A FEW DAYS IN EDINBURGH | JUNE 2018
Since about two years ago I've been dying to visit Scotland. I was planning an epic trip with one of my closest friends but unfortunately the time I could have off work didn't coincide with her having time off from exams and University. But my family could tell that I had been looking forward to it, so my Mum said she would come with me to pay a visit to the country. I had been researching the best places to visit and eat food etc for months and let's just say I didn't expect to fit everything in to a day in the city, but we did.
Day One
We arrived in Edinburgh around half past 4, travelling up by train. Travelling by train is probably cheaper than driving, and you had the views of the Lake District and Cumbria. I'm from Shropshire so I'm used to being surrounded by countryside, but this was another level of beauty. I think you know you're in the North when the fields have stone walls and nearly every house in sight is made of stone and looks like it was built a century ago. It was lovely. We decided to get off the train at Haymarket Station, which is West of the City Centre, but it was closest to our Air BnB, so it was easier. We had also never used Air BnB, and we were pleasantly surprised how easy it was and how efficient it was. The flat we stayed at was just right for a city break and had everything we needed. We stayed in Fountainbridge (the birthplace of Sean Connery), which is about a ten minute walk from Princes Street (the main shopping street), and fifteen minutes from the Royal Mile. I had expected the city to have the most amazing architecture and old looking buildings and I was not disappointed. As soon as we had dropped our luggage off we set off to explore the city. We set off towards West Port and found ourselves outside of Armchair Books, the most amazing bookshop. Literally you are surrounding by books from the very moment you set foot in the shop. We visited the shop twice, and I bought two books (didn't go overboard thank goodness). Obviously I had to buy a Walter Scott book because I'm in Edinburgh, I bought 'The Heart of Midlothian' by Walter Scott and a sociological book called 'Watching the English' by Kate Fox. There are other independent secondhand bookshops in Edinburgh but this is the one I recommend for a long browse at books.
We walked up to the Grassmarket, which is a small stretch of cafes and bars, including 'the small pub in Scotland', and then up to Victoria Street. This is where you should start if you're a Harry Potter fan; there are two amazing shops that sell all things Harry Potter world. The first one is 'Diagon House; Museum Context' there's two floors and they sell everything to artistic postcards to the amazing wands. The other Harry Potter shop is over the road and it mainly sells just official Harry Potter merchandise, and its called 'The Boy Wizard'.
Day Two
I woke up quite early, because lets face it I was ecstatic to be in Scotland. We packed in a lot in Day 2, I couldn't quite believe that I checked off most of the attractions that I wanted to visit. But first of all we headed to Dean Village, which is in the West of the City. I'd seen pictures all over Tumblr and Instagram of this quaint, pretty little area of Edinburgh. It was beautiful. The Water of Leith runs through it, and it's like you've travelled right out of the city. There are small little lanes that look like a great Instagram opportunity lol, but it really is a good start to your time in the city because it has the old buildings and and cute stone houses surrounding you.
Then we made our way back to the city centre, trying to follow Google Maps. We ended up at Rose Street, a back street by Princes Street. It's a lot quieter than Princes Street but has access to some High Street shops as well if you want to escape the crowds. We went in to a few shops but really just wanted to look more around the city.
Calton Hill was our next stop, a small walk to the top of the bank where an unfinished acropolis stands and Nelson Monument. The view from the top is amazing. It looks out onto Leith and the mouth of the Forth. Of course there's an amazing view of Edinburgh, and the other side there is Arthur's Seat and Holyrood Palace. It was amazing weather to be exploring the city and Scotland itself. Right now in the UK, there's been a good few weeks where we've experienced actual sun and hot weather! Such a rarity in this country!. Coming down from Calton Hill there's a selection of cafes that you can pop in to after the small walk up Calton Hill. We went in to 'Rabbie's Cafe and Bar' which is right on the corner. I'm not going to lie the sandwiches and salads are a bit more expensive, but not over the top, but you're on holiday so why not hey! I had a salmon and potato salad, it was so lovely. My Mum had soup, bread and a cup of tea. It's a lovely cute little cafe with very friendly staff. We actually went there to find the place we need to be because Rabbie's is also a travel company, that offers trips around Scotland and the rest of the UK. We had booked a trip for the next day to Glencoe, Loch Ness and the Highlands, but I'm going to do a separate blogpost on that.
After our food we went to explore and find the Royal Mile. It's exactly what I expected and more! It's got old cobbled streets, and was extremely busy as you would expect. There's a lot of little souvenir shops and traditional Scottish shops, for e.g. traditional whisky shops and shops selling cashmere scarves etc. Very cute shops with very cute products in. Another tourist essential in Edinburgh is to walk up to the castle, and of course go in it. We didn't actually go in it but we walked up these very steep steps to the entrance. I think then we were at the top of the Royal Mile, so we walked back down. Stumbling upon an ice cream shop I easily consumed one, and walked further down. We found ourselves in The Writers Museum, which was kind of hidden in an alleyway but its a good find if you're a bookworm like me. It's mostly focused on Sir Walter Scott, but also has a gift shop and a beautiful spiral staircase. I think that's what I loved about Edinburgh; there's something new everywhere you look, and if you walk down an alley something can be found there. It's all cobbled streets and stone buildings and I LOVE it! Soon after we went back down to the Grassmarket and my Mum had a drink in one of the many pubs and cafes down there. I think she chose the 'oldest pub in Edinburgh', which is The White Hart Inn. By this time it was going on for 4 o'clock and we'd been out since 10 so we were getting quite tired from walking around the city, but we decided to go back to Armchair Books and have another browse. It was more busy this time but you could still have a good browse and all the books everywhere; up, down, left and right. I came out with two books as I previously mentioned.
Edinburgh is a gorgeous city and very accessible to anyone in the UK, and beyond. I am so glad I've been and definitely will be visiting Scotland in the near future, because I just fell in love with it. The city has its own charm and a lot of character with it's old buildings and distinctive roads, in some ways it is like London (sorry to any Scottish people for comparing the capital with the English one) but you can easily walk the whole of the city and there is Leith to the East, so there's easy access to the coast also. I prefer Edinburgh because of its proud history and patriotic monuments.
Happy Reading!
Rose x
Day One
We arrived in Edinburgh around half past 4, travelling up by train. Travelling by train is probably cheaper than driving, and you had the views of the Lake District and Cumbria. I'm from Shropshire so I'm used to being surrounded by countryside, but this was another level of beauty. I think you know you're in the North when the fields have stone walls and nearly every house in sight is made of stone and looks like it was built a century ago. It was lovely. We decided to get off the train at Haymarket Station, which is West of the City Centre, but it was closest to our Air BnB, so it was easier. We had also never used Air BnB, and we were pleasantly surprised how easy it was and how efficient it was. The flat we stayed at was just right for a city break and had everything we needed. We stayed in Fountainbridge (the birthplace of Sean Connery), which is about a ten minute walk from Princes Street (the main shopping street), and fifteen minutes from the Royal Mile. I had expected the city to have the most amazing architecture and old looking buildings and I was not disappointed. As soon as we had dropped our luggage off we set off to explore the city. We set off towards West Port and found ourselves outside of Armchair Books, the most amazing bookshop. Literally you are surrounding by books from the very moment you set foot in the shop. We visited the shop twice, and I bought two books (didn't go overboard thank goodness). Obviously I had to buy a Walter Scott book because I'm in Edinburgh, I bought 'The Heart of Midlothian' by Walter Scott and a sociological book called 'Watching the English' by Kate Fox. There are other independent secondhand bookshops in Edinburgh but this is the one I recommend for a long browse at books.
We walked up to the Grassmarket, which is a small stretch of cafes and bars, including 'the small pub in Scotland', and then up to Victoria Street. This is where you should start if you're a Harry Potter fan; there are two amazing shops that sell all things Harry Potter world. The first one is 'Diagon House; Museum Context' there's two floors and they sell everything to artistic postcards to the amazing wands. The other Harry Potter shop is over the road and it mainly sells just official Harry Potter merchandise, and its called 'The Boy Wizard'.
Day Two
I woke up quite early, because lets face it I was ecstatic to be in Scotland. We packed in a lot in Day 2, I couldn't quite believe that I checked off most of the attractions that I wanted to visit. But first of all we headed to Dean Village, which is in the West of the City. I'd seen pictures all over Tumblr and Instagram of this quaint, pretty little area of Edinburgh. It was beautiful. The Water of Leith runs through it, and it's like you've travelled right out of the city. There are small little lanes that look like a great Instagram opportunity lol, but it really is a good start to your time in the city because it has the old buildings and and cute stone houses surrounding you.
Then we made our way back to the city centre, trying to follow Google Maps. We ended up at Rose Street, a back street by Princes Street. It's a lot quieter than Princes Street but has access to some High Street shops as well if you want to escape the crowds. We went in to a few shops but really just wanted to look more around the city.
Calton Hill was our next stop, a small walk to the top of the bank where an unfinished acropolis stands and Nelson Monument. The view from the top is amazing. It looks out onto Leith and the mouth of the Forth. Of course there's an amazing view of Edinburgh, and the other side there is Arthur's Seat and Holyrood Palace. It was amazing weather to be exploring the city and Scotland itself. Right now in the UK, there's been a good few weeks where we've experienced actual sun and hot weather! Such a rarity in this country!. Coming down from Calton Hill there's a selection of cafes that you can pop in to after the small walk up Calton Hill. We went in to 'Rabbie's Cafe and Bar' which is right on the corner. I'm not going to lie the sandwiches and salads are a bit more expensive, but not over the top, but you're on holiday so why not hey! I had a salmon and potato salad, it was so lovely. My Mum had soup, bread and a cup of tea. It's a lovely cute little cafe with very friendly staff. We actually went there to find the place we need to be because Rabbie's is also a travel company, that offers trips around Scotland and the rest of the UK. We had booked a trip for the next day to Glencoe, Loch Ness and the Highlands, but I'm going to do a separate blogpost on that.
After our food we went to explore and find the Royal Mile. It's exactly what I expected and more! It's got old cobbled streets, and was extremely busy as you would expect. There's a lot of little souvenir shops and traditional Scottish shops, for e.g. traditional whisky shops and shops selling cashmere scarves etc. Very cute shops with very cute products in. Another tourist essential in Edinburgh is to walk up to the castle, and of course go in it. We didn't actually go in it but we walked up these very steep steps to the entrance. I think then we were at the top of the Royal Mile, so we walked back down. Stumbling upon an ice cream shop I easily consumed one, and walked further down. We found ourselves in The Writers Museum, which was kind of hidden in an alleyway but its a good find if you're a bookworm like me. It's mostly focused on Sir Walter Scott, but also has a gift shop and a beautiful spiral staircase. I think that's what I loved about Edinburgh; there's something new everywhere you look, and if you walk down an alley something can be found there. It's all cobbled streets and stone buildings and I LOVE it! Soon after we went back down to the Grassmarket and my Mum had a drink in one of the many pubs and cafes down there. I think she chose the 'oldest pub in Edinburgh', which is The White Hart Inn. By this time it was going on for 4 o'clock and we'd been out since 10 so we were getting quite tired from walking around the city, but we decided to go back to Armchair Books and have another browse. It was more busy this time but you could still have a good browse and all the books everywhere; up, down, left and right. I came out with two books as I previously mentioned.
Edinburgh is a gorgeous city and very accessible to anyone in the UK, and beyond. I am so glad I've been and definitely will be visiting Scotland in the near future, because I just fell in love with it. The city has its own charm and a lot of character with it's old buildings and distinctive roads, in some ways it is like London (sorry to any Scottish people for comparing the capital with the English one) but you can easily walk the whole of the city and there is Leith to the East, so there's easy access to the coast also. I prefer Edinburgh because of its proud history and patriotic monuments.
Happy Reading!
Rose x
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