AROUND TOWN | Museums & Attractions
£13.50 (£11.50; under 13s £9.50; under 3s free; family £40–£44). Home to everything from seals to piranhas, this marine life centre has a petting area and underwater tunnel so you can get to grips with the deep. Approximately a 20-minute drive from Edinburgh.
■ EDINBURGH CASTLE AND NATIONAL WAR MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND Castlehill, 225 9846 (info)/ 668 8081 (bookings), edinburghcastle.gov.uk / nms.ac.uk/war Daily 9.30am–5pm (last entry 4pm). £16 (£12.80; children £9.60; under 5s free). Perhaps Edinburgh’s most visible landmark, the Castle perches on top of a rocky outcrop at the head of the Royal Mile, and includes ceremonial rooms, fortifications, dungeons and Scotland’s Honours or crown jewels. Inside, the National War Museum delves into the past 400 years of the country’s military history. Next of Kin Until Mar 2015. A look at Scotland at war, and how people at home deal with the absence or loss of loved ones. ■ THE EDINBURGH DUNGEON 31 Market Street, 240 1001 (info) / 0871 423 2250 (bookings), thedungeons.com Mon–Fri 11am–4pm; Sat & Sun 10am- 5pm £10.95–£16.50 (£10.50–15.60; under 16s £9.50–£12.60; family £39– £49.80). A grizzly look into historical Edinburgh, with actor-led tours and rides, just above Waverley Station. With special opening hours around Hallowe’en.
■ EDINBURGH ZOO Corstorphine Road, 334 9171, edinburghzoo.org.uk Daily 9am–4.30pm (last entry 3.30pm). £16.50 (£14; under 16s £12; under 3s free; family £36.45–£62.10). Visitors can see the headline-grabbing giant pandas, the equally famous Penguin Parade and over 1000 other rare and interesting animals and birds at this site three miles west of the city centre. ■ HOLYROOD PARK Holyrood Park Road, 652 8150, historic- scotland.gov.uk Open at all times; Holyrood Lodge Information Centre daily 9.30am–3pm. Free. The main entrance to this large royal park, east of the city centre, is flanked by the Palace of Holyrood House and the Scottish Parliament Building. Its main feature is Arthur’s Seat, an 823-foot hill which has a number of smaller peaks and ponds surrounding it.
■ MUSEUM OF CHILDHOOD 42 High Street, 529 4142, edinburghmuseums.org.uk Mon–Sat 10am–5pm; Sun noon–5pm. Free. Kids can learn about the toys, clothes and lifestyles of children of the past in this Royal Mile museum. Nostalgia for grown-ups guaranteed. ■ MUSEUM ON THE MOUND The Mound, 243 5464, museumonthemound.com Tue–Fri 10am–5pm; Sat & Sun 1–5pm; closed Mon. Free. Hosted inside the Bank of Scotland’s head office, this museum is all about money. Learn how money has evolved over the past 4000 years or try cracking a safe.
■ NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND Chambers Street, 0300 123 6789, nms. ac.uk Daily 10am–5pm. Free. Renovated in 2011, this national beacon of culture has exhibitions on natural history, science and technology, Scottish history, art and design and world cultures in galleries surrounding a beautiful naturally lit atrium space. Ming: The Golden Empire An overview of the legacy of the Ming Dynasty, which ruled China from 1368 to 1644. See original artefacts from the Nanjing Museum in the only UK showing of this major exhibition. 64 THE LIST 11 Dec 2014–5 Feb 2015
■ ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN EDINBURGH Inverleith Row, 552 7171, rbge.org.uk Daily 10am–4pm. Free; glasshouse entry £5 (£4; children free). These gardens, founded in the 17th century, cover over 70 acres and are just one mile from the city centre. There are glasshouses and cafés within the grounds, as well as high- profile art exhibitions at Inverleith House. ■ ROYAL YACHT BRITANNIA Ocean Terminal, Leith, 555 5566, royalyachtbritannia.co.uk Daily 10.00am–3.30pm. £12.75 (£11.50; under 18s £7.75; under 5s free; family £36.50). Take a guided tour of the ornate floating royal residence (and the naval quarters below) and learn about life aboard the yacht, which served the royal family for almost 50 years.
■ SCOTCH WHISKY EXPERIENCE 354 Castlehill, 220 0441, scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk Daily 10am–6pm; entry is as part of a tour. Tours £12.75–£52 (£10.25–£26; under 18s £6.50). Learn more about Scotland’s tastiest export with a tour and tasting session. There is also a bar and restaurant if you need a few more drams to help decide which is your favourite. ■ SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT Horse Wynd, 0800 092 7500, scottish. parliament.uk Opening hours vary according to whether Parliament is in session, see website for details. Free. See Spanish architect Enric Miralles’ magnificent (and controversial) Holyrood building, take a tour of the interior, sit in on a debate or look at the artwork on display.
■ SCOTT MONUMENT Princes Street Gardens East, 529 4068, edinburghmuseums.org.uk Daily 10am– 4pm. £4. Commemorating Sir Walter Scott, this is the largest monument of any writer in the world. Take all 287 steps to the top for a great view of the city, plus occasional exhibitions. ■ SCOTTISH STORYTELLING CENTRE AND JOHN KNOX HOUSE 43–45 High Street, 556 9579, scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk Mon– Sat 10am–6pm. Closed Sundays. Free entry to SSC; John Knox House £5 (£4; children £1; under 7s free). A stylish contemporary building appended to the 15th century home of Protestant reformer John Knox, housing materials relating to Scotland’s rich oral culture.
EVENTS
Events are listed by city, then type. Submit listings at least 14 days before publication by using our ‘Add an Event’ service at list.co.uk. Listings compiled by Rowena McIntosh. ✽ Indicates Hitlist entry
GLASGOW
Activities & Events Glasgow On Ice Thu 11–Wed 31 Dec, Mon–Thu noon–10pm, Fri–Sun 10am–10pm. £8–£12 (£6–£10; children £6–£9) A chance to perfect your pirouettes as George Square’s open air ice rink returns. There are funfair rides, free activities for families in the Christmas Workshop and themed nights on the rink including Throwback Thursdays and Ice Rink Disco.
✽ Irn-Bru Carnival Fri 19 Dec–Sun 11 Jan, times vary. £13. SECC,
Finnieston Quay, 248 3000. From the traditional whirl of the waltzers and the crash of the dodgems to the brand new Voodoo Dancer and equally stomach- churning Matterhorn, Speed Buzz and Extreme. Entry price is £13 with visitors
NEW YEAR CLASSES / EVENTS From drawing to dancing, and singing to stitching
In the spirit of trying something new for 2015, we thought we’d point out a number of classes and events which go on all year round in the central belt and which allow participants to get actively involved. So what do you want to do? Art’s a good one to start us off, because it’s very therapeutic and relaxing, right? Unless you’re at the Edinburgh branch of Dr Sketchy’s Anti-Art School (drsketchy.com/branch/Edinburgh), a life drawing class with a vivid burlesque theme. Similarly off the wall is All the Young Nudes (atyn.co.uk), with music at Glasgow’s Flying Duck club, while both Glasgow School of Art and Edinburgh College of Art run short courses.
Down other creative avenues, the Inky Fingers (inkyfingers.org.uk) spoken word night in Edinburgh also runs writers groups and workshops, while Seeds of Thought (seedsofthought.webs.com) in Glasgow is a well-respected spoken word event with an open mic element. It’s held at the CCA, which hasn’t announced its 2015 programme but is also a dependable stop for writing classes, talks, dance classes and the like.
Speaking of dance classes, Dancebase (dancebase.co.uk) on
Edinburgh’s Grassmarket and Dance House (dancehouse.org) in Glasgow should be your main stops if you want to try them out, while Barrowland Ballet has a participatory element (barrowlandballet.co.uk). Elsewhere, there are a huge number of community choirs operating across Scotland now, singing pop hits, religious music and everything in between. If you want to join in, the Big Big Sing site (bigbigsing.org/start-singing/find-me-a- choir) has more contacts than we can list here. Finally, honourable mentions for classes go to the Stitchery in Glasgow for sewing (thestitch erystudio.com), My Bear Paw (mybearpaw.co.uk) in Edinburgh for craft, Edinburgh Printmakers (edinburghprintmakers. co.uk) for printmaking techniques and Edinburgh New Town Cookery School (entcs.co.uk) for . . . well, it should be obvious. (David Pollock)
Indian Encounters An exploration of the changing relationship between Britain and India during the 18th and 19th century, in which period India went from being a fiefdom of the privately-owned East India Company to being directly ruled as part of the British Empire. FREE Beyond Endurance An exhibition commemorating 100 years since Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance sailed to Antarctica. On display is the personal collection of books and papers of expedition geologist Sir James Mann Wordie. ■ OUR DYNAMIC EARTH Holyrood Road, 550 7800, dynamicearth. co.uk Wed-Sun 10am–5.30pm (last entry 4pm). Closed Mon & Tue. £11–£12.50 (£9.25–£10.50; under 16s £7.25–£7.95; under 3s free). Take an interactive journey through the history of this palce we call Earth. Go to the dry, dry tundra or the very bottom of the ocean, while never actually being more than a stone’s throw from the Scottish Parliament and Arthur’s Seat.
■ PALACE OF HOLYROODHOUSE Royal Mile, 556 5100, royalcollection. org.uk Daily 9.30am–4.30pm(last entry 3.15pm). £11.30 (£10.30; under 17s £6.80; under 5s free; family £29.40). The official Scottish residence of the Queen, this baroque palace now houses great artworks and tapestries. A Royal Christmas The State Apartments in the Palace are given seasonal decorations, with the table in the Royal Dining Room laid with a silver service that was presented to George V and Queen Mary in 1935 to mark their Silver Jubilee. ■ REAL MARY KING’S CLOSE 2 Warriston’s Close, High St, 0845 070 6244, realmarykingsclose.com Mon–Thu & Sun 10am–5pm; Fri & Sat 10am–9pm. £12.95 (£11.45; children £7.45). Beneath the Royal Mile lies a warren of hidden closes where citizens of Edinburgh lived and died in the 16th and 17th centuries. The underground tours are led by guides in the character of real people who lived in the close.