When traveling everyone considers the location but after this weekend I learned that the time of year is just as important.
For a quick weekend trip, the capital of Scottland is hands down one of the best I’ve had. As an exchange student studying in England, there is time to travel but not for a whole week at a time. At this point in my studies, I was about halfway through the term and starting to get very familiar with life in England. I traveled with a partner from London who had never been to Scottland before so this was a first for both of us.
We got in late on Friday night and were both starving at that point, but first, we had to check into the Airbnb. I had booked the place and I knew that Cait didn’t like the cold so she had a nice surprise when she realized the place had a fireplace, also they had a cat for her as well. We went to go get something to eat and a drink at The Cumberland Bar close to where we were staying.
We have this game we play to see who ordered the best dish when we go out to eat. I got the Fish n’ Chips since it was a Friday, and she got the chicken schnitzel. She got a point this time.
We hit a few other places that night including The Guildford Arms. The place has a nice theme to it and is worth a stop if you are in the area. We did pass by the Voodoo Rooms, which had an interesting look to it, later that night but since we got in late we stayed out way too late.
We had planned to get out and start early the next morning, but that didn’t happen. We strolled out of the apartment around 9:30, and something struck me. This was the farthest north I had ever been and it was this late in the morning and the sun was barely starting to come up. We hardly got any sunlight the whole day even though it was clear out. Which is why it’s very important to consider the time of year when traveling.
I had made a list of places I wanted to go before we went, we were also looking for some breakfast so we decided to check out the Grass Market. From what we saw I was a bit disappointed with the turnout since it was out of tourist season and cold outside that’s probably the reason why.
We here visiting Scottland so of course, we had to try haggis at some point. We found a stall selling breakfast rolls. I got one filled with haggis and Cait got one filled with Christmas dinner. I won the game this time and may have won it for the whole weekend. The view of the castle from the market just about made the whole walk down worth it on its own.
We had to go check out the castle next. There were so many people there and made a plan to go back on Monday. Lucky for us this was the start of the Royal Mile Walk, the walk is in the heart of the city on the line that separates the new town from the old. There are many historical sights along the road such as churches, museums, and various other places of interest. You can get a guided tour for the walk but we went out own way and with a self-guided audio tour. We got the Rick Steves Audio Europe app for out phones it is free to download and consists of audio tours for all of Europe, a must-have for a traveler.
We had other things planned after we had finished the walk but by the end, we were very close to a giant hill in the city. Both of us, loving the outdoors, made an impulsive decision to climb it, and it was worth every second we spent doing it. Many trails lead to the top of Arthur’s Summit the easier but longer paths for great for anyone but the steeper, more challenging paths are not. We went the more challenging route and quickly found out that you do have to have some experience under your belt to go this route. Once at the top of the 822ft. summit or 251m for all the Europeans reading this. The view is unbelievable the entire city can be seen and you can even see another town across the channel over 20 miles away. This is by far the best attraction we visited in the city and is a must-go if you are to visit Edinburgh.
By the time we had gotten down, it was already dark outside, and it wasn’t even 5 yet. We were both colds and hungry so we stopped at The Royal McGregor for some food and a whiskey tasting. I got the haggis burger and Cait finally decided to try some haggis and got the haggis tower. I got another point this time. The whiskey flight was a fun experience even though neither of us knew anything about whiskey and some of them nearly killed Cait.
This night we decided to go to a few places that we looked at the previous night but were closed by the time we got around it seeing them. The notable stops were Brewhemia and The Voodoo Rooms. The first was some sort of combination of English pub and German beer hall, a neat mix and worth checking out. The latter was a gastropub whose interior strongly reflects its name. Both of us found that this was our favorite place to get a drink on the trip, and for me quite possibly my favorite in my time in the UK.
The next morning we got up on time and went to go see the Royal Yacht Britannia. It was highly recommended by the locals and the travel guides. The yacht is quite an impressive sight it’s nearly the size of a ship, to visit the yacht you must buy the tickets on the second floor in the shopping center, it took us a while to figure that out. There was no line when we went and there isn’t a tour guide. Just a well rounded self-guided audio tour with the equipment being provided. The tour covers the whole yacht from to bridge, to the Queen’s quarters to the engine room. It’s worth checking out.
At this point, it was time for some lunch so we went to Malt & Hops a near little pub that has hop vines hanging from the ceiling. We then visited the Royal Botanic Garden, which even though it was late autumn was still quite a near place to see, they had Christmas lights set up and were preparing for a show.
It wasn’t much after lunch and it was already starting to get dark out. Cait loves her G&T’s so we found a Gin bar on the main road. Turn’s out the Bar doesn’t open up until 5 pm so we had some time to kill. We went to the Christmas fair in the city center. There were carnival rides and a market down below that had little trinkets and gifts. It was a nice little touch.
We then stopped at the gin bar, it was under the road and they capitalized their theme on that, gin isn’t my thing but Cait loved it.
The next day was our last in the city and we hadn’t done the tour of the castle yet so that was next on the list. First, we stopped at Greyfriars Kirk since Cait is a big Harry Potter fan. JK Rowling got some of the names for the characters when writing her books from the headstones in Kirk.
The last major thing on the list was the Castle and since it was now Monday there was nobody there. At first, we thought that the tickets were quite expensive but there was much more included than just the castle. A map was given to guide you through and there were audio and guided tours also available for an extra fee. This was the second-best thing in the city only following Arthur’s Seat. The castle included a couple of museums and extras.
We had some time to spare before our flight back left. We were both tired, hungry, and cold from this trip so we stopped at the Blue Blazer. My father had told us to stop there and take a picture in front of it since there was supposed to be something special about the front. I never figured it out until I asked him, turns out it was just the curved street corner. We saw lots in the city.
It was time for the trip to come to a close and get back to class the next day. Even though we both had a great time we were both ready to go home. The cold was starting to get to Cait and I was exhausted from all the walking we did. For a pretty much spontaneous weekend trip, it couldn’t have gone any better for the both of us. If you’re living in Europe and are looking to get away for the weekend I would highly recommend a trip to Edinburgh
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