Weekend over the border (sans bike) this weekend for my 30th. Me and a rather large handful of mates are staying near Haymarket station. Recommendations for boozers in this area?
Also, anything going on up there this weekend (gigs, nights?)... and any 'must sees' for Ed. I want to see the cannon go off. There is also, according to my grandmother's recommendation, a garden with a cuckoo clock...?
The Mercat is a bit tidier these days than it used to be, and has a space downstairs, so you should be fine in a big group. Teuchters is a few minutes walk away, but is a nice little pub with a reasonable range of beers. It can be a bit tight for space at peak times there though. I don't drink in that end of town terribly often, but I'm sure the locals will be along shortly to sort you out.
The floral clock (with cuckoo sound) is in Princes Street Gardens, at the bottom of The Mound if I remember correctly.
Cannon is really a gun, and goes off at 1pm at the Castle.
If the weather is good, worth taking a walk up Arthurs Seat / Salisbury Crags or Calton Hill for the view.
If you do a tour bus, give me a wave - I work next door to R L Stevenson's house, so get hundreds of tourists peering in the window every day.
Unfortunate timing on the weather - it has been bone dry for about 4 weeks, but looks set to piss it down this weekend.
If you go into town (5 - 10 min walk) I would stay away from any of the bigger pubs and clubs in grassmarket/cowgate etc as you will struggle to get in. I had a bunch of mates in town last summer for a stag do and it was a nightmare. My advice would be find somewhere early and stay there.
I've heard that - the accommodation are trying to flog us guaranteed entry for places like Vodka Revolution... I've not taken them up on it.
However, we are boys and girls so it might be a bit easier
Another thought: It might be fun to take a ghost tour around the old town. They are loads of them and most start and finish on the Royal Mile any time up till about midnight. I wouldn't have a clue which ones to recommend, probably just turn up and go with the one with the best chat.
Vodka Revolution
not sure where that is... if it is Revolution on Victoria Street a group of 30yo might feel a tad old (I know I do at 32)! That probably applies to most of the busy places
Yeah I'm thinking more nice boozers than slick bars, then maybe a night with some decent music. Then back to the house to enjoy some afters.
new brewdog bar is nice on the cowgate...apart from the fact it's on the cowgate.
some nice bars just round the back from haymarket, like berts or teuchtars
I'd also suggest walking 10mins into town, and afree that you should try brewdog
Bow Bar is an ok pub-not-bar around the corner on victoria street, although it might not fit a big gang of blokes
I have to disagree about the Brewdog bar: tiny, expensive and pretencious (and I generally like their beers). A far better option, especially for a big group, is Holyrood 9a (http://www.fullerthomson.com/eating-and-drinking/holyrood/) . 5mins walk furher down (and out of) the Cowgate, loads of nice beers on tap (and a huge range of spirits for the non-beer drinkers) and ace burgers to soak it up with. Oh, and Thistly Cross (local) cider on tap last time I was in.
Closer to Haymarket end of town; Agree Teuchters (http://www.aroomin.co.uk/teuchters/directions.html) is nice, but again small for a big group, as is the bar across the road, but I can't remember it's name. Big corporate bar with scarily cheap, but edible, food is the Haymarket bar - I'd only bother if you have trouble getting in other places. The Caley (http://www.thecaleysampleroom.co.uk/) is a great pub and my local 
and for a more authentic Edinburgh pub experience Diggers (http://www.qype.co.uk/place/228262-the-diggers-athletic-arms--Edinburgh) if you like ale just ask for a pint of heavy and don't let some of teh reviews of over zealous bar staff scare you off, it's never been my experience.
To pick up some 'afters' if you fancy something different than the usual supermarket fare http://www.appellationwines.co.uk/ have a good range of international beers as well as wine and probably spirits, although I've never paid enough attention to notice the latter.
What is your definition of decent music? - kinda crappy but fun club that we end up in far too often (prob as it's pretty close to our end of town) http://www.citrusclub.co.uk/ a bit further away, but always been a great night when I've been (and close to 9a) http://www.thebongoclub.co.uk/webpages/programme.php or a dirty little club in the Cowgate agian, usually a great night but possibly an aquired taste http://www.sneakypetes.co.uk/ (and don't wear shoes you can't wipe clean after )
Sorry about all teh long links but I'm on an ancient version if IE at work 
meh, i'm pretentious and expensive...
We are about 50/50 boys and girls so I'm guessing the usual stag problems won't be as apparent.
Mustard - that's a brilliant post, thank you very much. I came across sneaky pete's while browsing yesterday, I think that might be up my street! 
You can't walk past Thomsons on your way into town without stopping in. It's on Morrison St.
Pubs for grown-ups I like include:
Under The Stair (off the street that goes down the hill from Greyfriars Bobbey can't remember the name) well good cocktails their own recipe worth the money
Centraal (not been there in a while but does good belgian lagers)
Berts bar is the one across from Teuchters its a good pub too.
Bow Bar on Victoria st - also does pies - and has men with beards if that is your scene.
On top of what's already mentioned, for traditional pubs I would also add Blue Blazer, Cloisters and The Cumberland Bar, depending on what part of town you are in.
I like the term "Pubs for grown-ups"
Here's a few more:
Assembly
Henricks
Ghillie Dhu
You LIKE Ghillie Dhu?! - downstairs always feels like a middle aged meat market to me *shivers* - disclaimer; I've never been upstairs to one of teh ceileidhs which I've been told are much better, but you do need to be in early doors for that.
Wasn't overly keen on Under the stairs (underneath the Rutland) either - I think it was the lack of draught beer - but the mojitos did mess me up
I'll add more later if anything springs to mind
Off in the morning with a long list of pubs to visit - cheers all!
You LIKE Ghillie Dhu?!
Did you survive? Where did you go?
He he, yeah, just about!
The mercat was an absolute gem. It was right across from the apartment. The owner (i think) sorted us out with comfy chairs, breakfast and a free round of shots when we arrived after the epic trip up, which started the day off nicely.
I did take a list of suggestions up with me but had no idea where anything was (bit of a map fail) so we just played it by ear mostly. We did go to stinky petes on the saturday night for a bit of an indie disco - LOVED it!
Cheers
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