{"id":185151,"date":"2025-06-15T01:34:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T01:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/185151\/"},"modified":"2025-06-15T01:34:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T01:34:12","slug":"i-took-my-kids-to-the-beautiful-uk-city-with-huge-lego-ships-and-illusion-museums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/185151\/","title":{"rendered":"I took my kids to the beautiful UK city with huge Lego ships and illusion museums"},"content":{"rendered":"

IF you\u2019re looking for the best views in Edinburgh, you might climb Arthur\u2019s Seat hill or make the ascent up the Royal Mile.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But with sons Ralph, eight, and five-year-old Max in tow, my husband and I marched up Corstorphine instead, a lesser-known member of the city\u2019s Seven Hills \u2014 but significantly more child-friendly.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

Alex Lloyd with Ralph and Max at the castleCredit: Alex Lloyd\"Boy<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

Playing with a wonder ball\u2009at Camera Obscura Museum in EdinburghCredit: Alex Lloyd\"Optical<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

An optical illusion at the museumCredit: Alamy<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the home of Edinburgh Zoo<\/a> and reaching the top rewards you with giraffes munching on a leafy lunch \u2014 a strong motivating factor to get my children racing up the steep path.<\/p>\n

While a chilly breeze meant the lions and tigers kept a low profile, the newly arrived capybaras were keen to say hello.<\/p>\n

We were also charmed by Haggis, a rare pygmy hippo born last October and fast becoming the zoo\u2019s star attraction.<\/p>\n

But my boys\u2019 favourite was red panda Bruce, closely followed by the playful penguins. <\/p>\n

Edinburgh<\/a> was the first zoo in the world to house these birds in 1914.<\/p>\n

After all our walking, it was good that our base for the weekend, the Novotel Edinburgh Centre on Lauriston Place, was an easy bus ride away.<\/p>\n

And it ticked the boxes of each family member \u2014 a comfy double bed and spacious sofabed for the kids (me), cool bar with live music (my husband), basement swimming pool with jacuzzi (Ralph) and a waffle machine at the breakfast buffet (Max). <\/p>\n

The location was ideal, too, with the street quiet but within strolling distance of Grassmarket, Greyfriars Bobby and the National Museum of Scotland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our taxi driver also told us that George Heriot\u2019s School next door had inspired JK Rowling\u2019s<\/a> Hogwarts<\/a>, to the kids\u2019 delight.<\/p>\n

The hotel was just minutes from our next destination \u2014 Camera Obscura, the city\u2019s oldest tourist attraction, in a lookout tower on Castle Rock (home to Edinburgh Castle<\/a>, unsurprisingly).<\/p>\n

Martin Lewis gives travel advice about checking your passport Earthquake simulation<\/p>\n

Its five floors of interactive illusions \u2014 from the mind-bending Maze of Mirrors to the dizzying Vortex Tunnel \u2014 were as irresistible to my 21st-century kids as they would have been to our Victorian ancestors when it opened.<\/p>\n

From here, we took a leisurely stroll down the Royal Mile.<\/p>\n

The boys loved the atmosphere and were so full of energy that it took a lot of coaxing to stop them leaping into the Scottish Parliament\u2019s<\/a> ornamental ponds. <\/p>\n

Full soaking averted, we headed to Dynamic Earth \u2014 which takes you back in time to the origins of the universe.<\/p>\n

Aptly located at the foot of Arthur\u2019s Seat, an extinct volcano<\/a>, it\u2019s an immersive experience with earthquake<\/a> simulation, a 4D plane ride around the planet and a mini- iceberg that you can touch.<\/p>\n

After a good night\u2019s sleep back at the hotel \u2014 followed by bao buns at its Tap Kitchen \u2014 we headed down the Royal Mile once more, this time by double-decker bus to the Port of Leith.<\/p>\n

\"Baby<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

A new baby Pygmy Hippo called HaggisCredit: Andrew Barr\"Bagpiper<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

A bagpiper in EdinburghCredit: Alamy<\/p>\n

Here, we boarded the Royal Yacht Britannia, which recently opened a new exhibition that includes an 11ft Lego replica of the vessel.<\/p>\n

I feared my lads would be as bored as Prince Louis<\/a> on an official engagement, but this wondrous yacht had them rapt.<\/p>\n

So their good behaviour was rewarded with tea and cake in the Royal Deck Tearoom.<\/p>\n

The scones were so big, even Prince Louis would have raised a smile.<\/p>\n

GO: EDINBURGH<\/p>\n

GETTING THERE:<\/strong> Edinburgh Waverley Station is served by the LNER, Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, ScotRail and Transpennine networks.<\/p>\n

STAYING THERE:<\/strong> Novotel Edinburgh Central has queen rooms with sofabed from \u00a3140 per night. <\/p>\n

For details and booking, visit all.accor.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

MORE INFO:<\/strong> See visitscotland.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"IF you\u2019re looking for the best views in Edinburgh, you might climb Arthur\u2019s Seat hill or make the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":185152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,918,4884,712,50089,18461,118,1890,21291,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-185151","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-glasgow","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-scotland","13":"tag-section-travelcity-breaks","14":"tag-staycation-tips-and-ideas","15":"tag-the-sun-newspaper","16":"tag-the-sun-on-sunday","17":"tag-travel-deals","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114684812826896537","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}