Walk in the Pentland Hills, south of Edinburgh

For an easy day trip from the Scottish capital, catch a bus from Charlotte Square in the heart of Edinburgh, through the genteel Victorian suburb of Morningside, south to the edge of the Pentland Hills. Tickets are cheap - four adults and five kids can make the return journey for just £11.You should get out opposite the Flotterstone Inn, which is less than 30 minutes ride from Charlotte Square. A path winds its way past the pub up into the inviting foothills. On route, you can take a short detour down into a forest glade to see a lively man-made waterfall. After a mile or so, you will come upon a picturesque resevoir complete with a small wooded island that is straight out of Swallows & Amazons. Here, you are encircled by the modest Pentland peaks.  At times, the landscape feels like a miniature Lake District, while at others you'll be reminded of the Yorkshire Dales.

National Express train, London to Edinburgh

Book well in advance and get a family rail card, if you want to get reasonably-priced train tickets from London to Edinburgh and to be sure of seats on board. Packed to the rafters, the trains leaving London on Friday afternoons carry dozens of people standing in the wells at the end of each carriage. If you have a seat and a laptop, you'll find the WiFi intermittent and the electric sockets don't always work. Moreover, the on-board catering is fairly lame and expensive. Still, from Durham onwards there are great views of the Northumberland countryside and coastline before you arrive slap bang in the middle of Edinburgh less than four-and-a-half hours after you left Kings Cross. Surprisingly, on the timetable, the return journey on a Sunday can be more than five hours. But you might get into London 30 minutes early, as there seems to be a lot of leeway built into the Sunday schedule. 6/10

Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh

These well-maintained and scientifically-significant gardens, just one mile north of the centre of Edinburgh, shelter a broad collection of plants from across the world, both in the open air and a series of glasshouses. While the tallest of these glasshouses, an elegant and intricate building constructed in the mid-19th century housing palm trees, is free to enter, an adult ticket for the others costs a reasonable £3.50. Those without green fingers or an avid interest in botany might prefer to stroll down the evocative Chinese Hillside, in which little streams flow under ornate bridges flanked by a bewildering display of exotic plants against a backdrop of Edinburgh Castle, church spires and Georgian rooftops. Save time for a visit to the recently-refurbished cafe, where the self-service menu includes good-value and hearty chicken pies, topped with cheese, for lunch and rich caramel slices for tea. 7/10

Holyrood Park, Edinburgh

A huge expanse of open space near the centre of Edinburgh, Hollyrood Park is dominated by the remains of a long extinct, but still dramatic, volcano criss-crossed by crags and dotted with gorse bushes. More than 800 feet above sea-level, the slippery, rocky summit of Arthur's Seat offers far-reaching 360 degree views across the city, the port of Leith and the Firth of Forth. But you will probably have to share the view with dozens of other climbers while being buffeted by a strong wind. The climb up the misshapen steps on the north face makes for an engaging ascent and is a good challenge for young children tackling their first summit. On the way down, head for the ice-cream van near Hollyrood Palace to reward your efforts. 9/10

Dynamic Earth, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh

Resembling a vast white tent, punctured by large steel pins, the modernistic Dynamic Earth building at the foot of the Royal Mile offers an imaginative tour through the history of life on earth. Ideal for kids aged 7-13, the tour begins on a spaceship, which cruises among the stars before crashing on Earth in the planet's formative years. The metal floor shakes as wall-to-wall screens display volcanoes erupting and lava pouring across a rocky landscape. Subsequent rooms contain a block of ice as big as a car, a dramatic life-size model of a pouncing sabre-tooth tiger and a mechanical, but convincing rainforest complete with animated orangutan and komodo dragon. In an IMAX-style cinema, you are invited to sit on the floor and take a headspinning flight over mountain glaciers. For students who want to delve deeper into natural history, interactive displays and detailed wallcharts are dotted throughout the exhibition.

The 90 minute tour finishes in another IMAX-style cinema where visitors sit in revolving chairs and watch dramatic news bulletins from the future displayed overhead. This final room, which places great emphasis on the dilemmas posed by global warming and overpopulation, includes an interactive voting system enabling visitors to decide whether Scots should use clean sources of energy or build more nuclear power stations, for example. While the tour itself is quite pricey at £9 for an adult, Dynamic Earth has a good-value and child-friendly cafe offering panoramic views of Hollyrood Park through the large glass walls. 7/10

Great North Eastern Railway, London to Edinburgh

Book very early to get a reasonably-priced seat on this often-crowded train service between London and Scotland, which typically stops at Peterborough, York, Newcastle and a few smaller English towns. On board, the seats are comfortable enough and the catering is okay. While it takes over four hours to reach Edinburgh, the last couple of hours are enriched by fine views of Durham's hilltop cathedral and Newcastle's eclectic bridges, followed by sweeping vistas across the deserted Northumberland countryside and coast line. The train arrives in Waverley station in the shadow of Edinburgh's imposing castle in the heart of the historic city. For Londoners within easy reach of Kings Cross station, GNER's southern terminus, the train isn't much slower than flying and is far less fiddly. 6/10

Kay's Bar, Jamaica Street, Edinburgh

Don't be deceived by the name, Kay's Bar is an old-style neighbourhood boozer, serving salubrious residents of Edinburgh's stately New Town. Housed in a stone cottage, the cramped main bar is usually abuzz with the hum of conversation conducted in the soft Edinburgh accent. Wooden barrels line the wall facing the bar, which is well stocked with a rotating range of real ales. Belhaven 80/- is a permanent fixture, as is Guinness. At the back, the even smaller Library bar is decorated with old black and white photos of the New Town and a wall of aging leather-bound books. Kay's Bar is all about drinking and talking, rather than TV and fruit machines. 7/10