Edinburgh is world famous for it's New Year's Hogmanay celebrations with the wild street party, the electrifying concert in the gardens and the magical torch light procession but the christmas season in general in the city is one of the best winter experiences to be found in Europe. Princes Street Gardens are transformed in to a Winter Wonderland complete with a snowball arena and an ice rink, situated in between the the traditional German Market and the fairground. The German Market is open from November 26th until Christmas Eve and is perfect for present and souvenir shopping with mulled wine and international food stalls dotted around when you are in need of a rest. The fairground lights up the city centre and the helter skelter and flying chairs make it fun for all ages. With all of the action going on in the centre there are hotels to be found all along Princes Street and North Bridge.

Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, EH2 2AA
Google map: bit.ly/cLS90w

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends

With its dark history, haunting Robert Louis Stephenson and Conan Doyle atmosphere, Edinburgh is the ultimate city for spooky Autumnul and Winter experiences. The narrow, winding closes, dark stone buildings and snow-bound, misty winter nights were the perfect settings for Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Burke and Hare's sinister graveyard encounters. Many people have claimed to meet with spirits in the streets of Auld Reekie and they were not all in a reviving dram. Brave souls who seek ghostly experience have a wealth of streets to choose from,some of the creepiest and most haunted locations in all Europe. From moss-stained city centre cemeteries to the deep, damp vaults beneath South Bridge, these eerie sites are renowned even today for uncanny happenings. Easily one of the most terrifying places is Niddry Wynd, a once forgotten street running under the Royal Mile. This perilous underground plague passage is renowned for shocking paranormal activity, and each damp, vaulted chamber has a more disturbing story than the next. Niddry Wynd features a Wiccan temple, still used by a coven of witches today. It is also the home of a violent, misogynistic entity that has left visitors with otherwise inexplicable scratches and burns. Winter vistors can then warm themselves with a stiff dram in the Banshee Labyrinth next door, one of the most haunted old pubs in old Edinburgh. Another of Edinburgh’s infamous underground streets is Damnation Alley, supposedly affected by an ancient curse. However, the real highlight is atmospheric Greyfriars Cemetery, in particular a section known as the Covenanters’ Prison. This gloomy row of lichen stained tombs is famously haunted by the spirits of hundreds of Covenanters who were falsely imprisoned and hanged there during the 17th century. It is also the lair of the Mackenzie Poltergeist, whose violent attacks centre on a tomb called the Black Mausoleum. There have been over 450 documented attacks by this angry spirit over the last decade, with visitors reporting mysterious touches and tugs as well as bruises on their bodies. These incidents are taken so seriously The City of Edinburgh Council closed the area after the attacks began. Not least of the winter haunting sites is Mary King's close The adjoining buildings were once part of a densely populated section of Edinburgh covered over when what is now the City Chambers were built in the 18th century. It was rediscovered in the last decade, and now the perfectly preserved underground homes and shops can be seen with their original inhabitants dead but not quite gone. Visitors report violent chills, phantom touches, and shadowy figures where no living person should be. One room is famously haunted by the ghost of Annie, a lonely young girl whose family died in the plague and for whom visitors have built a shrine of toys and dolls. Undoubtedly, this is one of the most haunted places in Britain with well documented public encounters. Brave souls who seek their own ghostly experience have a wealth of sites to choose from, some of the creepiest and most haunted sites in the world. Edinburgh is renowned within Britain and abroad for its uncanny happenings. Book a November Break and shiver on the dark cobbles, if you dare.

I agreeI disagree

1.  
2. Send to friends