The Edinburgh Insider Blog

One of my highlights of the last couple of years was riding a giant tricycle around a farm in East Lothian. My husband and two children were perched on the contraption as well. That added to the fun.

It's hard to explain the sense of exhilaration and freedom the experience gave me. I had been unwell and somehow our family to trip to East Links Farm helped put me on the mend.

It was voted favourite visitor attraction in Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife last year. And it's not hard to see why.

Our Dynamic Earth offers the chance to explore the earth through interactive displays and impressive technology. Writing from personal experience, it makes a great day out for children and adults alike.

Edinburgh author Alexander McCall Smith immortalised it a few years ago in his Isabel Dalhousie novels. But even before literary fame, Cafe St Honore; has held a special place in the hearts of many Edinburgh residents for a long time.

It is the first site greeting anyone who arrives in Edinburgh by train. It dominates the skyline along the south of Princes Street, the city's main shopping street. And it offers panoramic views of Edinburgh's old and new towns.

It was snowing in Bruntsfield when we dived into Falko Konditormeister. But that still doesn't explain the utter deliciousness of the hot chocolate we drank there.

If you're in Edinburgh over Hogmanay, don't worry: the party doesn't end on 31 December. The city's Hogmanay programme has a schedule of events to keep us entertained well beyond Hogmanay itself and into the first few days of the new year.

It happens every January and it's always a delight; The Guardian newspaper is describing the annual showing of Edinburgh's thirty eight Turner watercolours. The pictures come out every January to enjoy the midwinter light, when natural daylight is at its weakest.

Feeling swamped by the Christmas wrapping still to be done? Worrying that all your hard work will be torn apart and the paper thrown in the bin in seconds? Then you might like to know there's a free 'Art-tastic; Bird of Paradise' event at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh on January 3rd 2010. You can bring all your Christmas wrapping paper and turn it into birds of paradise, humming birds and parrots. Not just eco-friendly, but a chance to get all crafty. Plus a way to brighten up a traditionally dull time of year.