The Royal Botanical Garden, Edinburgh

I can't call it The Botanics, as my grandmother would turn in her grave. She lived next door to The Royal Botanical Garden and so from an early age I have been well trained in getting the name right! My daughter and her friends look on a trip here as their favourite thing to do in Edinburgh. We take a bus from Hanover Street (23 or 27) down Dundas street and through Canonmills, to Inverleith Row, where we can access the garden by its east gate. It's an easy 10 minute bus ride, and for those little ones who don't get to go on buses all that often, sometimes the trip on the double decker is one of the funnest (sorry, most fun) parts.

Our favourite parts are the Rock Garden (also known to us as the Fairy Garden) where lots of little paths take you around the waterfall and pools, and the Glasshouses (which ask for an entry donation, about £10 for two adults and up to four children). The glasshouses have two large ponds with fish and amazing lily pads, as well as tropical houses and other amazing botanical stuff.

We like the child-friendly cafe and terrace, and we also like exploring around the Chinese Garden as well as outdoor pond with ducks, and various interesting trees for hiding underneath. In fact, every time we go, we find something new that we haven't seen before, from the exhibition centre at the West Gate with it's colourful wigwam decorated with children's drawings to a new path we haven't explored yet!

Most of all we like that our kids go off and play imaginative games among the flowers (sorry botanists). It's great to see them playing outside with nothing more than their imaginations, hunting for fairies. Oh, and it's pretty too!