When planning our UK and Ireland trip, I was the least excited for Scotland; kilts, haggis and gloomy weather? But my presumptions and expectations were wrong, Edinburgh was my favorite city on the trip and one of my favorite cities I’ve travelled to. What’s so special about Edinburgh you may ask? All you need to do is look up some pictures and you’ll understand. A visit to Edinburgh is like a visit to the past. Medieval architecture everywhere with flower pots and flags lining the building façades, cobblestone streets, castles and gothic churches litter Edinburgh’s landscape. One stroll through Old Town and along the Royal Mile and you’ll be amazed.
There are any many places to travel to in Scotland, but if you have limited time, Edinburgh is the place. If you have time, you can go from Edinburgh to Glasgow in under an hour. And of course, there are the highlands if you have even more time. You can visit the famous Loch Ness and Inverness in the northeastern part of the country or the beautiful Isle of Skye in the northwest like we did. We spent two nights in Edinburgh, headed to Skye for a night and then back to Edinburgh for a final night. Skye was amazing, but you’ll hear about that in my next blog post. We wish we could have had another night in Skye, and probably another 1 or 2 in Edinburgh. Regardless of our limited time, we made the best of it and saw a lot.
The Royal Mile and Old Town
We were there in August, so there was a lot going on. Not only was it summer, but there were the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Royal Military Tattoo. We would have liked to attend the Military Tattoo, but tickets are hard to get and are pricey. This is a festival that happens every night in the Edinburgh castle with fireworks, military dance, song and ceremony. Videos look amazing and it would have been cool to check out, but still we made the best of our time and enjoyed many street performers as we strolled through the Royal Mile. There were bagpipers, dancers, musicians and stunt acts. On the Royal Mile we visited gift shops and purchased Scottish Cashmere, stopped at a few cozy pubs for a pint, had some snacks, visited St. Giles Cathedral which is a gothic church with magnificent architecture and soaked in the atmosphere and enjoyed many of the shows.
The Royal Mile is in Old Town, whose cobblestone streets are lined with medieval buildings and gothic buildings. Old Town is amazing and there are many things to see aside from the Royal Mile. We also visited Victoria Street, where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter and got her inspiration for Diagon Alley. The colorful buildings and Cobblestone Street makes for some beautiful photos and I even tried Butter Beer in the Elephant House, which used to be the coffee shop where she wrote the first novel. We also visited the Greyfriar Bobby statue, commemorating the historic and loyal dog Bobby, who when his, de facto, second owner died, spent 14 years guarding his grave in the Greyfriars’s Kirkyard. We visited the pub and then visited the graveyard, which had magnificent views of the city, Thomas Riddles grave (the inspiration for Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort) and Greyfriar Bobby’s grave.
New Town and Dean Village
Then there is New Town, and although newer than Old Town, still has old gothic buildings dating back to the 18th century. We visited the iconic Scott Monument and enjoyed a coffee with a view of Old Town across from the park. Old Town was my favorite, but New Town was quite cool with the Scot Monument, the Balmoral Hotel and a number of pubs and bars on Princess Street.
Then there is Dean Village, which is close to New Town. Dean is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Edinburg and is quiet and historic. Dean is nestled along the Leith River and has charming buildings, cobblestone streets and even a waterfall along the river walk. It is nice to grab a coffee and stroll through the neighborhood and admire the beauty. Also near Dean is Leith, an industrial but bustling neighborhood full of restaurants, pubs and working class people going about their days. This is where we stayed on our final night when we returned from Skye.
The People and Atmosphere of Edinburgh
So, it’s safe to say that Edinburgh is a historic city with a lot of charm and cool neighborhoods to check out. But it’s more than cool neighborhoods. The people are fun and friendly. Upon our arrival, we had people trying to help us in the train station, despite struggling to understand their thick Scottish accent. All the hotel workers, restaurant workers and pub staff were friendly too.
And one of the highlights of my time in Scotland was meeting some mates, who I’ve known for years from our boxing website, The No Bull Art. The mates were a lot of fun and welcoming to their city, they showed me a number of pubs and we had a wild night out in the city. We started drinking in the train station, that’s right, the bar in the train station and it was packed. We then headed to the Royal Mile to the World’s End pub which was a blast. After that the night turned into a blur, and we headed to a few other places. It’s safe to say, there is something epic about partying on the Royal Mile. Throughout the night, I met a number of locals, all who were friendly and fun to party with. And of course, the mates, they were a blast and made me really feel welcome in Edinburgh. It was one of the most fun nights out I’ve had, partially due to the cool city of Edinburgh but even more so due to the people.
Pubs
I didn’t visit as many pubs in Scotland as I did in England, but my experiences were similar… the pubs were great. The pubs were cozy and made you feel like you were stepping back in time. The beer was good, not as good as England though, and pub food was alright, better than we’d get back home in Canada. Again, the people were friendly and always up for a good banter.
I visited the Toll Booth Tavern, a historic pub on the Royal Mile, Greyfriars Bobby’s Bar and The World’s End, also on the Royal Mile. All three were in Old Town and within walking distance of other places, making pub crawls convenient and a lot of fun. We visited a few others, and I had a great time, but I was too drunk to remember the names. It’s safe to say, the pubs were a blast and The Toll Booth Tavern, Greyfriars Bobby’s Bar and The World’s End are all must visits for beer and pub lovers. We also visited the Whiski Bar & Restaurant, and although a bit classier the vibe was nice and the food was great.
Haggis and the Food
The famous Scottish dish that everyone talks about is Haggis. It doesn’t sound very appealing, so I was hesitant to try it but knew I had to. Ground sheep pluck (liver, lungs and heart) minced with onion and oatmeal and several spices. This was served on top of mashed potatoes and topped with Whiskey sauce. I ended up trying Haggis at the Whiski Bar, and I was shocked… it was delicious. The meat was flavorful and just tasted like spiced up ground beef and served on creamy mashed potatoes. The Whiski Bar is a fancy place; I’d be hesitant to try this at a dive bar, but my experience was excellent. The rest of the food was similar to British food, with a few less options. The Fish & Chips were good, and although not in Edinburgh, the order we got in Portree at a traditional Chippy, up in Skye were some of the best Fish & Chips I’ve tried.
Costs and Accommodations
And just like the rest of the UK, Scotland is expensive. Especially since we were travelling in summer and during the Fringe Festival. I couldn’t believe the price of hotels. We looked early and were shocked. We continued to monitor the prices, and they didn’t get any better. To stay in Old Town or New Town, we’d have to bankrupt ourselves. The prices were much higher here than in London, probably due to supply and demand. Edinburgh isn’t a large city so there aren’t too many options and a lot of people want to visit, especially during August. The cheapest hotel we could find on the usual booking sites would cost us $600 + CAD a night. We then checked hostels; there weren’t a ton with private rooms available, but they looked to cost about $300 a night. After doing some research we had to get off the third-party sites and visit different budget hotel’s own webpages. For our first two nights we ended up going with the Travelodge in Cameron Toll. It was outside of the city center, but a close bus ride into Old Town. It cost us about $330 a night for a nice sized room. We weren’t in the city center, but it was an easy bus ride, taking us about 15 minutes. The ride was nice, but like most things in the UK buses were relatively expensive, costing about £2.50 a ride. Still our hotel was worth it, paying half the price of similar caliber hotels closer to the tourist areas. The hotel wasn’t anything fancy, but it was clean enough and did the trick.
For our final night in Edinburgh, we stayed in Leith, a bustling but charming working class area, close to New Town. We booked the Leith House, apartments turned hotel. The buildings were old and the rooms a bit grungy, but did the job for only $250 CAD a night.
Like anywhere in the UK, Edinburgh and Scotland use the pound, making things pricey for Canadians and Americans. And like the rest of Europe, summer is peak travel time, driving up the costs even further. So, if you are travelling to Scotland, expect to spend a lot of money, similar to you would in London and even more on hotels. A pint in a tourist bar will cost you about £7 and a meal will cost you about £20. With exchange this is pricey, but for a vacation in Edinburgh it’s worth it.
Final Thoughts
Despite being pricey, Edinburgh was amazing. Historic and magical streets make you feel like you’re in a movie. The vibe and atmosphere of the city is a lot of fun and you’ll have a blast. There is a lot to see and do. Despite everyone saying it’s hard to walk around (due to hills and stairs) it is relatively easy to navigate Edinburgh. Public transportation is good and it’s a relatively small city, with all the attractions and neighborhoods bordering each other. Bring good walking shoes and plan that everything will take a bit longer than the expected travel time on , but you’ll see some amazing sites and have a blast. We lucked out, and despite being a gloomy and rainy city, we had sun most of our time in Edinburgh and Scotland. There were some clouds but there was no rain, and despite being colder than I’d like in summer, the 19 °C we had daily was comfortable walking weather while wearing a long sleeve shirt or windbreaker. So, despite the costs and weather, Edinburgh truly is magical and anyone who goes there will fall in love with the city... that’s why Edinburgh is one of my favorite cities I’ve visited.
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