield Hotel is independently recognised as operating in a green and sustainable manner.

International quality award for BW Keavil House Hotel

2009-10-31T16:06:00.000Z

All Best Western hotels worldwide are regularly audited for quality by a rigorous quality inspection. A certified quality auditor stays in the hotel overnight and experiences all aspects of the hotels’ services and facilities followed by an “inspection” of a large proportion of the guest rooms and all public areas.

It’s a rigorous check to ensure that a Best Western hotel is being operated and maintained to high standards of cleanliness, maintenance and service and in addition, offers the minimum standards which are required to be a Best Western hotel, e.g. free internet access, multi-channel television, high security and a great breakfast.

These equality audits are taken very seriously by the management and staff of the hotels and every effort is made to achieve a high score in the audit. Throughout the year, regular and continuous maintenance and upgrading is carried out to ensure that the hotels are always well maintained and presented - and ready for any quality audit.

Best Western Keavil House Hotel has just completed its 2009 Quality Audit and has scored an impressive 978 points out of a maximum of 1000. As a result, BW Keavil House Hotel has been awarded an international Quality Award by Best Western International. These awards are achieved by approximately the top 10% of international Best Western Hotels.

Congratulation to the hotel General Manager, Alistair Bruce, and all his team at the hotel.

Watch us on YouTube

2009-10-18T14:17:00.003+01:00

We've put together some videos of life in our hotels on our channel on YouTube. Watch Phil Yates, Head Chef at Best Western Keavil House Hotel, cooking his signature dish or watch how we prepare a bedroom at the Best Western Bruntsfield Hotel for your arrival. Visit www.youtube.com/qfhotelstv

Top 10 tips for health

2009-10-17T18:53:00.003+01:00

1. Move More
Make it a daily challenge to find ways to move your body. Climb stairs if given a choice between that and escalators or elevators. Walk your dog; chase your kids; toss balls with friends, mow the lawn. Anything that moves your limbs is not only a fitness tool, it's a stress buster. Think 'move' in small increments of time. It doesn't have to be an hour in the gym or a 45-minute aerobic dance class or tai chi or kickboxing. But that's great when you're up to it. Meanwhile, move more. Thought for the day: Cha, Cha, Cha…. Then do it!

2. Cut Fat
Avoid the obvious such as fried foods, burgers and other fatty meats (i.e. pork, bacon, ham, salami, ribs and sausage). Dairy products such as cheese, cottage cheese, milk and cream should be eaten in low fat versions. Nuts and sandwich meats, mayonnaise, margarine, butter and sauces should be eaten in limited amounts. Most are available in lower fat versions such as substitute butter, fat free cheeses and mayonnaise. Thought for the day: Lean, mean, fat-burning machine…. Then be one!

3. Quit Smoking
The jury is definitely in on this verdict. Ever since 1960 when the Surgeon General announced that smoking was harmful to your health, Americans have been reducing their use of tobacco products that kill. Just recently, we've seen a surge in smoking in adolescents and teens. Could it be the Hollywood influence? It seems the stars in every movie of late smoke cigarettes. Beware. Warn your children of the false romance or 'tough guy' stance of Hollywood smokers. Thought for the day: Give up just one cigarette…. the next one.

4. Reduce Stress
Easier said than done, stress busters come in many forms. Some techniques recommended by experts are to think positive thoughts. Spend 30 minutes a day doing something you like. (i.e.,Soak in a hot tub; walk on the beach or in a park; read a good book; visit a friend; play with your dog; listen to soothing music; watch a funny movie. Get a massage, a facial or a haircut. Meditate. Count to ten before losing your temper or getting aggravated. Avoid difficult people when possible. Thought for the day: When seeing red, think pink clouds….then float on them.

5. Protect Yourself from Pollution
If you can't live in a smog-free environment, at least avoid smoke-filled rooms, high traffic areas, breathing in highway fumes and exercising near busy thoroughfares. Exercise outside when the smog rating is low. Exercise indoors in air conditioning when air quality is good. Plant lots of shrubbery in your yard. It's a good pollution and dirt from the street deterrent. Thought for the day: 'Smoke gets in your eyes'…and your mouth, and your nose and your lungs as do pollutants….hum the tune daily.

6. Wear Your Seat Belt
Statistics show that seat belts add to longevity and help alleviate potential injuries in car crashes. Thought for the day: Buckle down and buckle up.

7. Floss Your Teeth
Recent studies make a direct connection between longevity and teeth flossing. Nobody knows exactly why. Perhaps it's because people who floss tend to be more health conscious than people who don't? Thought for the day: Floss and be your body's boss.

8. Avoid Excessive Drinking
While recent studies show a glass of wine or one drink a day (two for men) can help protect against heart disease, more than that can cause other health problems such as liver and kidney disease and cancer. Thought for the day: A jug of wine should last a long time.

9. Keep a Positive Mental Outlook
There's a definitive connection between living well and healthfully and having a cheerful outlook on life. Thought for the day: You can't be unhappy when you're smiling or singing.

10. Choose Your Parents Well
The link between genetics and health is a powerful one. But just because one or both of your parents died young in ill health doesn't mean you cannot counteract the genetic pool handed you. Thought for the day: Follow these basic tips for healthy living and you can better control your own destiny.

A guide to Scottish single malt whisky

2009-10-17T15:32:00.003+01:00

Image via Wikipedia

Scottish Single malt whisky is a whisky which is distilled and produced at just one particular distillery in Scotland. Single malts are made entirely from one type of malted grain, traditionally barley, which is cultivated in the region of the distillery. Most single malt whiskies are distilled using a pot still.

Water
Water is first added to the barley to promote germination, it is mixed with ground barley grist to create a mash and it is used to dilute most whisky before maturation and once again before bottling. Most distilleries use different water sources in the various steps, and this becomes a crucial part of the character of the end product. Most new-make malt whisky is diluted to about 63.5% before it is placed in casks to mature. These days, many distilleries are using distilled water for diluting whisky before it is casked as well as for diluting the whisky to bottling strength (40-46% Alcohol by Volume (ABV)) after maturation. Others, like Jura or Bruichladdich use water from local burns or springs to dilute new-make before it is casked. Much new-make whisky is shipped in tanker trucks to central warehouses where local tap water is used to dilute it before casking, and again at bottling time. Since huge amounts of water are used during the process of whisky production, water supplies are a key factor for the location of any distillery.

Malting
Barley, yeast and water are the only ingredients required in the production of single malt whisky. The barley used to make the whisky is "malted" by soaking the grain in water for 2-3 days and then allowing it to germinate to convert starch (which is insoluble in water and not available for fermentation by yeast) to fermentable sugars. Traditionally in Scotland each distillery had its own malting floor where the germinating seeds were regularly turned. The "pagoda roof" (many now false) which ventilated the malt kiln can still be seen at many distilleries both in Scotland and in other countries. However, most of the distilleries now use commercial "maltsters" to prepare their malt. The germination is halted (by heating) after 3-5 days, when the optimum amount of starch has been converted to fermentable sugars. The method for drying the germinated barley is by heating it with hot air produced by an oil, coal or even electric heat source. In most cases, some level of peat smoke is introduced to the kiln to add phenols, a smoky aroma and flavour to the whisky. Some of the more intensely smoky malts have phenol levels between 25 and 50 parts per million (ppm). The three Scottish malts with a reputation for being the most peaty are Ardbeg, Laphroaig (la-froyg) and Lagavulin (lagga-voolin), all from Islay. More subtle malts can have phenol levels of around 2–3 ppm.

Mashing
The malt is milled into a coarse flour (grist), and added to hot water to extract the sugars. The extraction is done in a large kettle (usually made of stainless steel) called a mash tun. At first, the hot water dissolves the sugars (maltose) and enzymes (diastase) in the grist. Then the enzymes act on the starch left over from the malting stage, continuing the conversion to sugar, and producing a sugary liquid called wort. Typically, each batch of grist is mashed three times or so to extract all the fermentable sugars.

Fermentation
Yeast is added to the wort in a large vessel (often tens of thousands of litres) called a washback. Washbacks are commonly made of Oregon Pine or stainless steel. The yeast feeds on the sugars and as a by-product produces both carbon dioxide and alcohol. This process is called fermentation and can take up to three days to complete. When complete, the liquid has an alcohol content of 5 to 7% by volume, and is now known as wash. Up until this point the process has been quite similar to the production of beer.

Distillation
The wash, 5%–7% alcohol, is distilled in copper pot stills, boosting the alcohol content to 60%–80%. The wash is then pumped into a copper pot still, known as the wash still, to be distilled. The wash is heated, boiling off the alcohol, which has a lower boiling point than water; the vapour is collected in a condenser which has been submerged in cool water. The lower temperatures cause the vapour to condense back into a liquid form. This spirit, known as low wine has an alcohol content of about 20 to 40%. The low wines are then pumped into a second pot still, known as the spirit still, and distilled a second, (and sometimes a third) time. The final spirit called "new make spirit" generally has an alcohol content of 60 to 70%. Much of the body, or mouth feel, of the final whisky is believed to come from the size and shape of the stills used in its production. When a still wears out and has to be replaced, or when a distillery decides to expand the number of stills it operates, precise measurements of the existing stills are taken to ensure the new stills are reproduced exactly like the old.

Maturation
The "new-make spirit", or unaged whisky, is then placed in oak casks to mature. By law, all Scotch whisky must be aged for a minimum of three years and one day in oak casks; though many single malts are matured for much longer. The whisky continues to develop and change as it spends time in the wood, and maturation periods of twenty years or more are not uncommon. Each year spent in the wood results in the evaporation of between 1 and 2% of each casks' contents, depending on the ambient conditions at which the casks are stored. Because alcohol is more volatile, the alcohol content of the remaining whisky also drops over time. This is known as the angel's share. The selection of casks has a profound effect on the character of the final whisky. A common source of casks is American whiskey producers, as U.S. laws require that bourbon and Tennessee whiskey be aged in new charred oak casks. Bourbon casks impart a characteristic vanilla flavour to the whisky. Sherry casks are also commonly used. This practice arose because sherry used to be shipped to Britain from Spain in the cask rather than having been bottled, and the casks were expensive to return empty and were unwanted by the sherry cellars. In addition to imparting the flavours of their former contents, sherry casks lend maturing spirit a heavier body and a deep amber and sometimes reddish colour. Stainless steel shipping containers, however, have reduced the supply of wooden sherry casks, to the extent that the Macallan Distillery builds casks and leases them to the sherry cellars in Spain for a time, then has them shipped back to Scotland. Other casks used include those that formerly held port wine and madeira, while experiments with used rum and cognac casks are being performed.

Bottling
To be called a single malt whisky, a bottle may only contain whisky distilled from malted barley produced at a single distillery. If the bottle is the product of single malt whiskies produced at more than one distillery, the whisky is called a vatted malt, blended malt, or pure malt. If the single malt is mixed with grain whisky, the result is a blended whisky. Single malts can be bottled by the distillery that produced them or by an Independent Bottler. The age statement on a bottle of single malt whisky is the age of the youngest malt in the mix, as commonly the whiskies of several years are mixed together in a vat to create a more consistent house style. On occasion the product of a single cask of whisky is bottled and released as a "Single Cask." While "cask-strength", or undiluted, whisky (often having an alcohol content as high as 60%) has recently become popular, the vast majority of whisky is diluted to its "bottling strength" - between 40% and 46% ABV - and bottled for sale. It should also be noted that for whisky, unlike wine, the maturation process does not continue in the bottle.

Storage
Whisky should be stored out of direct heat or sunlight, so as not to undergo evaporation, and should be served at room temperature. Corked bottles should also be stored upright, avoiding contact between the cork and the spirit inside. The more contact with the cork whisky has, the quicker the cork will disintegrate and/or affect the whisky's taste.

Perfect porridge

2009-10-17T15:21:00.003+01:00

Scotland's national breakfast dish is porridge. Here's a perfect porridge recipe for a healthy way to start the day.

Serves 1
Preparation and cooking time: 10-15 minutes
Ingredients
50g porridge oats

350ml milk or water, or a mixture of the two
Greek yogurt , thinned with a little milk and clear honey, to serve

1. Put the oats in a saucepan, pour in the milk or water and sprinkle in a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and simmer for 4-5 minutes, stirring from time to time and watching carefully that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Or you can try this in a microwave. Mix the oats, milk or water and a pinch of salt in a large microwaveproof bowl, then microwave on High for 5 minutes, stirring halfway through. Leave to stand for 2 minutes before eating.

2. To serve. Pour into bowls, spoon yogurt on top and drizzle with honey. Or serve with seasonal berries.

Making it easy:
If you don't want to bother getting the scales out in the morning, you'll need 1 mug of oats and 2¼ mugs of liquid. (Any mug will do, as long as you use the same for both measurements)

Per serving: 175 kcalories, protein 10g, carbohydrate 25g, fat 5 g, saturated fat 2g, fibre 3g, salt 0.24 g

Top Dunfermline attractions

2009-10-17T15:13:00.003+01:00

Andrew Carnegie’s Cottage is the birthplace and memorial to Andrew Carnegie, the weaver's son who made a fortune from the furnaces of the American Steel industry and who gave his fortune away to benefit humanity.

Abbot House is unique. It has borne witness to the intrigues of Church and State, survived fire and tempest, war and pillage and even outlasted much of the great Benedictine Abbey itself. Within its walls Abbots and Kings have consulted on affairs of State, while great poets like Henryson and Dunbar have declaimed their latest works. Hardly any aspect of Dunfermline's and Scotland's colourful history has failed to leave its mark. In its time it has been an Abbot's home, a laird's mansion, an iron foundry and an art school. It has been steeped in history as wave after wave of events washed over it. Little wonder then that it refused to burn in the great fire of 1624. Forging armour for Bruce's freedom fighters, casting iron for power looms, or training pilots to fight the Luftwaffe, Abbot House has seen it all. Now you can too. Abbot House opened to the public in 1995 as a heritage centre. It is an experience not to be missed. Abbot House has been likened to Dr Who's tardis. It exterior is misleading as to the extent of its contents.

Like a medieval pilgrim you can visit the long-lost head shrine of Saint Margaret, the wife of King Malcolm III (Malcolm Canmore), skillfully recreated and now displayed within a rich interior conveying an impression of the lost colour and vitality of Dunfermline Abbey. See Lady Anne Halkett, the extraordinary Jacobite adventures, herbalist and midwife who lived in Abbot House, writing her daily diaries, composing her autobiography, and caring for the poor of the town. Visit the historic Maygate on the fateful day in 1624 when two thirds of the ancient capital burned to the ground, or drop in on William Skirving, the heroic Fife farmer who led the Friends of the People, and died a convict at Botany Bay for his beliefs. Scotland's earliest recorded painter was Richard of Dunfermline who in 1306 painted murals in Edinburgh. Abbot House has a number of murals, historic and brand new, courtesy of the artists and craftspeople who have worked to bring its history to life.

The remains of a great Benedictine abbey founded by Queen Margaret in the 11th century. The foundations of her church are under the present superb nave, built in the 12th century in the Romanesque style. Robert the Bruce was buried in the choir, now the site of the present parish church (closed during the winter).

Substantial parts of the Abbey buildings remain, including the vast refectory. Next to the Abbey is the ruin of the Royal Palace built from the guesthouse of the monastery and altered in the 16th century for James VI and his Queen. This was the birthplace of Charles I, the last monarch born in Scotland.

The refectory floor, kitchen area and lower floor of the palace together with the upper floor and stone display in the gatehouse are not suitable for visitors using wheelchairs and three steps lead to the shop. All paths in the grounds are accessible. They have a gravel surface and there are flagstones within the abbey.

Access to the nave is unrestricted. Palace entry is from Pittencrief Park with limited access for visitors using wheelchairs. There are stone carvings in the nave and abbey grounds, along with flowers and plants.

Pittencrieff House, the 17th century house was transformed into a museum by Robert Lorimer when Andrew Carnegie gave Pittencrieff Park to Dunfermline in 1903. Magic of the Glen exhibition tells the story of the Park from dinosaurs to modern times.

Come face to face with one of Europe's largest collections of sharks in one of the world's longest underwater tunnels at Deep Sea World. Everyone will enjoy a great day out at Deep Sea World. You can discover the mysteries of the deep in the amazing underwater tunnel, visit with the live exhibits in the rock pools, see the piranha or the resident seals. Or for something more adventurous you can go along and dive with the sharks. There is something for everyone at Deep Sea World.

Aberdour Castle was built by the Douglas family, the 13th century fortified residence was extended in the 15th, 16th & 17th centuries. The finished result provided accommodation with a gallery and fine painted ceiling. Also delightful walled garden with beehive-shaped doocot. Access is limited to part of the ground floor which includes a tearoom, the walled garden and the upper terrace to the south of the castle. Upper floors and terraces are not suitable for visitors using wheelchairs or with limited mobility as access is by turnpike stairs. Gravel paths to the gardens/grounds can be difficult for visitors using wheelchairs, however access is possible with assistance and for more mobile visitors. Visitors to the walled garden can enjoy its scented flowers.

10 Edinburgh attractions

2009-10-17T14:44:00.005+01:00

The first and most obvious attraction is Edinburgh Castle - you could easily spend half a day here. As well as the castle itself there's the Scottish Crown Jewels (along with the Stone of Destiny), Mons Meg (a huge bombard cannon), the Prisons of War Exhibition, the Scottish National War Memorial, the National War Museum of Scotland, the Royal Scots Regimental Museum and the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Regimental Museum.

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, founded in 1670, is the 2nd oldest botanic garden in the UK. It's both a scientific institution and a tourist attraction. Though originally located within Edinburgh, the gardens were moved out of the city in Leith to be away from the pollution. The Temperate Palm House, built in 1858, found here is the tallest such building in the UK. Nearly 34,000 plants are grown at the Botanics in Edinburgh or its three smaller offshoots located in other parts of Scotland.

The Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre - remember Scotch Whisky is spelled without an 'e'! This is an excellent place to visit for all fans of this distinctive whisky. A trip to the centre can lead to a tour where you'll learn all about the making of whisky, the difference between the various types such as single malt, etc, the people who made whisky the worldwide success it is today. And there's also a free drink included in the entrance price.

Edinburgh Zoo is located on Corstorphine Hill and offers nice views over the city, but that isn't why you would visit here. This is Edinburgh's 2nd most popular attraction after Edinburgh Castle. The animals you can expect to find here include rhinos, jaguars, koalas, lions, tigers, a polar bear, and many more. In addition there's much scientific work done including research on behaviour, conservation and captive breeding programmes.

The Museum of Childhood was opened in 1955 by town councillor Patrick Murray and is thought to be the first of its kind in the world. In addition to learning about how children were raised, dressed and educated in the first half of the last century, there's also a huge collection of toys, including dolls, teddy bears, train sets and tricycles from all over the world.

The National Library of Scotland is the legal deposit library for Scotland and is home to about 7 million books, 13 million printed items and over 1.6 million maps! These are housed in a number of buildings in the city centre. The most significant items of this vast collection include the original manuscript of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, the Gutenberg Bible, the First Folio of Shakespeare and a few significant others.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse (aka Holyrood Palace) was originally founded as a monastery by David I of Scotland in the 12th century. The Abbey still exists as a ruin to this day. Since the 15th century, there has been a palace on the site, used as an official residence of the Kings and Queens of Scotland. Today it is used by Queen Elizabeth II as a summer residence. While there you can check out the Royal Apartments and see the various styles of decoration as it has changed over time; and you can visit the Queens Gallery, which displays choice works of art from the royal collection.

The Georgian House is run by the National Trust for Scotland and provides a window into how the upper classes lived during the 18th century. The rooms are packed with period furnishings and detail, right down to sugar cones, locked tea caddies, chamber pots and newspapers. The basement contains an informative video presentation; well-informed guides in each room are happy to answer questions. Just across the square is the headquarters of the National Trust for Scotland which features four beautifully restored townhouses with galleries and a pleasant courtyard café in summer.

Reopened in September 2006, the HBOS Museum on the Mound is one of only three banking museums in the UK. Showcasing a unique collection of artefacts and memorabilia, it has a mix of static and interactive displays to keep visitors entertained. There's a section on forgers and forging, plus a gallery dedicated to the history of the Mound headquarters, set in context alongside the development of the city. The bank itself was founded by the Parliament of Scotland back in 1695, and is one of the few institutions created by it to have survived. To this day it continues to issue its own banknotes, all of which are legal tender throughout the UK.

While the People's Story across the road is a tribute to hardship and to Edinburgh's redoubtable working class folk, the Museum of Edinburgh is a shrine to the burgesses and the patrician classes. Housed in Huntly House, three original tenements dating from 1570, the displays are fabulously eclectic: Roman coins, Victorian silverware, a piece of the shaft of the original Mercat Cross, even the collar and bowl of Greyfriars Bobby. The original version of the National Covenant of 1638 is housed here; some of its signatures are in blood. Staffing constraints mean that access is occasionally limited, but even there's still plenty to see even when only one of the two floors is open.

Introducing Edinburgh

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Festival time. Fireworks explode in fizzing starbursts of ruby and emerald above the smoke-swept battlements of Edinburgh Castle, while cascades of sparkling fire stream down the castle walls. Swooshing rooster-tails of rockets fill the sky ever more thickly, lighting up the rapt faces of the crowds, as the thundering music swells to a climax. And you're standing there in the midst of it all, face turned towards the sky; transfixed, mesmerised, seduced, wondering what's going to happen next.

Edinburgh does that to you. Scots poet Hugh MacDiarmid described the city as 'a mad god's dream', but even the maddest of gods couldn't have dreamt up a more inspiring setting for the world's biggest, most exhilarating, most over-the-top festival.

Edinburgh is one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, draped across a series of rocky hills overlooking the sea. It's a town intimately entwined with its landscape, with buildings and monuments perched atop crags and overshadowed by cliffs - in the words of Robert Louis Stevenson, 'a dream in masonry and living rock'. From the Old Town's picturesque jumble of medieval tenements piled high along the Royal Mile, its turreted skyline strung between the black, bull-nosed Castle Rock and the russet palisade of Salisbury Crags, to the New Town's neat grid of neoclassical respectability, all columns and capitals, porticoes and pediments, the city offers a constantly changing perspective. And it's all small enough to explore easily on foot.

You can always tell the character of a place by the nicknames it has earned. Appropriately enough for the city that inspired The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Edinburgh has two contradictory - but complementary - ones.

The Athens of the North, a name inspired by the great thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment, is a city of high culture and lofty ideals, of art and literature, philosophy and science. It is here that each summer the world's biggest arts festival rises, phoenixlike, from the ashes of last year's rave reviews and broken box-office records to produce yet another string of superlatives. And it is here, beneath the Greek temples of Calton Hill - Edinburgh's acropolis - that the Scottish Parliament sits again after a 300-year absence.

But Edinburgh is also Auld Reekie, an altogether earthier place that flicks an impudent finger at the pretensions of the literati. Auld Reekie is a city of loud, crowded pubs and decadent restaurants, late-night drinking and all-night parties, beer-fuelled poets and foul-mouthed comedians. It's the city that tempted Robert Louis Stevenson from his law lectures to explore the drinking dens and lurid street life of the 19th-century Old Town. And it's the city of Beltane, the resurrected pagan May Day festival where half-naked revellers dance in the flickering firelight of bonfires beneath the stony indifference of Calton Hill's pillared monuments.

Like a favourite book, Edinburgh is a city you'll want to dip into again and again, savouring each time a different image or experience - the castle silhouetted against a blue spring sky with a yellow haze of daffodils misting the slopes below the esplanade; stumbling out of a late-night club into the pale gold of a summer dawn, with only the yawp of seagulls and the thrum of taxi tyres over cobblestones to break the unexpected silence; heading for a café on a chill December morning with the haar (fog) snagging the spires of the Old Town, and the dark mouths of the wynds (alleys) more mysterious than ever; and festival fireworks crackling in the night sky as you stand, transfixed, amid the crowds in Princes St Gardens.

Courtesy – Lonely Planet