FMUKCON 28th March 2015 - Edinburgh

[Diane65]

You can get day pass for the normal bus services with Lothian Buses. It's about £3 ish for all day after 9.30 I think. I never use the bus, edinburgh us so small you can walk mist places but it's probably too far and too short time for you to walk to Leith and back. http://lothianbuses.com
Not sure if you can use the tram with your ticket as well? The website should tell you. b*y ticket on bus, no change given. Tram tickets you b*y from machine on platform before you get on tram.

Thanks for that and it may also be good to save time travelling to the Botanical Gardens if we decide to go there as most places seem to shut at 5ish from what I have read so could always visit there on the bus and walk back through the New Town to admire the place or get the bus if it does a scenic route as it will be gone 7pm before it gets dark so may even have a ride out to the beach at Portobello plus could also use it to get back after a night out if we are feeling a bit jiggered after the day especially after the walk with MrGlass the day before. I do get a bit carried away with myself with what I think we can do in a day

[Diane65]

If you have time I'd suggest one of the ghost tours in the Old Town or a trip down Mary Kings Close.

http://www.realmarykingsclose.com/?gcli ... tAodOwIA5w

I'm the biggest wuss going but I should face my fears head on plus it will be something very different to try. Thanks alythonian for all your help and thanks to your friend as that would be a huge help as I can't remember how far apart everything is.

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

Let loose, Diane65 and organise! It's in your blood and the others will be so grateful!

I thought Diane was always captain of the "away team"?! :) Always happy batting for Diane :)

Wow, many thanks to our Edinburgh friends for hosting what I know will be an enjoyable day, as I have experienced the wonderful hospitality last I came up there! I will go with the flow for the FMUK Con day. I have no preferences and eat/drink anything! I really look forward to whatever we do on the day, its all about company :)


I'd like to re-iterate for Scottish locals and to those of you spending more than one day in Edinburgh, that I am inviting all of you to join me for a full day or evening out on the eve of the FMUK CON (ie Friday) at North Berwick, half hour train journey from Edinburgh. Its where I will be staying for the few days. I have planned out an itinerary so that you can join in at different times especially for those of you who are at work full day. I do hope that those of you coming from work can leave work a little earlier so you can do Berwick Law with us. If you can aim to be at Berwick Station at 5:30pm, that will be great. Otherwise join us around 7 to 7:30pm for the final stage when I will take you all on a tour of the cosmos including galaxies, nebulas, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, double stars and beautiful star clusters with my large 8" telescope on the sandy beach where my B&B is :)

For those of you that have the whole Friday off, there is a bonus if you can join me early in the morning for I have also chartered a boat to Bass Rock and the Firth of Forth Islands! This leaves at 10am and is either a one hour or two hour journey (I have booked it but the skipper has left it open for me to decide what kind of tour I want). The boat can only take up to ten passengers and cannot leave later due to rising tides later in the day (man they sure know their tide predictions well in advance!).

Afterwards, we visit the Scottish Seabird Centre that appears to be a world respected institute for all things birds (The Firth of Forth islands is a haven for a range of exotic birds including puffins and the world's largest colony of Gannets)

In the afternoon, we'll visit the scenic ruins of Tantallon castle that overlooks Bass Rock, a 15 minutes bus ride or 1 hour walk on the coastline.

In between these main attractions, we have time to chill and eat in town.

Last train back to Edinburgh is 10:24pm (return trip costs £6.80) or last bus back to Edinburgh is 10:02pm. Second last train is 9:24pm.

I am open to change any of the itenary if you have any other ideas and perhaps some of you locals can advise on stuff I dont know about?

Info on above attractions I mentioned:

The chartered boat is from this company and is the only option for a boat cruise as as the other companies aren't running cruises at that time of year.
http://www.northberwickboattrips.co.uk/index.htm

Berwick Law: An example descriptive walk
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/lothian/ ... -law.shtml

Tantallon Castle
http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/pro ... pID=PL_284

Scottish Seabird Centre
http://www.seabird.org/index.php

About North Berwick itself
http://www.north-berwick.co.uk/explore- ... erwick.asp

[prettyxcool]

Count me in on this Friday trip MrG. I am happy to go with the flow. Thanks so much for organising!
Do you know what the cost is of the boat trip?

With regards to the Royal Yacht visit, we will need a minimum of 15 people to get the group rate which is £12.60 instead of the public rate of £14 for adults, seniors and students are £11.25 - do you think we can get someone to pretend to be the coach driver as they can get in for free, and Diane65 can be the tour manager as they get in for free too! So then we could reduce everyone's cost by the two free tickets so everyone benefits? hehe. Just an idea. It has to be pre-booked but we can p*y on the day. It opens at 10am and last admission is 3.30pm in March. The suggested time to allow is about 1.5 to 2 hours for the visit, so due to the winter opening times, it is only a possibility to do it before the meet up on Saturday, or otherwise it can be a Sunday morning trip?

[Diane65]

I'm up for being a tour manager just need to find a name for my company

Count me in too for the Friday adventure too but will be after the boat trip when I arrive. Just need to check the train times so maybe in time for the Seabird Centre but definitely in time for the walk and Tantallon Castle. Thanks for organising such a lovely day out - its a while since I've been to any coast (I just love the UK coastlines) so will be lovely to see.

[marjoreemarjora]

Just to add
Lothian Buses day ticket is £3.50 valid all day on bus and tram and there is also a night ticket which does buses and trams from 6.00 pm which covers night buses too. this might be of use depending on where folks are staying.

Also as you go up the High Street to the Castle you pass George IV Bridge.
A few minutes walk down (away from Princes Street) you come to the Elephant House
http://www.elephanthouse.biz/ where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter.
and a few steps further the monument to Grey Friars Bobby http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/Hi ... ars-Bobby/
just beside is old GreyFriars Kirk

[steve]

Mr. G count me and OH in as well sounds like a great day. Unfortunately Diane won't let us come out to play until after we've eaten all our porridge so will be joining you after the boat trip. Shame as I would have enjoyed this.

[biggins]

The boat trip out to the Bass rock is excellent for bird watching. Just remember to wear a hat or a raincoat as there a loads of birds swooping around the rock and plenty of poo dropping!!!

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

Mr. G count me and OH in as well sounds like a great day. Unfortunately Diane won't let us come out to play until after we've eaten all our porridge so will be joining you after the boat trip. Shame as I would have enjoyed this.

Yay, that's great Steve. Best eat your Scottish oats as per Diane's order because there be a fair bit of walking to do!

The boat trip out to the Bass rock is excellent for bird watching. Just remember to wear a hat or a raincoat as there a loads of birds swooping around the rock and plenty of poo dropping!!!

That's invaluable advice...I hate poo droppings! They're bloody molten lava...

That boat trip turns out to be too early for literally everyone so I am revising alternatives and will update tomorrow :) I also pitched to Diane that perhaps we could all do a boat cruise but from Edinburgh on Sunday morning. I know that boat cruises are not operating until April but private charters are available which would turn out cheaper if a large enough group to split the cost.


Oh and PXC pointed out to me that the return fare from Edinburgh to North Berwick was an off-peak price, actual fare for the Friday will be £11.50...but perhaps you clever folks might find a way to reduce that? Edit: I misunderstood Prices ARE £6.80 part from the peak hour trains.

[Yinster]

That's invaluable advice...I hate poo droppings! They're bloody molten lava...

Yet it is consider to be good luck if a bird does poo on you.