Edinburgh is a great city to visit at Christmas, with great Christmas Markets, light trails and fun activities. Here’s my guide to Christmas in Edinburgh, with the best things to see and do.
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Is Edinburgh a good city to visit at Christmas?
Edinburgh is a great city to visit at Christmas. There’s so much to see and do at Christmas in Edinburgh. Edinburgh is a fairly small city, which means that all of the best activities are easy to get to. And if you do want to do something that’s a bit further out from the centre, Edinburgh has a great public transport network with lots of regular buses. So you can easily get to all of the Christmas activities, either by walking or taking the bus.
One of the best things to do at Christmas in Edinburgh is to visit the Christmas Markets. There’s a great Christmas Market in the Princes Street Gardens, right in the centre of the city. And make sure you head to the Edinburgh Castle light show as well, for a really impressive evening. All around the city, there are Christmas lights, and shops for you to buy Christmas gifts for your friends and family. And if you want to head a bit further out of the centre of the city, the Royal Botanic Gardens have a beautiful Christmas light trail. There really is so much to do in Edinburgh at Christmas.
There’s also lots to do in Edinburgh aside from the Christmas activities. Although Edinburgh is small, it has an amazing selection of museums, historical sites, shops and restaurants. Some of my favourite places in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Royal Mile, the Camera Obscura, Dynamic Earth Science Museum, and so much more. There’s even a famous restaurant centred on mashed potato, where you can try Haggis. Check out my itinerary for spending 3 days in Edinburgh to find out more about all of these top Edinburgh activities and more.
And keep reading here for the best things to do at Christmas in Edinburgh.
Where should I stay at Christmas in Edinburgh?
I would definitely recommend staying in central Edinburgh when you’re in the city at Christmas. This way, you’ll be right in the centre of all the action.
It’s important to remember that the weather in Edinburgh in December is often not great. It gets dark by 4pm every day. And it’s often cold, or rainy, or both. So you don’t want to stay in a hotel that’s a long walk from all of the top sights – otherwise, by the time you’ve walked from your hotel to the centre, you’ll be cold and wet and not in the mood to enjoy the Christmas activities! So staying in the centre of Edinburgh is the best choice, so you’re close to the top sights, and you can pop back to your hotel to warm up at anytime.
The Royal Mile is the focus of life in Edinburgh. Staying along the Royal Mile is a great experience. Or you can stay at The Balmoral – one of Edinburgh’s top hotels, that is beautifully decorated at Christmas. Or if you want to save a bit of money, staying just a few streets away from the Royal Mile means you can find budget accommodation that is still fairly close to the centre.
Check out hotels in Edinburgh for your trip on Booking.com (affiliate). Edinburgh can get busy at Christmas, so make sure you book your hotel well in advance for the best availability and prices.
The best Christmas Markets in Edinburgh
My favourite thing to do at Christmas is to visit Christmas Markets. Edinburgh has some really good Christmas Markets in Princes Street Gardens. So if you’re in Edinburgh at Christmas, head straight to here to get in the festive spirit.
The Princes Street Gardens Christmas Markets can get busy, but it’s still enjoyable. Don’t be put off if you see long queues to get in – the area inside is big, and people spread out, so it’s not too crowded inside.
For a really special experience, book a guided tour of Edinburgh’s Christmas Markets with a local guide here (affiliate), to show you all the best spots.
There are various levels in the gardens, each with a row of markets and other activities.
When I visited on a Saturday evening, the first stall that had a bar to buy drinks had a really long queue. But don’t worry – there are plenty of other places to get food and drink on all of the different levels of the gardens. The best food and drink doesn’t start until the third level. So you don’t need to rush to queue at the first place you see – just walk past the queue, and later on you’ll find loads more food and drink stalls with much shorter queues.
One of the best things about Christmas Markets is the food and drink. You can get mulled wine, mulled cider, and also mulled whisky – a classic Scottish drink. I wasn’t too keen on the mulled whisky, but it’s definitely worth trying! My favourite food at the Edinburgh Christmas Markets was the Yorkshire Pudding Wrap. It’s a traditional British roast dinner, all in a wrap. It was delicious! The Bratwurst are also great as well.
If you enjoy rides, there are a few rides here as well. There’s a huge swing ride, right next to the Scott Monument. The ride goes really high as it swings you round. I’m not a fan of rides so this definitely looked too scary for me – but if you enjoy adrenaline-filled rides, you’ll love this! There’s a ferris wheel as well.
All through the Christmas Markets, there are stalls where you can buy gifts. My favourites were the stall selling cute wooden Christmas tree decorations, and also sheep that looked like Christmas Puddings!
Edinburgh’s Castle Light Show at Christmas
Another of the top things to do at Christmas in Edinburgh is the Edinburgh Castle light show. The Castle of Light event is held at the castle most evenings in December. It gets booked up, especially on weekends, so it’s best to book your tickets in advance.
When you walk up to the Castle, you can see the light show straight away. Some of my favourite views were from the courtyard just in front of the castle, where you can see the whole castle lit up with colourful lights and projections.
When you get inside the castle, follow the walking route around to see even more lights and projections. The Castle of Light is mostly light projections on the walls, sometimes with music and narration.
You can also get great views across the city at night from the area with the canons.
Your ticket to the Castle of Light gives you access to all of the outside areas of the castle. However, there’s only one room that you can go inside – the Great Hall. I visited Edinburgh Castle in the daytime as well, and the Great Hall was the most impressive of all the interior rooms, so I was pleased it was open to go in at night time as well. Inside the Great Hall at the Castle of Light, you could meet the Ice Queen. Lots of people, especially children, were enjoying getting their photo taken with the Ice Queen in the Great Hall.
The small whisky shop inside the Castle was also open. They were offering free whisky tasting in the whisky shop, where you could try a small amount of one of the whiskies. I’m not a big fan of whisky, but it was still nice to have a little taste.
There are a few interactive activities at the Castle of Light. You can ‘fire your own canon’, which involves pressing a button, and then there’s smoke and sound effects. But most of the Castle of Light is enjoying the light show projections on walls around the castle. It’s a fun activity, and also a great way to see the castle. If you’re short of time in Edinburgh, you can use this as a way to see the highlights of Edinburgh Castle – you probably don’t need to come back to visit the castle in daytime unless you’re a huge castle fan.
The Royal Botanic Gardens Christmas Light Trail in Edinburgh
My favourite Christmas activity in Edinburgh is the Christmas Light Trail at the Royal Botanic Gardens. The Royal Botanic Gardens are slightly further out of the centre of Edinburgh. It’s a 30 minute walk from the Royal Mile, or you can take a bus that only takes about 10 minutes. The bus stop is right outside the East Gate entrance to the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Royal Botanic Gardens Christmas Light Trail in Edinburgh is really beautiful. As soon as you enter, the lights are just beautiful.
It wasn’t too busy when I visited. And a lot of the music was quite peaceful. This meant that there were a lot of times along the trail that it felt like a really beautiful, serene atmosphere. It was just so lovely to enjoy the pretty lights, listening to lovely music, and not feeling like you were in a big crowd of people.
The lights are the beginning were beautiful, with a big field of lights. And the water lilies were amazing as well.
A real highlight of the trail for me as the Cathedral of Lights. It was a huge structure, that looked like the arches of a Cathedral, covered in lights. It was a great place to take photos.
There are various food and drink at points along the trail. I was expecting the food and drink to be at the start of the trail – that’s often how it’s been on other light trails I’ve visited. But the start of the trail just has a place to buy hot chocolate or crepes. But don’t worry – there are more places as you go round. The hot chocolate is great here, so I recommend getting one to drink as you walk around.
There’s a large area with food and drink stalls about a third of the way around the trail. I was really impressed with the food here. There was a Christmas themed wood-fired pizza, which was amazing. And a Christmas themed Bratwurst and burger as well. The food was really nice, and there were plenty of places to sit down to eat which was nice.
Further around the trail, there were more places to buy drinks including mulled wine. I really enjoyed the food and drink at the Royal Botanic Gardens Light Trail. It just added to the magical atmosphere, to enjoy the beautiful lights and music while enjoying festive food and drink.
Towards the end of the trail, you can also see Santa! It was a great way to end the light trail.
Other Christmas-y things to do in Edinburgh
There’s so many more things to do at Christmas in Edinburgh as well. The Christmas Markets, Castle of Light and Royal Botanic Gardens Christmas Light Trail were my top three Christmas activities in Edinburgh. But there’s more as well.
The Christmas lights along Royal Mile are really pretty. It’s nice just to walk down the Royal Mile in the evening and enjoy all of the Christmas lights in the dark.
You can book a tour of Edinburgh’s Christmas Lights in a black cab (affiliate) – it’s a great way to see the best Christmas spots in the city. Or you can book this Christmas walking tour with a local guide (affiliate) to see all the best sights on foot.
So many shops in Edinburgh are decorated for Christmas as well. I enjoyed walking down the Royal Mile, and also along Princes Street, and just looking at the Christmas decorations in the shop windows. It’s a great place to do some Christmas shopping for friends and family.
The Dome restaurant is one of Edinburgh’s most famous and prestigious restaurants. And it’s a great place to visit at Christmas. The restaurant is beautifully decorated, with a huge Christmas tree in the centre. Just make sure you book well in advance, as it can get booked up months before.
Edinburgh Zoo also has a Christmas event in the evenings. There’s a lantern trail at Edinburgh Zoo, which is a great family-friendly activity. Edinburgh Zoo is a bit further out the city centre, so you’ll need to take a bus to get here. It takes about 40 minutes from the centre. But it’s worth it for any children who enjoy animals, and the animal-themed lanterns are great.
What else is there to do in Edinburgh?
As well as all of these Christmas activities, there’s so much more to do in Edinburgh. So make sure you make the most of the city’s top sights while also enjoying the Christmas activities. Check out Edinburgh Castle in daylight, then walk down the Royal Mile to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The Museum of Scotland and Dynamic Earth Science Museum are both great museums for kids and adults. And the underground tour at the Real Mary King’s Close is a fun activity as well. And make sure you try eating Haggis as well! Check out my ultimate itinerary for 3 days in Edinburgh for more detail on all of the best things to do and eat in Edinburgh.
Hope you enjoyed my guide to Christmas in Edinburgh, with the best things to see and do! Make sure you also check out my ultimate itinerary for 3 days in Edinburgh, and also my review of the Caledonian Sleeper train for a different way to get to Edinburgh. Scotland has lots of amazing scenery, so it’s definitely worth extending your trip to Scotland if you can. Check out the top things to do in the Scottish Highlands and Isle of Skye, my detailed guide to one week on the Isle of Skye, or 5 days around Ben Nevis and Loch Ness. Or for more Christmas adventures in European cities, check out my guide to Prague at Christmas, Vienna at Christmas, and Germany’s best Christmas markets in Cologne and Berlin.
