This year the Symposium will be based in the Grassmarket area of the Old Town in Edinburgh. As the original market area for the old city, it is very central. The social event will be held further down the Canongate at The Kilderkin, about a ten minute walk from the main venue. This area is filled with many historical sites and events which the organisers will be delighted to regale you with if you ask them.

Edinburgh is very well served for train and plane travel with regular flights to many key European and even North American destinations. Trains run all the time down both the east and west coast mainlines. The station also has the advantage of being very central and only a 15 minute stagger with a sword bag to the event location.

The one point to make at the outset is that parking is very limited in central Edinburgh and very expensive as a result of being an old medieval town. Parking restrictions are also being rapidly introduced further and further out of the city centre so please check if your accommodation has parking if you intend to drive. The Exclusion Zone for certain types of vehicle will not be in force by the time of the event so do not worry about this. The good news is that being so central the area is very easy to get to via public transport and once you are here you will likely be able to walk the entire time. There will even be trams running for the first time in a fair number of decades!

Being in the main tourist area of the city means that there are many, many options for your accommodation. From backpackers hostels up to luxury hotels with original four poster beds* there should be an option to suit most people’s budgets within 2/3 minutes of the Grassmarket.

October is not high season in Edinburgh, but we do still recommend booking accommodation early.

As always we will try to help with any questions you may have but bear in mind that as we live here we have never had a need to actually stay in any of the hotels ourselves.

* Every four poster bed in Scotland once hosted Mary Queen of Scots. She changed bed a lot.