Christmas in Edinburgh 2009

Enjoy Christmas celebrations in Edinburgh's winter festival

Updated September 2011

Edinburgh is the best city in Britain for a Christmas break. Scotland's Capital is stunningly beautiful for the rest of the year too but at Christmas, it becomes a truly magical experience, the heart of Edinburgh's winter festival and here's why.

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Christmas lunch and dinner, festive shopping, winter family fun and lots of other activities take place in a sparkling Edinburgh city centre. Hardly any other city in the world has the ability to bring excellent shopping and the magic of Christmas so close together, and at the centre of such a beautiful city, as well.

Events and festive Christmas celebrations take place throughout the city from Princes Street itself with the Gardens, the Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle in the Old Town to George Street in the New Town.

The winter festival in Edinburgh lasts for more than a month, starting with the Christmas Lights Switch On Thursday, November 26th 2009, followed by Christmas time in fairytale-like Edinburgh, and finally, finishing off with the Hogmanay (New Year's) 4-day long celebrations.

Highlights of Christmas Celebrations in Edinburgh

There's no doubt that the best thing about Christmas in Edinburgh is the Winter Wonderland, a mix of fairground rides, Ferris Wheel, outdoor ice rink, hot food stands, Christmas fair and a traditional German Christmas market. These are all open for visitors for nearly 4 weeks.

Other Christmas events include the Santa Run, Edinburgh's attempt at breaking the record for the largest gathering of Santas, the Reindeer Gardens in West Princes Street Gardens and carol concerts throughout Scotland's Capital.

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Beautiful Photos from Edinburgh

Photo of Calton Hill with its distinctive Nelson Tower at dusk. Photo #G3408

Photograph of the monuments on Calton Hill in Edinburgh with the Firth of Forth in the background at sunrise. Photo #G3450

View looking along west Princes Street Gardens and Edinburgh Castle. Photo #4101

Origin of 'Edinburgh'

Tourists have problems with the name of Edinburgh. There are hundreds of ways people write it and the most common writings include 'edinburg', 'edinborough', 'edimburgh', 'edinbourgh', 'ediburgh', 'edinbugh', 'edinboro', 'edingburgh', 'edinbrugh', 'edimburg', 'edinburugh', 'edingurgh', 'edinbrough', etc.

According to the Scottish Place Names dictionary, the name Edinburgh means 'Fort of the Rock Face'. The 'edin' part comes from Scottish Gaelic and means 'rock face', while 'burgh' comes from Old English meaning stronghold.

Some more obscure (and quite funny) ways of writing Edinburgh include: edinburough, edingburg, edinbourg, edinburh, edinurgh, edenburg, edinbough, edinbourough, edinbrgh, edingborough, edenburgh, edinberg, edinborgh, edinborugh, edinburge, edinburhg, edingbourgh, etc.

Edinburgh is spelt Edimburgo in Spanish and Italian and Édimbourg in French.

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