The build-up to Christmas began in Edinburgh today, with the opening of the various Christmas attractions on Princes Street. On Princes Street itself – next to the Scott Monument – is a fairground, lit up against the dark skies of early winter.

Below that in Princes Street Gardens is a children’s fairground, and beyond that is the open-air ice rink.

It really is a beautiful scene, particularly at night when the lights shine out of the darkness, with the back-drops of Princes Street and the Royal Mile on either side.

The German market and Highland village market on Princes Street itself offer a variety of gifts, food and mulled beer and mulled wine to keep out the cold! There are other events throughout the Christmas at various locations in Edinburgh. We visited one of these tonight on the way home – a Norwegian carol concert in the atmospheric setting of St. Giles’ Cathedral.

For more information, visit the Edinburgh’s Christmas website.