Edinburgh on a budget - accommodation

Traveling can be expensive, especially if the place you are traveling to is a very touristy place. And Edinburgh is certainly one of those places. I am not sure how many people actually come over here every year but especially in summer you see more tourists than locals on some streets. Of course the local and not so local businesses have discovered that a lot of tourists still want to see and do things even, if they cost a wee bit more.

But what about people who want to see this amazing city but are not able or willing to spend a lot of money? Here is the first part of a little guide for people with a small budget:  

Accommodation


1. Don't come in August, don't come for New Years!
Edinburgh hosts a ton of festivals in August, the Fringe, the International Festival, the book Festival, the Comedy Festival and maybe a few more I don't remember and each of them last for several weeks. Hostels and hotels charge up to three times as much during the entire month of August, long distance transport and even some pubs charge more than they usually would.
New Years, or Hogmany as they call it here, sees one of the biggest street parties in the world and again, from accommodation to booze everything is just crazy expensive and there ten thousands of exremly drunk people on the streets. I always try to get out of the city actually.

2. Make sure there are no other events.
There is always something going on, not only in August. In July there is the Blues and Jazz Festival, in January-March we host a couple of Rugby matches and in June there is the Edinburgh Marathon. And whenever there is a big event like these you can bet, that the prices for accommodation will go up by a lot and it will be next to impossible to find a last minute bed. You can check on here what's going on.

3. Affordable accommodation.

 most important rule in hostels!

I think the best time to come to Edinburgh is between March and June. The chances that the weather is decent are quite good (pack a rain coat anyways!), you have a lot of daylight and it's not too busy yet, which means prices are low. No matter, if you are looking for a private room or just a bed in a hostel, Edinburgh has it all. There are at least 15 different hostels and a ton of cheap hotels and even more B&Bs and holiday apartments. It makes sense to compare prices on websites like http://www.hostelworld.com/ or http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ but it is often cheaper to book through the properties own website.

Beds in hostels are available from £10, and the cheapest hotels sometimes only charge £30 for a double room when it's off season. If you are traveling with more people it might be worth looking into renting an apartment, some are as cheap as £50 and can fit more than just 2 people (all these prices are  per night).
Of course there is also always the option to use https://www.couchsurfing.org/. If you haven't heard about it yet:
it's a huge network of people from all over the globe, it basically works like a car share website but for accommodation. You can rate each other, so it's quite easy to avoid the weirdos. And these people have often lived in the place you are going to and can tell and show you things, you might not experience other wise. And the best thing it's FREE!

No matter what type of accommodation you book, be aware that some areas will get really noisy especially at night. Pretty much everywhere in the Old Town as well as Rose and George Street are full of pubs and night clubs and at 3am when they close the party often continues on the streets. On The other hand accommodation in these areas can be cheaper because of that...

And ..... here.... we.....go! (imagine me whispering this like Heath Ledger's Joker)

Yessss, I made it! I managed to walk up the Royal Mile, down Grassmarket and to the Underbelly tent at the university without getting a single flyer. I successfully dodged them all. And you might wonder why that is reason for applause. Because it is festival season in Edinburgh. What kind of festival? All of the festivals. Mainly the Fringe Festival, the largest arts festival in the world (so they say on their website) and it's been running since 1947 and lasts for three weeks. It has become HUGE, like MOTHERFUCKING GINORMOUS. There are over 400 venues with over 3000 shows with anything from comedy, to burlesque, from kids shows to classical concerts, street art in all kinds of forms, arts and crafts markets, cabaret and stuff I have probably never heard of. 

But the festival season is more than just the Fringe. About two weeks before the Fringe kicks off, we already have the Blues and Jazz Festival with several venues and acts all over town. It gets you in the mood for the madness that is August in Edinburgh. A week after the Fringe starts we have the Edinburgh Book Festival, which lasts two weeks, has over 700 events and attracts all kinds of authors, this year we expect the guy who writes the Game of Thrones books. I am a little bit exited about that one actually! And around the same time the Book Festival takes off, the Edinburgh International Festival also takes place which was also founded in 1947 after WWII to promote performing arts from all over the world. Oh yeah and there is the Edinburgh Military Tattoo which shows Military Bands and performances from all over the world. And although I am not a fan of military, war, armies and all these things, I have to admit that it is an impressive show, including fireworks and army jets flying over the city. 

So as you can see, if you come to Edinburgh in August, there is no way you will be bored, unless you're locked inside your house and you don't know how to entertain yourself because you have no electricity (I still wouldn't be bored, I would just crochet...). You just have to step onto Rose Street, the Royal Mile or any other street in the city center and you will be overwhelmed by the choice of entertainment. It is impossible to really get an overview over all the things going on. You can just pick a few things you want to do or see, even if you are here the whole time. There are so many interesting things.

Sure some of these gigs are not cheap but there are hundreds, if not thousands of free shows. Most pubs have acts on and one part of the Royal Mile is one big stage and you just tip the artist if you liked them or you just move on to the next one. 

But even, if you manage to catch only free stuff, it is not the time of the year where you want to be traveling on a budget. Because everything is expensive. Take accommodation for example: In winter we charge between £10 and £15 per bed per night. Right now, in August, we charge around £30 per night. Why? Because we can! There is just such demand for beds, that people will pay anything. I think the number of people doubles or maybe even tipples in August here in Edinburgh. On a Saturday night we easily turn 10 - 20 people away, because we don't have space for them. It is only the very beginning and already all our weekends are fully booked and there are only a few beds during the week left. Locals have long since realised that, if you leave on a holiday, just rent out your flat and you can make a couple hundred pounds.
But not only accommodation becomes more expensive, pub and restaurants raise their prices and I wouldn't be surprised, if the main tourist attractions like the castle would do, too. But again, they can. There are just so many people in town. Not only the artist and tourists but also tour managers, caterers, builders, electricians, journalists and so on.

The streets in the city centre are so packed with tourists that I sometimes wish for two separate lanes on the side walk, one for tourists and one for locals, because it takes a lot longer to get to your local super market or the bus stop because of all the people. Pubs and clubs are open longer which means you have yelling people in the streets way after sunrise and the only time you can go for a walk or to the shop without bumping into people the entire time is at 7 in the morning.

But as exhausting as all this can be, it is still amazing that the entire world seems to come together in Edinburgh during the festival season. No matter where you go, you see art art art. You round a corner and you end up in the middle of a performance, your favourite pub suddenly has comedy, poetry and some weird acoustic singer/songwriter in one night. On your way back from the doctors you remember that lovely beer garden with the stage and it turns out that at 5pm there is this awesome ska band playing or while drinking you morning coffee someone gives you a free ticket to a show that turns out to be a play for kids, yet you go anyways just because...
You just have to take a deep breath and let it flow. Take your time and try not to get stressed and you might have the time of your life!