Jan 11th, 2012 at 2:00PM:
Curious about your Scottish ancestry? Think you can pull of the tartan? Perhaps you should hie thyself to Scotland and embrace your heritage with the new "Tartan Butler" at Rocco Forte's Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh to guide you.
Andy Fraser, aka the "Tartan Butler" is a master at tracing Scottish heritage, having successfully traced his own clan as far back as the early 13th Century by ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Edinburgh posts
Scotland's Balmoral Hotel now offers offers a "Tartan Butler"
Jan 11th, 2012 at 2:00PM:
Curious about your Scottish ancestry? Think you can pull of the tartan? Perhaps you should hie thyself to Scotland and embrace your heritage with the new "Tartan Butler" at Rocco Forte's Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh to guide you.
Andy Fraser, aka the "Tartan Butler" is a master at tracing Scottish heritage, having successfully traced his own clan as far back as the early 13th Century by ...Scottish National Portrait Gallery to reopen after major renovation
Nov 29th, 2011 at 4:30PM: After more than two years and £17.6 million ($27.4 million), the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh will reopen on December 1.
The remodel opens up more of the Victorian building to public view, adds more than 60% to the public space, and introduces several themed galleries, including Blazing with Crimson--a collection of full-length portraits of men in kilts.
The ...Budget Edinburgh: Navigating Scotland's capital on a shoestring
Jun 23rd, 2011 at 9:30AM:
Great Britain isn't at the top of many budget travelers' lists due to the sheer insanity of the exchange rate. Today's dollar gets the American traveler only 0.62 pounds, and for those working on a ramen and couch-surfing budget, that unfavorable ratio can cause a great deal of hardship.
With that said, Scotland and Edinburgh are a world away from the star studded and action packed streets ...Edinburgh through the wide angle lens
Jun 8th, 2011 at 3:00PM:
Spring is ebbing in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, the best time of the year in northern Great Britain. This historical city blossoms with opportunity as the season changes; green spaces tumble through the city like unrolling bolts of cloth, the castle and the Holyrood Palace glisten with visitors and sleepy residents begin to emerge from the shadows of winter to bustle about the public ...Iceland volcano cancels flights
May 24th, 2011 at 7:00AM:
Here we go again.
After last year's misery from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption, now another Icelandic volcano, Grimsvötn, is causing a new round of worries.
More than 250 flights have already been canceled as a cloud of volcanic ash blows over Scotland. Most of Ireland, northern Wales, and northern England will see the ash later today.
Several Scottish airports have been ...Video of The Day: Edinburgh and getting a feel for the city in 2 days
Feb 16th, 2011 at 5:00PM: Dave Pinke is a traveler based out of New York City. I've featured some of his videos here on Gadling recently. Check out his music-accompanied, fast-paced, and colorful video on San Francisco (where I happen to be stationed this rainy morning) and his envy-worthy video on Reykjavik. Today's choice video is a compilation of shots from his trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. He had less than 2 days in the ...
Q & A with Grantourismo round-the-world slow travel bloggers
Nov 24th, 2010 at 2:00PM:
With all the holiday travel madness just beginning, sometimes it's nice to take a breath and think about taking travel more slowly. I recently had a chance to meet up with blogger Lara Dunston and her photographer-writer husband, Terence Carter, of the round-the-world travel project and blog, Grantourismo while they were traveling through Istanbul. Lara and Terence hosted me at their fabulous ...Scotland festival pass gives you options
Apr 9th, 2010 at 12:00PM: If you're headed to Scotland, check out the new Edinburgh Festivals Passport from Visit Scotland. With this pass, you can make the most of the festivals you attend while you're over in Scotland this August. Theater, dance, music, comedy and art are on the list, handpicked by festival critics. And, you'll even get tips on where you'll find the best street performances, restaurants and bars. The ...Theater, art, and Haggis! A guide to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Mar 31st, 2010 at 1:00PM: Each week, Gadling is taking a look at our favorite festivals around the world. From music festivals to cultural showcases to the just plain bizarre, we hope to inspire you to do some festival exploring of your own. Come back each Wednesday for our picks or find them all HERE.
Known as the "largest festival on Earth", Scotland's Edinburgh Fringe Festival has something for everyone. From ...15 more great cities for drinking beer
Mar 25th, 2010 at 4:30PM:
Last month, the writers at Gadling spent a lot of time at the pub, creating this list of The 24 greatest cities in the world for drinking beer. We had so much fun and got so many great comments, we decided we couldn't stop: we headed back to the bar and asked for another round. Here's 15 more of our favorite cities in the world for drinking great beer. Did we include your favorite? Take a ...The 20 greatest cities in the world for foodies
Mar 11th, 2010 at 8:29AM: Once upon a time, the world's food capitals were a mere few well-known locales like Paris, New York, and Bangkok. All the action (and the eyes, and the forks) were focused there.
Recently, though, many areas of the world have expanded and improved both their menus and their talents in the kitchen, resulting in far more places staking their claims in the classy world of quality dining. ...12 underground tours around the world
Dec 4th, 2009 at 2:30PM: Sometimes there's more to a city that what you see above ground. Several cities around the world sit above underground labyrinths just waiting to be explored. Budget Travel has put together a list of some of the best underground tours around the world.
In Paris, you can tour the sewer system, in Berlin, check out a hidden world of bunkers and tunnels used during World War II and the Cold War, ...Celebrate St. Andrews Day in Scotland
Nov 18th, 2009 at 3:00PM: St. Andrews Day is on November 30, and the festivities surrounding Scotland's national holiday are due to start on November 26. For travelers with Scottish ancestry – or those looking to hide from relatives over the Thanksgiving holiday – it might not be a bad idea to head out to Scotland for a few days. Even though there isn't much time left to book, give yourself the thrill of ...Five haunted attractions for Halloween: options around the world
Oct 7th, 2009 at 3:00PM: tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/07/five-haunted-attractions-for-halloween-options-around-the-world/'; tweetmeme_source = 'Gadling';
Halloween is the one day a year we seek fear rather than try to avoid it. We invite the prospect of ghosts, witches and vampires, and even if we concede that they aren't real, it's fine to suspend disbelief for a day. To heighten the sensation, ...Heathrow up, other UK airports see traffic fall
Sep 11th, 2009 at 1:00PM:
Vacationers compensated for business travelers at Heathrow last month, helping the airport realize its busiest August in history. Airport operator BAA Ltd. noted that its total traffic, though, had fallen 3.1 percent for the month. Heathrow is Europe's busiest airport, and 6.4 million passengers passed through, a slight increase of 0.3 percent compared to August 2008.
The other London airports ...Dining while blindfolded: A new way to enjoy eating out?
Jan 6th, 2009 at 2:30PM: For chefs who pride themselves on the artful presentation of their culinary artistry, and people who enjoy looking at their food, probably blindfolded dining is not for them. For anyone who is into a culinary adventure that taps into all other senses but sight, head to the Grill Room restaurant at the Sheraton Hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland. Since October, diners have been able to experience this ...Kilt style not limited to heritage
Jan 2nd, 2009 at 9:00AM: I'll never forget watching a family of Americans at a Scottish Highland Games event in Ontario hold kilts inches from their faces, examining the patterns carefully to make sure they didn't by the wrong clan's tartan. I learned quickly that I did not have this skill and, characteristically, gave up without much effort. The need for a true kilt expert, however, was painfully obvious. This small ...Scotland wants you to come home
Dec 25th, 2008 at 5:00PM: Even if you don't have Scottish blood charging through your veins, you're still invited to Homecoming Scotland. In 2009, the country will host more than 200 events ... and yes, you can expect whisky to flow at a few of them. The year kicks off with the Homecoming Burns Supper, part of an entire weekend (January 23-25, 2009) to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Scotland's national poet. Down some ...Mission impossible: Scotland in a weekend
Jan 31st, 2008 at 11:40PM: So is it possible to see an entire country in a weekend? And not even a long weekend. My college roommate and I had just Saturday and most of Sunday to see Scotland, and we did! First, we took an overnight bus from London to Edinburgh, leaving at 11 pm and arriving at 7 am on Saturday. Then we hopped on one of the countless day-trip bus tours around the highlands. Except the one we took bussed us ...Photo of the Day (01.22.08)
Jan 22nd, 2008 at 12:00PM: I'm not a crazy sports fan or anything, but few things remind me more of my travels in the UK than football. So I love the contrast of dreary old-world architecture and colourful new-world football fanaticism in this photo from Edinburgh, taken by Annie White. Thanks for the photo, Annie! Want to see your image as the photo of the day? Join our Gadling Flickr pool. ...
