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Edinburgh is a great place to visit, "a fusion of fabled streets, and historic buildings, contained within a vibrant modern city". Do spend some time wandering around it. There are open-top, hop-on-hop-off bus tours which can be a good way to orient yourself and to see what most interests you: tickets available on the buses, or at a small discount here. Beyond Edinburgh itself, the Central Scottish Highlands are within easy reach, or travel further to Glencoe, the West Highlands, Loch Ness or the Scottish islands including the Isle of Skye, Islay or the outer Hebrides. In addition, we provide attendees with a few ideas what to do after the main meetings have passed and it is time to relax and enjoy the evening. Ideas include: For further information about Edinburgh and Scotland, please have a look at the following websites:

Please contact Chris Fensch (c[dot]fensch[at]ed[dot]ac[dot]uk) if you have any questions or ideas about activities. Also please check this page often for updates on offered activities.

Walk to Arthur's Seat

Monday, 3rd May around 18:30 at the Informatics Forum
We will gather at the entrance of the Informatics Forum and take a nice walk to Holyrood Park and up Arthur's Seat (Edinburgh's own extinguished volcano). The hill rises above the city to a height of 251m, provides excellent panoramic views of the city and is quite easy to climb. As such no special equipment should be required (though we would recommend either wearing trainers or some older shoes). Afterwards, we will all enjoy dinner in a nearby restaurant. Coming for the walk requires no registration, but since we have to find a suitable restaurant (around 20£ per person) we need to know who would like to come along for dinner.
Please register, if you would like to come along. Please only register, if you want to come along for dinner as well.

Tour through Edinburgh's Haunted Underground (9.00£ / students 7.50£)

Tuesday, 4th May at 20:30 near St Gilles Cathedral on the Royal Mile
Edinburgh has an extensive network of underground caverns and tunnels. It is said that these underground vaults have absorbed the memories of the people who once lived, worked and died here. We will take a guided tour through some of these caverns and hope to leave with the same number of people we have started with. So cling on tightly to the person beside you. The tour will last for about 1.5 hours and costs 9£ per person (students 7.50£, please bring some picture student ID). There is a minimum number of 15 people on the tour and a maximum number of 40.
Please register, if you would like to come along.

Great Pubs

Listing all of Edinburgh's pubs and bars would be a task which would probably take forever to complete. Instead we just want to point a few that are within walking distance of the forum.
  • Bow Bar
    What would be a visit to Scotland without sampling one of Scotland's finest produce: whisky :-). The Bow Bar has an amazing collection of over 145 different malts. In addition they also serve a selection of real ales.
  • Pear Tree House
    Just a few metres from the Informatics Forum, this unique Edinburgh Pub is offering a beer garden right in the city centre. And even better, it also has an impressive selections of whiskies to choose from.
  • Sandy Bell's
    Sandy Bell's is a very traditional corner pub. However, once night time comes the pub is transformed into a venue for folk musicians. If you're interested in listening to some great live folk music, this is the place to go.
  • Brass Monkey
    One of the best bars in Edinburgh and a local secret, Brass Monkey offers all manner of delights. From Havana and Coke from 2.55£, monkey art, iconic posters and an intimate back room - what more could you want? A room made of mattresses you say... Well the Brass Monkey even has that too.
Quick note: since 2007, all Scottish pubs, bars and restaurants are smoke-free. If you would like to smoke, look for pubs with outside seating areas (often with heating).

Restaurant Guide

Edinburgh has many good restaurants in the centre and in main residential areas. Most open until 23:00/00:00. Reservations may be necessary. Note that many good restaurants offer much cheaper "pre-theatre" menus in the early evening (usually before 19.00/19.30). Pubs will also often offer food at reasonable prices, but menu options can be limited, and quality can vary. Pubs, pizzerias and ethnic (Indian, Chinese) restaurants often offer the best value. Italian restaurants can be relatively expensive and are often uninspiring. Note that while most restaurants will sell bottled water, tap water is perfectly safe to drink and very pure. Restaurants will supply it free if you ask for it. We compiled a Google Map with restaurants which are in walking distance of the Informatics Forum. We also included a few ones which are a bit further away (you either have to take a bus or taxi) in Leith. Leith is the port of Edinburgh and as such home to the best fish restaurants in the city (and if you fancy something truly exotic, try a Mongolian BBQ).


View Restaurants for the HiPEAC Innovation Event in a larger map

Football in the Meadows

The Meadows are a public park very close to the Informatics Forum. People quite often gather there for some informal games of football or frisbee. If enough people are interested, then we're happy to organise a ball and try to recruit a few additional players from Edinburgh's PhD students. Please contact Dominik Grewe (d[dot]grewe[at]sms[dot]ed[dot]ac[dot]uk), if you're interested.

Whisky Tasting

If there is interest, we can try to organise a whisky tasting, sampling Scotlands most favourite produce. The event would be for 5 to 10 people. Unfortunately, at this time we cannot guarantee that we will be able to organise a venue. Please contact Chris Fensch (c[dot]fensch[at]ed[dot]ac[dot]uk), if you're interested.