* this is a continuation of our "Two Weeks in Northern Europe" blog, our visit in June 2016.
Oh, Scotland, the land of my people (I'm a McCay), how I do love you!
Edinburgh is one of my favorite places in the world. It's buildings, culture, and characters make it irresistible, and we even considered moving here for a bit (and it may still always be in the back of my mind). You'll feel like it's home.
We flew in to Edinburgh from Paris and met back up with my sister and brother-in-law, who took several days while we were in London and Paris to drive up through the English countryside from London. The airport has a metro-like tram/train that drops you in downtown Edinburgh for cheap, around 6 pounds per person. You can purchase tickets at the airport, get on the tram right outside, and get off the tram at Princes street, which is right at the shopping district and Scott Monument. From there it's a lovely short walk to old Edinburgh.
Since we were right there, we first visited Scott Monument. It was built for Sir Walter Scott in the 1840's, and it's beautiful. DO NOT SKIP THIS. You'll have amazing views of all of Edinburgh. It doesn't even look like it's big enough to walk up in person, but it is. It's exactly 287 steps (they give you an "I did it!" flyer at the end), which sounds easy, but it's a little bit of work. It's 197 feet tall so the stairs are sharply inclined and narrow. But it's not bad, truthfully. It's more than worth it when you get a 360 degree view at the top.
See? I told you, breathtaking.
This was a great activity to do to get a first impression of Edinburgh, for sure.
We then headed to our hostel, Castle Rock. It's literally doors away from Edinburgh castle and also has some great views, as it's on a hill. We picked this hostel because it's the highest rated hostel in the area, and for a good reason. Its a huge hostel with a ton of amenities, and also a great location. The hostel itself boasts a great line-up of activities if you're looking for things to do. If you're staying here, I would recommend waiting to book activities/excursions until you check-in and see what activities theyre advertising. They also lead backpacking trips to the highlands at a highly discounted rate and provide transportation to get there.
They have several main hangout areas including a music room, study, and movie room with nightly showings. Stay here for a great time, guarenteed!
Next we went to The Edinburgh Dungeon. I had heard about it when asking someone in London what "the London Dungeon" was all about. They told me it was like interactive comedy theatre, but with dark themes. It's kind of hard to explain... but I was interested. So when I saw it in Edinburgh too I told Kyle we had to go. The website explains it like this: "The Edinburgh Dungeon is the ultimate underground journey through Edinburgh's darkest history, using live actors, theatrical sets and thrilling rides". It includes live actor shows from a professional cast, an underground journey through Scottish history, full-on immersive 360 sets, state of the art theming and special effects, and thrilling underground rides. You can get tickets at the door, and its located near Princes street.
I am SOOOO glad we did this, it was so much fun (although Kyle might not agree, he got called out of the crowd several times to have torture devices "used" on him)! It's not too scary because its too funny to be real horror. The actors are excelent and have really great poker faces! I wouldn't recommend it if you have young kids, obviously, but older kids (especially boys) would probably love it! More info here: https://www.thedungeons.com/edinburgh/en/
We got there around noon so after Edinburgh Dungeon we grabbed a bite in town and hit the hay (except Kyle who ended up staying up half the night playing pool and chatting with some new friends, which is the fun of staying in a hostel!); we had a full schedule the next day. Besides Scott Monument, most of our sight-seeing/activities were accomplished the next day.
Theres tons of places to shop and eat in old Edinburgh, near High Street. We recommend The Castle Arms, which is a few doors down from Castle Rock Hostel and has plenty of beer on tap to choose from and great classic Scottish eats. We tried haggis for the first time and it was delicious (look it up, and eat if you dare)! It's not as scary as it sounds, I promise.
We got up and went out to Edinburgh Castle first thing. It was already busy so this was probably a good choice, as it looked even busier in the afternoon.
The castle is amazing. It's really cool to see buildings and artifacts from medieval times and picture the happenings there. They have Mary Queen of Scots' crown jewels there, which was incredible to see in person (you arent allowed to take cameras in the room at all because they're worried flashes will affect the artifacts). They also shoot the cannons on the hour which is super loud but really cool. You can purchase an audio tour which goes in order from start to finish and explains the history.
For more info, visit https://www.edinburghcastle.scot/plan-your-visit.
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking the old streets and admiring the architecture. We visited the Scottish National Gallery, which is near the castle in Prince's Street Gardens. I highly recommend this museum; it's not well known around the world but has some of the most famous painters' and sculptors' fine art. I was shocked at how much Monet and Van Gogh was here, and there was some unique Scottish heritage stuff too. Bonus: It's completely free!
I also really enjoyed going in to all the little shops and finding my family crest and tartan, as well as buku family paraphernalia. If you're scottish you HAVE to find your clan tartan and bring home a family scarf!
We also did the Scotch Whisky Experience at the whisky museum. They teach you all about the production of scotch whisky and tastings. If you're in to alcohol production and history (as well as tasting), this is a great activity. Learn more at their website, https://www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk.
In the evening we participated in one of our hostel's famous staff-led pub crawls, which was awesome. They have deals with the local pubs for discounted group rates and you get to meet and hang out with people from all over the world! I didn't take many pictures but in the video above you can see we went to half a dozen pubs and had a killer time!
^ Clearly slightly intoxicated way too early in the evening, but that scotch was too good for just a taste!
In the morning before heading out on our drive/ferry back to Ireland, we had breakfast at the Elephant House. If you don't know, this is the cafe that J.K. Rowling did a lot of writing on the second and third Harry Potter books. She spent hours and hours with lots of cups of coffee here at a table in the corner. The bathrooms are absolutely covered in Harry-potter related graffitti that management has stopped trying to cover, as the fans are overwhelming. Their menu is really reasonably priced considering their popularity and they make fantastic cappuccinos. Go here and snap a pic if you're a Harry Potter fan, for sure!
... and that was our very short day and a half in Edinburgh! Here are a couple things I wish I would have known before visiting:
a) Spend as much time here as possible
I had no idea I would fall in love with Edinburgh as much as I did. It's charm is in the culture and, like I said earlier, I felt super at-home here. I was so sad that we left it until the end of our trip because I probably would have cancelled all our other plans just to stay here and explore. I will definitely go back several times in my life, I'm sure of it, and visit the highlands too!
b) Hike Arthur's Seat and visit Calton Hill
We didn't get to do these because we ran out of time here, but they're still on my list! Everyone recommended it to us. If you like to throw in little physical activity on your trips, this is perfect! I hear it's not too bad of a hike to Arthur's Seat and the views are fantastic, especially in the evening. Calton Hill isn't even really a hike and very accessible with equally great views of the city.
Again, this is one of my favorite places in the world, and pictures (and my lack thereof) just don't do it justice! Please go and spend as much time as you can there, for me.
As we left Edinburgh and headed back to Irleand through Glasgow, this is where these string of blog posts will be over. I included the last few days of Ireland in my previous post of "Four days in East Coast Ireland" - which you can find here: https://www.bisconerstakeontheworld.com/post/east-ireland
It's been a blast sharing my two-week journey in Northern Europe with you! Thanks for reading! If you have questions or comments, subscribe and add them below!
xxx Kaci