On our recent visit to the United Kingdom, we spent most of our time in Scotland.  While we would have loved to spend several weeks seeing the different areas of Scotland, we only had a few days so we decided to base ourselves in Edinburgh and see where our adventures took us.  We absolutely loved the Edinburgh atmosphere that could change from sunny to hazy and mysterious at any point of the day.  To get to Edinburgh we flew into London and hopped on a train at Kings Cross Station.  It takes roughly 4 hours to get from London to Edinburgh by train, and we were thankful for the ride to catch up on a little sleep!  Once we arrived in Edinburgh, we checked in to the hotel, freshened up, and found somewhere to eat before settling in for the evening.

For our first full day in Edinburgh, we decided to begin with touring Edinburgh Castle.  Of course we first had to make it to the castle which included quite a bit of walking up hills and stairs, but the view at the top was worth it!  Admission to the castle was £16.5 per person and audio guides were available for an additional £3.50.  We first took part in the free 30 minute tour that runs every half hour and is pretty decent for a free tour!  Afterward the tour was over, we went ahead and purchased the audio guides just to be thorough.

Be sure to stick around for the canon ceremony at 1 P.M.  This is done traditionally for the ships in the harbor to set their clocks to the correct time.  The ceremony doesn’t take very long, but be sure to get there about 15-20 minutes ahead of time if you actually want to see them firing the canon.

After we finished exploring the castle (took us about 4 hours) we began walking down the Royal Mile in search of St. Giles Cathedral.  Its about 15 minutes from the castle if you just walk down the Royal Mile and take the time to watch some of the street performers (of which there are many).  Even though the bagpipe music is really just for the tourists, we loved hearing that in the background as we strolled through the Old Town.  Admission to the cathedral is free, but if you would like to take pictures, you have to pay a £2 fee.  I gladly paid the fee to get the chance to shoot the gorgeous interior of the cathedral.  But if you want to just soak in your surroundings and admire the architecture, it is well worth the trip.  Once we were done exploring for the day we settled in to one of the many pubs on the way back to our hotel for one of the great Scottish past times…enjoying a pint while listening to a local band play.

On day 2 of our time in Edinburgh, we did a day trip from Edinburgh.  You can read all about our trip with Michael from Highland Experience in our previous post “Castles, Lochs, and Scotch.”

Back on day 1 we explored the top of the Royal Mile, but on this day we explored the bottom.  At the bottom of the mile sits Holyrood Palace, which serves as the royal family’s Scottish residence and is tucked under the massive rock formation known as Arthur’s Seat.  When we arrived that morning, the mist coming down from Arthur’s Seat left the grounds shrouded in gray which somehow made the visit feel more authentic.  Entrance to the palace costs £12 per person and includes an audio guide.  We really enjoyed our time in the palace and the audio tour itself took about an hour and a half, with visits to the royal chambers and dining rooms.  The highlight inside the palace was seeing Mary Queen of Scots’ chambers.  The well preserved exhibit includes her bed (enclosed in an airtight chamber), paintings, needlework, letters, and jewelry.  Plus you get a better picture of her tragedy ridden life, because who doesn’t love some historical intrigue and drama?

But the feature that stole the show for us was Holyrood Abbey.  The decrepit abbey originating from the 1100s was breathtaking. Even though it was missing a roof, windows, and doors the ancient building felt like it was still hiding secrets from hundreds of years ago.

 

After we finished at the palace, we made our way back up the Royal Mile.  After stopping for lunch we decided to stay out of the rain and opted for some time in the Scottish Museum.  Admission is free with a suggested donation of £5.  If you like history and artifacts, this is the place for you.  We spent about 3 hours browsing through the various exhibits.

Originally we were going to try and plan an excursion for this day as well, but when the plans fell through we were back to square one.  Sean suggested that we try a walking tour that we had seen advertised.  After we researched the tour we discovered that it was free and that all you had to do was show up at 1 pm.  Since the tour didn’t start till one, we decided to explore Arthur’s Seat. Steeped in myth and legend, it is believed by some that the crags are the location of Camelot, but nothing has ever proven this.  Whatever you would like to say about it, it is a gorgeous climb that offers gorgeous views.  Plus after our climb, we had just enough time to make it back to the center of town to join the free walking tour.

 

All we had to do was show up about 15 minutes before the tour left and tell them that we wanted the tour in English.
Enter Thomas our tour guide…he was awesome! We covered a lot of ground and got to see some of the sights that were hidden or unknown to our naked tourist eye.  Whilst we walked, we were able to hear stories of the Mercat Cross, the Reformation period, the history of the city “closes”, and grisly tales of the unsavory characters that once lived there.

We were even treated to a visit to the beautifully haunting Greyfriar’s Kirk, one of the famed cemeteries in town, that as legend has it, served as a place of inspiration for J.K. Rowling while she wrote her famed Harry Potter series. The tour lasted about 2.5 hours and was full of history, laughter, and legend…we loved every bit of it! Now when I said free walking tour…it is free but PLEASE tip your guide, most of them are students with a love of history.  They do the tours for free and rely on you to make a living.

 

After our tour concluded we decided to look into one last activity, the famous “Real Mary King’s Close” tour.  It’s right on the Royal Mile so you can’t miss it.  The tour cost us £14.5 per person and was set for later in the evening.  Once that was booked, we ducked into the famous Deacon Brodie’s pub and enjoyed the atmosphere, food, pints, and good company until it was time for our tour.  The tour was great, lasted an hour, and gave us a good look into what life in Edinburgh used to look like, as well as an appreciation for indoor plumbing.

After our last day, we had to make our back down to London.  We were glad that we got to spend 3 whole days exploring Edinburgh, but we could have spent so much more time getting to know the different parts of the city.  Different cities are known for their attitudes or vibe…Edinburgh has intrigue in every way shape and form.