Always delighted to try to help visitors to Edinburgh to find things worth seeing, I'm putting a few suggestions in this post especially for Ros who will be in the city soon, but also for anyone else planning a trip to these parts.
Ros tells me she's already got Fidra Books/The Children's Bookshop on her itinerary, and that is certainly vaut le detour. A bracing walk across the Meadows from there, heading to the Old Town, would take you past Peter's Yard in Middle Meadow Walk where refreshments can be had! A step further on is the National Museum of Scotland, and on South Bridge (at the far end of Chambers Street on which the museum sits) is a big branch of Blackwells. Just round the corner is Dovecot, the tapestry studio.
Not to everyone's taste - but I found it absolutely fascinating - and only a short distance south of Blackwells is Surgeons' Hall and its medical museum.
Retracing your steps back to George IV Bridge (i.e. adjacent to the National Museum), go down Candlemaker Row (beside the statue of Greyfriars Bobby) and you'll be in the Grassmarket, in the shadow of the Castle. Taking the curving West Bow and Victoria Street up to the higher level again you will pass K1 Yarns (and if you're lucky you might meet Ysolda there!).
A walk up and down the Royal Mile is a must with a stop at Gladstone's Land, St. Giles' Cathedral and the Queen's Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and perhaps the Museum of Childhood, but then I'd go down the Mound to Princes Street (avoiding most of the shops there), pausing at the National Gallery of Scotland and/or The Royal Scottish Academy, before heading to Queen Street for the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and further east to Elm Row at the top of Leith Walk for the wonderful Valvona & Crolla.
Heading west from there you can explore the New Town, and for more refreshments stop at Glass & Thompson. The Georgian House in Charlotte Square is worth seeing, and heading even further west, there's the Dean Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, followed by a walk through the Dean Village.
Any energy left?
