Edinburgh is also known as Embra, Auld Reekie and loads of other things to name a few. Auld Reekie comes from the days of steam trains and coal chimneys, what happened was the buildings in the main town centre near the Waverley Train Station went black due to the steam and smoke, the buildings have all been cleaned in recent years and are back to the glorious original selves.

Princes Street:

Shopping in Princes Street:

Once you have finished in the centre you can move over the street to the Princes Mall (previously known as Waverley Centre), this centre is a bit more up market and the shops tend to be a little more expensive with the likes of Xile, Proudfoots (Sheepskin coat and rug specialist), USC designer clothes outlet and many, many more. There is also a massive food court here with the usual outlets Spud U Like etc, etc. There is also a traditional cafe at one of the main entrances and a Starbucks has also just arrived which is always very busy. You can easily access the Train station from the Princes Mall as it has a direct link to it from both main entrances, all main city bus routes are outside on Princes Street also, and so you do not have to struggle to far with the bags.

Princes Street is also the centre stage for Edinburgh's famous Fringe Festival and Europe's biggest Hogmanay celebrations, and also the yearly end of Festival fireworks show, which attracts over 250,000 people every year. The festival itself runs for a total of 5 weeks through the month of August and attracts people from all over the world; one of the other highlights is the nightly show at the Castle of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo an amazing show no matter how old you are. The Festival also attracts acts and major stars from all over the world and can often be the big break that some new acts are looking for.

Edinburgh has plenty of places to stay, the two most exclusive being The Balmoral at the East end of Princes Street, a personal favourite of Sean Connery and a many other big stars. Then onto the West End for what was one The Caledonian, which has now recently changed to The Hilton another haunt for big stars such as Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas. There are many other places to visit in Edinburgh for accommodation from B&B's to Exclusive hotels.

There is a load to do in Edinburgh with two football clubs, Rugby internationals, The Scottish Museum and The National Museum, Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace and much more. There is always a concert or stage show on at the Edinburgh Playhouse and there are many other theatres with things going on in them every day of the year. You can go swimming in the international Commonwealth Pool, training at numerous gyms and sports arenas. Cinemas are in abundance so you can catch a flick at any time, there is also a few Internet Cafes Easy everything being the main one in Princes Street with over 500 PCs available so you have no excuse for not keeping in touch.

The transport in Edinburgh is second to none, you are never short of a bus they start to operate on various routes (most popular usually) at around 6 a.m. and as the day goes on the buses become more frequent, between 10 - 25 minutes apart depending on which route you are taking. Some routes have several different numbered buses going in the same direction which means you only have to wait a couple of minutes for the next one. The bus is very cheap if you are going to be travelling a lot! After 9:30 am you can by an Off Peak Day Saver for £1.50 this gets you on the bus all day without paying again, the average fair is normally 80p therefore if you travel more than twice you have saved loads of money, this is handy in Edinburgh as it is a very big place and to get from A - B you sometimes need to get 2 buses. The buses are well signed where they are going and the drivers although a little grumpy are usually more than helpful, beware at Festival and Christmas times the buses can be very busy as does rush hour.

There are also many different taxi firms in Edinburgh the most popular being Central Taxis and City Cabs between them they have over 500 black cabs on the roads, these are normally easy to flag down, but beware busy times of the year they can be quite scarce. This is when the private firms come in handy again the best of these being Festival cabs who provide you with a luxurious car every time ranging from Mercedes to Jaguars and they are very cheap, cheaper than our black cabs, they can also provide Espaces people carriers again at no extra cost. All the numbers for these companies and more are available in Yellow Pages or from any good Hotel reception.