Edinburgh International Climbing Arena: Ratho

Positive experience: Amazing wall and routes. But staff are not overly welcoming. Getting competency checked by reception staff and then floor staff seems a bit much and could do with streamlining. Staff hovering over you even after you've passed sign off, I understand the safety needs but quite literally just standing next to you on the ground silently watching is a bit odd. Getting told " oh we can normally tell who is a climber and who isn't" before we'd even got harnesses on, felt a bit pointed too.

Fantastic experience: Had a wonderful children's party there

Fantastic experience: Spectacular place to hav fun with the family.

Fantastic experience: Brilliant clip and climb session with the assistance of Hazel, Malcolm, Cameron, Fraser and others. Fab team and really good fun for the whole family

Fantastic experience: Great place to have a clip and climb birthday party!!! The kids loved it!

Fantastic experience: Currently under renovation, but soon will be the best climbing centre in Scotland.

Positive experience: Soft play is great for the tots, but waiting 15 minutes for a pot of tea from the cafe is a bit silly. I mean, how hard is it to add boiling eater to a tea bag? At least we could all pass the time complaining about how long our drinks were taking.

Fantastic experience: Clip n climb was amazing for the kids

Fantastic experience: Really great place! We attended a birthday party organised here for our son's friend and all the children had a fab time, staff were really friendly as well! Nice coffee too!

Fantastic experience: Great place for kids and adults. The staff are fantastic.

Fantastic experience: Very good climbing wall, kids loved if, staff very friendly

Fantastic experience: Life-changing experience. Unequalled. Truly inspiring stuff. The facilities are spotless. The only downside I could mention is that the staff are, unfortunately, nice

Positive experience: Son and friend had a great time at the clip and climb. Friendly and helpful staff. The climbing walls are awesome! Good first experience and introduction to climbing.

Fantastic experience: I sit and watch and my partner and friends climb, I had an injury over 10 years ago so I'm not fit to climb - I lose the feeling in my right hand randomly so it's not safe but they love it and I drink coffee and take something to do with me, it makes my partern happy and that's good for me

Fantastic experience: Took my niece here for clip and climb. It was very well organised with friendly and helpful staff. We will most certainly be back.

Fantastic experience: Visited Millar physio here for shoulders & neck treatment. Extremely knowledgeable, friendly & outstanding service. Shoulders & neck feel absolutely amazing after. Pain free and treatment has also given me a lot more range of motion in many ways. Thanks James AAA+++++

Fantastic experience: Best indoor rock climbing centre in Scotland. Self-belay routes of varying levels, great slab, overhang as well as some very high top rope routes. It does get very busy at the weekend so best go early!

Positive experience: Very large climbing arena means you can still climb even when busy. Some very good route setting. Plenty of parking. Cafe open limited hours and centre is difficult to get to with public transport

Fantastic experience: Biggest climbing centre in Europe! its a bit costly for one time approaching on £15 a day but that is unlimited use all day. Comp lead walls, speed wall, plenty other top rope and lead routes. a 30m tower. The bouldering is currently getting updated to be world cup level. Cafe can be a bit slow but they serve an area thats for kids birthdays as well so it is understandable. This place has climbs from grade 4 - 8A for sure. I dont climb hard enough to know if they ever grade past that.

Negative experience: Misleading customer service and they change the rules when you attend. The bouldering is really poor and half the bouldering options are under renovation. Very poor experience from the start. Waste of time.

Negative experience: Do not go if you do bouldering. They have a very small room which is quite disappointing for being "the largest climbing centre in Europe". They are renovating all the bouldering area so only a tiny space is dedicated to it, but they wont tell you that before you pay...

Fantastic experience: Great place for a day of rope climbing! Low and high walls, challenging problems. Top-rope, lead and auto belay. And even a speed climbing practice wall.

Fantastic experience: EICA is an outstanding venue for climbing. There is something for everyone in terms of climbing from the kids clip and climb to all types of rope climbing on walls up to 30m tall. There is lead climbing routes, top ropes, speed climbing and auto belays. The gym is also a really good size. There is a cafe which has a nice bit to sit outside. The bouldering room is quite small but the main event here is really the arena. Would recommend for climbing.

Fantastic experience: My daughter's been attending clip and climb summer camp this week which she's loving. Staff are great with the kids. We've also been coming to the soft play here over the years which is brilliant. Again, the staff are really lovely and welcoming and are great at keeping the baby area free from older kids so your littlest ones can play safely.

Positive experience: Can't speak for the rest of the venue, but the click and climb was EXCELLENT! We visited with family aged 25, 20, 9 and 8 years old. The climbing challenges were perfect for new climbers. The Staff who supported us were terrific. Just wish I was much younger and fitter and braver to have given it a go!

Fantastic experience: Birthday party was very good. Lovely, attentive host and excellent facilities.

Fantastic experience: Book in advance to reserve your slot Great experience for the whole family

Fantastic experience: The kids loved it, great place to spend some time with them. Instructors are brilliant with the kids.

Fantastic experience: Great place for bouldering and climbing!

Fantastic experience: It's great fun and lots of activities to do.

Fantastic experience: Amazing location with friendly staff, just be aware that Uber will drop you off but won't pick up from here!

Fantastic experience: Lovely atmosphere and great enjoyment for young kids, too, enjoy climbing and entertainment. It is lovely for families to enjoy climbing together as well as enjoying a sport or fitness together

Fantastic experience: Best climbing wall I've ever been to. I didn't know this about walls in the UK - but you have to bring your own rope, you cannot rent.

Fantastic experience: Such a good way to spend a few hours. Excellent facility

Fantastic experience: The best climbing gym for lead and top rope. There are loads of amazing routes which are all very well set. There are also awesome walls which go up to 30 metres. Requires a lot of endurance but 100% worth a visit.

Fantastic experience: International grade climbing facilities. Not cheap, but it is worth it. Umpteen climbs suitable for all levels, and it has a bunch of auto belays for solo climbers. A bouldering room and a cafe to top it off.

Fantastic experience: I was there with one of the kids, this place seems really well appointed. Lots of different climbing routes and grades as well as bouldering. There's lots of parking too so there's no concerns there

Fantastic experience: Amazing experience just to see what has been created here. My grandson aged 13 had a beginner 's session and loved it. An area for smaller kids looks excellent also. Well done Edinburgh Leisure!

Fantastic experience: Fantastic set up, genuinely impressed. I was there with my grandson at clip and climb which was well set up and organised. The bigger climbing arena is very impressive.

Fantastic experience: Was a great time at the Clip n Climb, kids, mum and dad loved it, dress for the time of year its a vast space with various standards of climbing on show all around. We will be back cheers

Fantastic experience: The kids absolutely love it here - can’t wait for the surfing machine to be installed!

Fantastic experience: First timer at EICC and it turns out I had only ever bouldered before so the scale of the walls was slightly overwhelming! Had the BEST time scaling the walls and learnt how to belay which was a moment of pride. Staff friendly and always on hand, the place was quiet on a weekday afternoon and there is a good mix of auto-belay routes for the solos My first pair of climbing shoes is already in the post!! 10/10 for adrenaline and fitness!

Fantastic experience: Always good. Great walls for different abilities and a bouldering room. Café downstairs is a bit canteen like. The one upstairs doesn't look like it's going to reopen.

Positive experience: Great wall remember to wrap up warm as it's fairly cold in winter, there fixed ropes and quikdraws could do with being replaced as they look like they have seen better days.

Negative experience: Unclear requirements for auto belay climbing. I drove over an hour to the facility where the receptionist told me I wouldn't be able to go climbing using an auto belay without being able to showcase how to do a climbing knot. Very strange regulation since you just clip in and don't use any knots when being secured by the auto belay system. Furthermore, it is not mentioned anywhere on the website that this is a requirement for this type of climbing. Very disappointed I waisted half a day for nothing.

Positive experience: The temperature in the climbing hall in winter, is about the same or colder than outside. Today we were lucky and had 6°C inside, but normally it's about 2°C at this time of the year (November). So it has a roof and it's illuminated but otherwise feels like climbing outdoors in winter. The rest of the building is slightly less cold. The food in the cafeteria is not good but it's cheap. It's not possible to reach via public transportation Other than that, you see I give 4 stars, the place is great, it has plenty of lead, top rope and auto-belay routes. We came on a Monday midday and had the whole place for ourselves. You can't rent a rope there so make sure to bring one if you want to climb lead. For top rope you can use the ones which are already on on the wall. The staff is 5 stars. Extremely friendly and helpful. They even let me use a warm water bag because I was not prepared for the cold. Thank you so much!!

Fantastic experience: Great place to take the kids and tire them out. Much fun to be had here.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic climbing, loads of routes and a good few auto belays routes to, £14 entry and to hire gear takes it to around £25 so a bit on the costly side. But nevertheless a great place to climb with helpful staff.

Fantastic experience: Take daughter climbing her all the time. Walls get regular change and a great variety of routes for all levels.. Nice cafe for after too

Fantastic experience: My first time at Edinburgh climbing centre, I was amazed by the size of the place lots of climbing from really easy to extremely hard something for all skill level, highly recommend this place great atmosphere staff really welcoming, the soup in the cafe was beautiful

Fantastic experience: ABSOLUTELY AWESOME CLIMBING WALL. The route setting is challenging and diverse. The staff really care about making EICA an enjoyable place for all. I always feel welcomed when I go for a sesh.

Negative experience: Absolutely atrocious customer service in the cafe. I made a mistake and forgot to ask for a sandwich and drink with the kids meal. 1. Was told “ you had been asked if that was all you wanted.” He should have asked specifically if I wanted the sandwich and drink. 2. He would have to refund the initial payment then put through again. At this point he said he was going to put us to the side and serve the rest of the customers. 3. I asked for a manager to handle this situation and his reply was “yes I can call a manager, we can wait for them and see what they say.” 4. Once all sorted I apologised and was met with a stony faced silence. If I had behaved like this when I worked as a waitress I certainly would not have been offered any further shifts. If a name is required for some much needed customer service training I will gladly provide it. I have to say that the climbing instructors were great and our experience on the wall was good, it was just sadly marred by the lunch experience after.

Positive experience: Busy place. Nice cafe. Went there to wait and watch. Good views of the climbers but not for those with a fear of heights.

Fantastic experience: Brilliant walls to climb, worth the longer journey from Glasgow. If I had any criticism it would be there should be more auto belays.

Fantastic experience: Incredible climbing facility in easy reach of Edinburgh. Plenty of top roping, leading, autobelays, outdoor sport and trad climbing as well as multiple and varied bouldering areas. Super friendly, approachable, knowledgeable and helpful staff and they also offer high quality courses. Particular thanks to Robin for continuous advice and support as we've learned to lead!

Fantastic experience: I love this arena as a climber, great Climing coaches. The club is amazing. Facilities are good overall nothing wrong with it

Fantastic experience: A big thank you to Charly! My son had his birthday party at clipnclimb, and she made it really special. Her enthusiasm and passion was wonderful to see.

Positive experience: I love this place. The only things I would improve are: 1. Improve slightly the bouldering area 2. Last time I went I saw the auto belay routes don't have grade. I don't know if it was temporary, but just in case.

Fantastic experience: Took my kids for the clip an climb. Absolutely brilliant! Staff were very friendly. Highly recommend coming here.

Fantastic experience: Huge. Awesome. Big routes.

Positive experience: **Bouldering** There is a small room and three 'boulders' in the main room. We are beginner-ish: 5 on the european scale, V1-V2 on Hueco scale. In the small room most of the routes have an overhang (some severe), only 3 routes were reasonable for beginners. Then on the boulders in the main room also 3/4 routes were possible for beginners. The boulders require you to use the actual 'rock surface'. Which makes it quite difficult for beginners and different from what you would be used to. Especially as sometimes there are no starting foot holds. The rental shoes are worn and the inside of some of them were nasty. There are lockers in the changing room in which you need £1 and then this is returned. Smaller lockers in the big room. Unfortunately people tend to leave their bags everywhere, sure not on the mats but everywhere else on the edge of the mats. The big room is quite cold so would advise a small mid-layer to use while warming up. I would advise the facility only for wall climbing and would not advertise it for beginner boulderers. There is a cafe, toilets, changing rooms, gym, clip and climb and other things

Fantastic experience: We absolutely love this place! Our 6 year old has discovered her love for climbing here - a d so have I. People are super helpful and encouraging. The premises are impressove to say the least.

Fantastic experience: I really enjoy climbing at the Ratho Climbing Centre. This time, I went on my own and used the self-belaying devices. There was enough variety to get a good workout on the routes. I did not have to wait too long to get on my choosen climb so this gave my arms a chance to rest. I think there is a good atmosphere there. The staff I found were friendly and helpful. It is a bit expensive, but I dread to think of the running costs. Would I recommend it? Yes.

Fantastic experience: Excellent facilities for all ages and abilities. Attended the Clip n Climb session with my 6 year old we both loved it, though I didn't get to do much apart from the 10m drop! I'd recommend not paying for an adult space if you are expecting to be supporting your kids the majority of the time as they allow parents/carers to do this at no additional cost.

Fantastic experience: Amazing place! Huge, good for top roping, lead climbing and bouldering. Staff are so kind!

Fantastic experience: Took our grandaughter to the softplay which was great fun. We also wanted to show her her great grandads named room, Jimmy Marshall who sadly died in March. She was fascinated watching the climbers. Fabulous day out.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic place. The staff are great as well. Anyone can take part. My kids have disabilities and they have a disabilities team.

Fantastic experience: Amazing place for climbing. All people are very friendly and helpful. If u think climbing is not for you, then don't and just try. Best. Sport. Ever.

Fantastic experience: Only been here a couple of times but really has to be the best rope climbing centre in the UK. If you find yourself in Edinburgh definitely go check it out! Very tall walls, loads of featured walls, and great route setting. Amazing!

Fantastic experience: Click and climb is excellent. You normally need to book a few weeks in advance, but it's so worth it. Took 4 teenage girls who absolutely loved it. Such a great experience. Friendly staff, great facilities and cafe reasonably priced for a coffee and a cake.

Fantastic experience: We are lucky to have the biggest climbing arena in Europe just next door. The boys go climbing every Sunday I done all my accreditation with this arena and now I can supervise and coach them. They loved spending time here and won’t leave until they are exhausted. The place is always clean you can rent the hamlets I am not sure about other equipment. The place can be very cold in the winter.

Fantastic experience: We go there almost every weekend as it’s only 15 minutes drive from home and she loves the soft play there. So I bought the membership for her and it’s been just fantastic. But it can be very busy in the weekend so mostly we only can get 60 mins in the past few weeks which is a bit disappointed as she’d play longer. And we can have a cup of tea and watching the little climbing up and down, running around with other kids. Staff are very nice with big smiles all the time. Most of Other kids are very friendly and she is just happy there which is the most important reason. Thank you She also like the puddles on the top after climbing stairs after we come out…but we wouldn’t allow her to stay long there.

Fantastic experience: An amazing place. The staff are wonderful and the routesetting is ridiculously good. The peeps here really understand how important climbing is to the people who do it and do everything to make every sesh a fun one.

Fantastic experience: A fantastic climbing gym with very helpful staff. More than happy to give advice and information. The climbing walls themself are set within an old quarry which I didn’t realise before entering. It is a great all round climbing gym with things for kids (clip & climb) aswell as some harder leads and bouldering. Access to a few auto belays was also good as this visit I was alone but would have been nice to have a few more and maybe on the higher routes. Still super fun tho. Overall I really enjoyed my visit and will sure visit again if I’m in the area.

Fantastic experience: Excellent facility with great staff. We were new visitors holidaying in the area so as my experienced climber son was under 18 I had to do the refresher course for belaying and he did the competency check. Both were done by the wonderful David who was really friendly and very knowledgeable. After completing the courses we went on to climb for a couple of hours until we were both knackered (!) We’re now hoping to come back for another session before we head home. A must for any keen climber and worth travelling to.

Fantastic experience: My kids love the Clip n Climb. Staff are great with them, especially the guy encouraging my daughter higher by pretending to rescue a mouse! Great job.

Fantastic experience: Great place, lots of variety with loads of walls. It's always busy, however never struggled to find a place to climb with my boy. The staff are super helpful and overall they have good facilities.

Positive experience: Was expecting the premier climbing experience, but left felt underwhelmed. Mostly because of the under utilisation of the space and the tatty, unmaintained vibe. Boulders in the centre are really slippery and havent been cleaned in years. Boulder room is tiny so too many routes are crammed into a small space and has no slab routes, so you'd better be able to do over hangs. Route setting lower grades on the auto-belays seems to be focussed around smaller = harder. The moves were uninspired and repetitive. And last but not least, the staff didnt know there were lockers in the changing rooms. The cafe closed before peak time in the evening for some reason. The showers DONT HAVE LOCKS!!! or shelf for products, or hooks to hang anything up. Oh and they arent checked regularly because the cleaners left out chemicals and used gloves... Disgusting. Didnt do any lead climbing so when im back will review that, maybe they can get some points back...

Fantastic experience: We have visited the climbing area (pre kids) and the soft play part, now that we have a two year old and a three year old. Both facilities are highly recommended - climbing has plenty of options for all skill levels; the soft play has plenty of options for all age levels. It's a great rainy day activity, which if you're a tourist to Edinburgh, those days are common!

Fantastic experience: A great place for all those who want to improve their climbing skills. A great place for children who want to have fun under the care of climbing specialists. Endless climbing possibilities. A unique place.

Fantastic experience: I have only used the children's softplay at EICA. It has always been clean and tidy. The staff are friendly. The climbing arena looks fantastic, I haven't tried it out but will do, in the future.

Fantastic experience: Clip and Climb session, kids love it , selection of easy and hard obstacles, safety briefing and helpful staff . Can't wait to do it again , Thanks

Fantastic experience: Ah man I loved it here!! So many lead routes.. loads of belay machines.. etc. Planning a social for “women climb Scotland” there as it’s a nice big place with lots of benches to sit at and a big cafe area etc. Definitely nicest climbing centre I’ve ever been to.

Fantastic experience: Great place to come, the kids loved it as well.

Positive experience: We recently signed our toddler up for the soft play membership as we love Clambers at the commonwealth pool and had been to Tumbles at Portobello a few times. Our 2 year old loved it and the surroundings of the climbing centre are lovely. The only down side is there seems to be an abundance of blue badge spaces but no parent parking which can be beneficial when trying to get a toddler in and out of a car seat. If there is and we've somehow missed it (since you'd imagine a venue offering soft play to have this) then it's not very obvious.

Fantastic experience: Superb facilities and instruction for all ages. We revisited this superb facility this week what a superb set up . We booked an hours instruction with an instructor in the big hall ,they went through all the different techniques and various climbs . There is bouldering and rope tying techniques . Excellent value for money

Fantastic experience: Excellent climbing facilities for newbies and pros. Took my 11 yr nephew and both did the taster session. Thrilling experience (I don't like heights). Lucy was our instructor was fantastic. Will be back

Fantastic experience: The climbing walls here are AMAZING!! Something for everyone. We took the kids to one of the clip n climb things here and they had a blast. Very helpful staff. Also a venue if you want to climb but don't have a mate to belay as they have auto belays on some of the routes in the main arena.

Fantastic experience: Super friendly staff! Equipment packed gym with 5(!!!) Olympic lifting bars/racks!! There is a good range of CV equipment: treadmills, cross trainers, rowing machines, upright bikes, recumbent bikes, stair master machine. Really big free weights area and lots of resistance machines alongside some other gym toys like fitness/weighted sand bags, battle ropes, medicine balls, slam balls, resistance bands, kettlebells, pull up bars, stretch/warm up/cool down area. There is a fitness studio attached to the gym which is extremely convenient and handy to have. There are also changing facilities across from the gym which are really good too!

Negative experience: There wasn't a huge amount to do when we went as there was a competition on, and at full price of over £12 felt a bit disappointed. Matched with the lack of student discount and most the routes being lead I wouldn't go back.

Fantastic experience: Had my 6 Yo's birthday party here. An hour at softplay tired the kids out before we went upstairs to a huge party room for a decent enough lunch which was included. The host was really helpful and there was plenty of flexibility for us to do our own thing. Would recommend

Fantastic experience: Absolutely a brilliant place to take kids for climbing, my wee boy had a blast and the staff were very helpful and friendly. Only now going for a few sessions but my wee boy has managed to overcome his fear of heights and climb to the top! It has become a recurring day out with my Boy who is absolutely loving it more and and more. Staff are always happy to see him & if it has been too long they always ask where he is been Highly recommended for kids and adults.

Fantastic experience: Didn't actually do any climbing but took my my grandson they're for the soft play area which was fantastic and a great seating and cafeteria area for the parents and all on the same level easy access for disabled people as well

Fantastic experience: Beautiful variety of routes to climb, although during the sessions there is always that enticing route I find myself returning to for that small piece of progress… just to have it beat me on the next section (like my past relationships…) I love it. Overall : Great venue for climbing, a lot of walls to choose from with variety of difficulty gradings and types of climbs (lead, belay, auto, boulder). Welcoming receptionist (Thanks Laura!). Approachable & very helpful on floor staff : Thanks Eric for guiding & backing up my belayer (belaying for the first time) Great food alongside amazing hospitality (Thanks Mark!) Important note : it’s a big indoor space, it’s cold, bring a warm jacket (for when you’re not currently climbing)

Fantastic experience: Visited for the first time to make use of Clip and Climb with 5 year old. Excellent staff and really great at interacting with my daughter, challenging her the right amount! Great activity!

Positive experience: We went to the soft play. Really clean and spacious. 4 year enjoyed his time. Food was tasty and coffee ok. Panini with chicken, peppers, chorizo and cheese served with crisps only £3.45. We sat and watched the climbers and are keen to go back and try the clip and play which children aged 4 and up can use.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic place, we travelled up from Carlisle took 2hrs to drive there. Very cheap to climb there too. I belayed only , my son who is 12 is the climber cost us £6.10. great facilities, great cafe, and wonderful climbs.

Positive experience: A really outstanding facility on lots of levels. Very accessible from both the A roads and the motorway, yet close to Edinburgh. A spacious carpark, it's big enough to be really busy, yet not crowded. Obviously great for climbing but loads of other sports catered for, even a decent gym. Plenty of well trained staff on hand, along with a shop and cafes - though both are expensive. Very good meeting rooms that are well equipped and warm. Even the toilets were clean.

Fantastic experience: My friends and I meet here every week. We have a climb, which is not only physically challenging but also mentally challenging. It is a great feeling of achievement when you complete new climbs. After we go to the cafe and have a chat with a great cup of coffee and a delicious cake. What's not to love!

Fantastic experience: Great boulders, walls & cafe. The staff are super friendly & helpful. Decent gear if you're hiring, cafe caters for dietary requirements and there's plenty of space even when it's busy.