#143 Edinburgh, Scotland

Since I’m from Ireland, visiting Scotland didn’t seem particularly exotic or exciting for me because it’s so close both geographically and culturally. However, for my sister’s birthday this year we decided to finally visit the capital, Edinburgh, and cross it off the to-do list. The fact that flights were really cheap also helped make up our minds, and honestly we had an absolute blast. We really, really enjoyed our time in the city and would recommend it as a great place for a city or weekend break. 

Flights and transport

Writers Museum

When we arrived at our hostel early in the morning she guessed we were either from the Dublin flight or the overnight bus from London, so now we know coming from London that the bus is an option. You can also get trains and flights but these are likely to be far more expensive.

Edinburgh International Airport is really close to the city and connections are cheap, you can get either the tram or bus – we opted for the route 100 airlink bus which cost only £7.50 return and took about 30mins each way. The bus had a few stops along the way (including Edinburgh Zoo) and we got off at the final stop at Waverly station, from where we could easily walk to our hostel in the Old Town. I had looked up tickets for the tram and buses should the weather be very bad to walk around, but actually all the main sights in Edinburgh are very close together and since the weather was clear (although very windy) we easily just walked everywhere.

Sightseeing and things to-do

It's worth mentioning first of all that most of the attractions in Edinburgh are quite expensive, so unless you have a large budget you should plan in advance and try and pick and choose what to see and what to leave out. We had considered getting a free walking tour, and actually while eating breakfast we happened to notice a crowd forming for one right outside the restaurant so we went out and joined it. Sandemanns do lots of walking tours around Europe and this Edinburgh one was enjoyable, although there are also different groups and types of tours available too. It was a good way to see the city and get your bearings, so I would recommend doing it the day you arrive as it will give you ideas on where to go back and visit again yourself. 

National Museum

We were never given a map which is probably a first on my travels, but I had downloaded an offline Google map of the city on my phone and since the city's quite small anyway we didn't really need one. Obviously the main attraction is the Castle, but since our hostel overlooked it and we're really cheap we actually just took pictures outside...we never paid to go in. This sounds like a sin, but honestly we just weren't up to paying to go inside as we were fairly certain we didn't have an interest, and we're fine about that choice. The attraction we enjoyed most was the National Museum Of Scotland, it was free, absolutely huge and had great exhibits including ones on Scotland but also lots of interactive ones with natural history and science.

Greyfriar's Bobby

Some of the sight-seeing areas include Greyfriars Kirk graveyard, the statue of Bobby the dog, the Elephant House cafe (where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter), Calton Hill (good views of the city and also the Greek monument), Arthurs Seat (views) and Prince's Street (shopping). We didn't climb up to Arthurs Seat, this was for a variety of reasons like we didn't have any appropriate clothes and we really weren't sure how difficult it would be as reviews were mixed between it was easy and quite tough, so in the end we decided not to risk it just in case. 

The other main attractions are the Edinburgh Dungeons and Real Mary Kings Close. I've done the London and Amsterdam Dunegon's and I find them good fun although I appreciate they wouldn't be for everyone. This time I  had read lots of positive for Real Mary Kings close, so we said we would spend our hard earned cash going to this. This was a big mistake, we absolutely hated it. We found it incredibly overpriced for what was offered - namely empty rooms, and I genuinely can't see how it's so busy and how it's so popular as it was by far the worst attraction I've every visited on any of my travels around the world, so please avoid it and spend your money elsewhere. Many people also visit the city just for the Zoo to see rare Giant Pandas, but I've already seen them in China itself so I didn't need to see them here too. 

Food and Drink

Elephant House café

We have probably never eaten so well as we did on this trip. The fact that obviously everything was in English and we were familiar with the food and menus also made it easier for us to pick and choose wisely. I had looked up some places on TripAdvisor and also looked for deals on Groupon – opting for a cocktails and nachos deal in a bar. 

There are absolutely tons of places for afternoon tea in Edinburgh, and although it’s primarily an English thing you’re still in the UK so with the variety it’s a good time to try. The best and most expensive would be in the famous Balmoral Hotel, this was out of our price range but as it was my sisters birthday we still opted for a relatively expensive set at the Fourth Floor Bar in Harvey Nicholls. While I enjoyed it I would probably try somewhere else in the future, especially somewhere a little cheaper too.

We didn’t go out of our way to try any haggis but we did end up trying a little as part of our large cooked breakfast (sausages, pudding, eggs, bacon etc) at the City Café which was very enjoyable, it was like an American diner and looked like a cool spot to go out at night too. On another morning we had porridge and gourmet tea at Eteaket which was a quaint café and a must for any tea lovers as they had a great selection.

For dinner our highlight was Cosmo, which I believe is a buffet chain around the UK. The foods were delicious and there was a great selection including desserts (which are usually a let-down at most buffets). Would absolutely recommend this as a great place to really load up for the day (we skipped lunch so we were really hungry by the time it opened at 5.30). It can get very busy on weekends and even on a Tuesday at 6pm it was crowded so go early if possible.

Another Scottish thing is deep fried Mars bars, which is basically a chocolate bar dipped in batter and fried. We found one at Grassmarket for £2.50 which was definitely overpriced as the bars cost them less than a pound, so shop around and pop into any chipper (fast food restaurant) and you should be able to find one.