When to stay | January

Celebrating Burns

Burns Night | 25th January 2022 Celebrate Burn's Night throughout the capital with Haggis, neeps & tatties, and a good old-fashioned ceilidh. Check back here for some of the best celebrations in the city.

Returning for 2022, Burns & Beyond (*Postponed) celebrates the life works of Scotland’s National Bard, through a series of events presenting art and culture from some of Scotland’s leading performers and musicians | 22nd January - 5th February 2022

Burns night at the Whiski Rooms | 25th January 2022

Burns Supper on the Royal Yacht Britannia | 28th - 29th January 2022

Prestonfield Burns Night | 20th January 2022

Contini Burns Night Supper & Ceilidh | TBC

For a quick bite of our national dish nip in to the Haggis Box at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, serving haggis (& veggie haggis) neeps & tatties from Tuesday to Sunday. If you want to try to cook your own Burns supper, get a delicious locally made Macsween haggis and follow Jamie Oliver's instructions!

Festivals & Events

Edinburgh's world famous Hogmanay street party and fireworks display gets the year started quite literally with a bang! Look forward to celebrating the nations most famous bard with dinner, dancing and poetry at the months end.

Edinburgh's Hogmanay | (*Cancelled) 29th December 2021 - 1st January 2022, Party the night away in the Princes Street Gardens beneath the world famous fireworks display.

Edinburgh Zoo : Christmas Nights | 19th November 2021 - 2nd January 2022

Christmas at the Botanics | 25th November 2021 - 2nd January 2022

Dalkeith Country Park's Spectacle of Light | 4th December 2021 - 2nd January 2022

Edinburgh Christmas | 20th November 2021 - 4th January 2022

BANFF Mountain Film Festival World Tour | 30th January 2022

Magicfest | TBC

Exhibitions

Turner in January | 1st - 31st January | An Edinburgh tradition: Turner's works, bequeathed to the Gallery by the distinguished collector Henry Vaughan. Vaughan stipulated in his bequest that these delicate watercolours should be ‘exhibited to the public all at one time, free of charge, during the month of January’. His wishes have been faithfully adhered to for over 100 years. This limited exposure has resulted in the works retaining their luminous colours and pristine condition.

Thomas Joshua Cooper : The World's Edge | until 23rd January 2022

New Arrivals : From Salvador Dalí to Jenny Saville | throughout January 2022

Theatre

Kings Panto : Sleeping Beauty | 27th November 2021 - 16th January 2022 (*due to updates on the Scottish Governments guidelines the last performance will be on the 24th December)

Christmas Dinner | 6th December 2021 - 4th January 2022 (*all performances from the 21st December have been cancelled)

White Christmas | 14th December 2021 - 2nd January 2022 (*Playhouse has closed)

Food & Drink

Looking for a fun days out for grown ups?

How about booking yourselves in to Craft Beer Kitchen. Stewarts Brewing has long invited the public in to try their hand at crafting the perfect pint. With expert guidance you can spend the day brewing your very own bespoke beer. If staying at Eastside the brewery are more than happy to send the beer on (within the UK) when it's ready. Not a bad holiday souvenir!

With Burn's Night on the 25th it seems apt to visit our local distillery, Glenkinchie. Whiskies from the lowlands are generally considered the most light-bodied of the single malts. Lighter in nature, with a gentle palate which makes them easy to drink, especially for those who are new to single malt whisky. From tastings to behind the scenes tours you can tailor make the whisky experience exactly how you'd like it.

For the best food, drink and local larders in and around Edinburgh we have listed some of our favourite Edinburgh and country based restaurants, shops and suppliers for your January break.

Shopping and attractions for covid days...

When this terrible business started we put together a small curated list of local shops and attractions (generally the smaller, quieter types) that we were keen to support, but also give guests some tips of what to do if they were not feeling quite ready to face crowded places. It started small but has grown arms and legs, we hope you find it helpful : 'Best Edinburgh Independent shopping & attractions for Covid days'

Tours, lectures & workshops

Learn something new in the New Year with tours, art workshops, the national museums open learning workshops and the National Museums Science Saturday! Listed as schedules become available...

It looks like the galleries and museums have put these on hold for early 2022. We shall keep you updated it these change.

Events for Children

The National Galleries of Scotland have a great programme of events designed especially for children, babies and mums-to-be. Perfect for introducing kids big and small to their collections. Events listed here as soon as schedules become available...

It looks like the galleries and museums have put these on hold for early 2022. We shall keep you updated it these change.