A long weekend in Edinburgh
My sister and I went to Edinburgh, Scotland for a long weekend in April. It was a lovely city to visit and it was really easy to get around on foot. We also went on a tour outside of the city.
We stayed at a place called Edin B&B. It has a brilliant location as it’s situated in the old town. The room was cosy and the bed was very comfortable. There were two bathrooms, shared between the rooms, and a kitchen for everyone to use. The facilities were good, and our host Derek was ever so welcoming and eager to help or answer any questions we might have. It’s close to a lot of the main tourist attractions and there’s also a Tesco Express just up the hill, if you want to cook for yourself. I would recommend staying here. Rating: 5/5
Things to do in Edinburgh:
Calton Hill is an easy walk up from the new town area in Edinburgh. It doesn’t take long to walk up to the top and you get a lovely view of the city and of Arthur’s seat, the old volcano behind Calton Hill.
It’s also quite an easy walk up to Edinburgh Castle. You can take the steps up from the Grassmarket area, or walk up the Royal Mile. We didn’t pay to go inside the castle, but we did enjoy the view of the city.
The Royal Mile is the main street that runs from Edinburgh Castle all the way down to Holyrood Palace, which is where the Queen stays when she visits Edinburgh. It’s full of souvenir shops, interesting closes that take you from street to street and plenty of old buildings that are worth taking a look at.
Camera Obscura is on the Royal Mile, quite close to the castle. It’s packed with interactive illusions and fun for all ages. I would recommend going early to avoid large crowds. We also went on a weekday for this reason. There’s also a quick camera obscura show of Edinburgh on the roof and the view from up there is pretty decent too. We had a lot of fun, but if you’re sensitive to lights and illusions, it might not be your cup of tea.
This windy street is colourful and packed with cute little shops. The shop that inspired J.K. Rowling to create the Weasley brothers’ shop, in Harry Potter, is also on this street, and there’s plenty of cool Harry Potter memorabilia in that shop if your interested. There’s also a Harry Potter merchandise shop right across the street.
This gothic tower was built in memory of Scottish author Sir Walter Scott and is 60 metres high. I heard that you could go up it, but we never did. It’s difficult to miss in Edinburgh due to it’s height! haha.
Prince Street and Prince’s Street Park
Prince Street is the place to go if you plan to do a lot of shopping. You’ll also find more shops in the streets behind it. When you’ve had enough of shopping you can head down to the fountain in the Prince Street park and enjoy the view of Edinburgh castle.
National Museum of Scotland
This museum has free entry for everyone and it spans over several floors and rooms filled with interesting things to look at.
If you want some fresh air then I suggest a walk up Arthur’s seat. It’s part of an extinct volcano and there are plenty of well-marked paths. You can either hike up to the very top, or you can take a shorter walk along the lower cliff edge. The walk along the cliff edge is quite easy and this is also another great place to come for a good view of the city.
We also went on the Outlander filming locations day tour with Highland Explorer Tours. Our guide was called Kirsty and she was great. She told us loads of interesting information about Scotland’s history and Outlander. We felt like we had just the right amount of time at each stop and it was a very relaxing experience. The tour costs around 50 pounds and it stops at Doune Castle, Culross, Falkland, Midhope Castle and Linlithgow Palace. You had to pay an additional 6 pounds to get into Doune Castle, but it was worth it and the audio guides they gave you had sections read by Sam Heughan who plays Jamie Fraser in the Outlander series.
This little café serves only vegan food and we had two of their smoothie bowls. We had the Acai and the Dragonfruit ones. They came with plenty of topping and cost around 7 pounds. The cakes they had looked really good too.
This café was on Victoria Street and it was quite popular. We had the Chicken Harissa sandwhich which came with a little side salad and it was very good. I also bought their chocolate haze smoothie twice, as it was so good. I would say that the prices are normal for a healthfood café.
If you fancy a salad or a sandwich/wrap then this is the place to come. It’s perfect if you’re going on a picnic. You choose what you want from the salad bar and the staff pick it out for you. We bought salads and took them with us up to Arthur’s seat for lunch with a view.
If you’re looking for a lively pub, this is the place to go. It was packed on a Saturday night with live music, followed by a DJ. The pub itself is large, but there’s also a large outside area underneath a roof and there are several little food and drink stands.
-It was quite cold, so bring warm clothes. Even though the sun was shining, the wind could be freezing.
-I recommend getting a return ticket for the Airlink busses from the airport and into the city. They run every 10 minutes, apart from certain times late at night. They made the trip to and from the airport very easy and there’s a little kiosk where you can buy tickets right by their stop at the airport.
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