As Scotland's capital, and one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, Edinburgh is a popular destination for business travelers and tourists alike. It's also a major hub for businesses; many of the country's top companies have offices there, and the legal and banking sectors are particularly strongly represented.



The combination of these two factors ? its popularity as a visitor destination and its strong business presence ? makes Edinburgh an ideal place for organizing conferences and corporate events of all kinds. There is a wide range of conference venues to suit all needs, whether it is just a small event catering for a dozen people or a major conference involving hundreds of delegates from all over the world. Edinburgh has the facilities to cater for all such events, thanks to excellent transport links, plenty of hotel rooms, and conference venues of all sizes.

Getting to and from Edinburgh is straightforward. Edinburgh airport has good flight links with the rest of the UK, including several services a day from London. In addition, there are a number of European destinations from which you can fly direct to Edinburgh, and a small but increasing number of transatlantic routes. Road and rail are popular alternatives; Edinburgh is easily reached via the East Coast rail line, and the journey up from London is actually a lot more pleasant by road or rail than if done by air.

Once in the city, potential conference venues are to be found throughout. These vary from small city centre venues, such as delightful Georgian townhouses that have been converted for use by corporate clients and offer conference services, to the main exhibition centre, which can hold over a thousand delegates in its main conference hall.

These conference venues are extremely popular for some of the reasons enumerated here, and it's worthwhile booking well ahead of time to ensure that you get what you are looking for. However, with so much custom coming their way, the upside of this is that there are hundreds of venues around the city that provide conference facilities, and if you are organizing a corporate event, the perfect venue will not be difficult to find. Conference venues in Edinburgh offer all the conference facilities you would expect - breakout rooms, meeting suites with flexible layouts, state of the art audio-visual facilities, and a wide range of banqueting services.

As well as the more traditional conference venues, Edinburgh also offers a few different options. Sporting venues are available for conference events, and these can be a popular option for those organizing corporate events, particularly if combined with one of the many corporate hospitality packages available for the capital's major sporting events. Several of Edinburgh's prestigious societies have beautiful city-centre premises which are available for hire year-round, and which make particularly good venues for an important dinner or banquet. Stunning country houses surround the city, and many offer conference facilities to corporate clients. They can be a superb place to hold an important conference. It is even possible to hire Edinburgh Castle for conferences, if you really want to impress your delegates!

Because Edinburgh is not as big a city as London or Manchester, most conference services are within easy walking distance of other facilities such as restaurants, shops and hotels. This makes planning corporate events in Edinburgh that much simpler. Rather than having to arrange transport for hundreds of delegates, you can perfectly well give attendees the freedom to make their own transport arrangements ? indeed, their visit to Edinburgh will be the richer for it.

Edinburgh has more hotel space than other cities of comparable size. Without doubt this is due largely to its popularity as a visitor venue all year round (particularly during the Edinburgh Festival, which is held in August.) If you are looking to arrange a conference in Edinburgh then it is best to bear this popularity in mind ? hotel space will be under pressure during the summer months, and during August it is probably as well to avoid Edinburgh altogether, at least as far as organizing conferences goes!

The rest of the year round, though, Edinburgh offers excellent hotel facilities for conferences of all sizes and budgets, whether it's just a handful of delegates or hundreds. All the major hotel chains have branches in Edinburgh, and some of these are specially sited in the city's West End, which is host to many of Edinburgh's top companies and therefore boasts its main conference venue. These hotels also offer conference facilities, and this can be an easy way to organise a corporate event and accommodation at the same time.

As well as major chains there are thousands of hotel rooms in Edinburgh to suit all budgets. Charming bed and breakfasts abound, and there are several hotels catering for those looking for rooms in the medium price range.