Reasons To Go To The Edinburgh FestivalOne Giant Step

Photo Credit: Extra Medium

Ever heard of the Edinburgh Festival? It’s the cultural phenomenon that takes over the beautiful city of Edinburgh for a month each August. There are thousands of reasons to go, and here are a few of them:

There’s no such thing as “The Edinburgh Festival”

This is because there are many festivals that occur at once. The largest is the Fringe, and others include the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Book Festival, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo…. you get the idea. There are thousands of events each day – something for everyone.

Edinburgh is beautiful

It’s a medium city with big attractions. From the ancient castle to Arthur’s Seat, there are some seriously striking landmarks. The centre of the city is the best place to take it all in – preferably from the North Bridge, to encompass a full vista; another good vantage point is Calton Hill, a short walk from Waverley Station.

Fly there in an hour

Most UK airports fly to Edinburgh, so it’s a short hop destination in a plane, rather than a long slog in a car followed by a struggle to find parking. You can easily get budget seats (but book early because it’s a popular time of year to visit Edinburgh). Edinburgh has an excellent and cheap airport transfer bus to carry passengers from the city centre to the airport, about 35 minutes out of town.

A range of accommodation is available

From student halls and hostels to fancy hotels and serviced apartments, there is accommodation to suit every need. There is, however, a lot of competition in every price bracket, so once again – book as early as possible.

Support the arts

The Edinburgh Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world. Thousands of performers go and thousands of visitors come and watch them. There will be some stinkers and some pieces that will amaze you, and half the fun is in taking a punt on an unknown. Even if they’re bad, you’re supporting an environment that breeds creative endeavour. Many of the most popular comedians and most successful theatre artists get their start in Edinburgh – you can say “I saw them before they were famous.”

Vivienne Egan writes for FHR who provide Edinburgh airport parking and hotels