For those who have followed my travels, you may remember last year’s blog posts on Scotland. We hadn’t planned on returning so soon; however, Edinburgh is on Overseas Adventure Travel’s U.K. itinerary. It was great getting to see this enchanting city again!
If you first travel through the Lake District of England, and then continue to Scotland like we did, you will notice some differences. The small fields of sheep in the Lake District become larger fields of mostly cattle, and the land is flatter. The accent is different, too. “Carlisle” is pronounced “Car-lyle” by the English and “Ker-leel” by the Scottish.
Scotland has 1/3 the land mass but only 8% of the population of the United Kingdom. Their population is a well-educated one, too– the most educated workforce in Europe.
Even though the country is in the United Kingdom, it still has a degree of independence, because it voluntarily joined the U.K. They can choose what they keep independent, such as their legal system.
Unfortunately, like in many other cities around the world, Edinburgh is experiencing an extreme housing shortage, and it is very expensive to buy or rent in the city. A one bedroom/ one bath rental apartment south of the city will cost you 1,500 – 1,600 British pounds ($1,900 – $2,000+). There are many Edinburgh workers that live in Glasgow and commute to Edinburgh—a 45-60 minute drive each way.
We began our first day with a walking tour of Edinburgh’s Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, revisiting the places I wrote about in Scotland #1, Scotland #2, and Scotland #5. It was a beautiful day until the clouds and drizzle moved in during the late afternoon, so I found myself shooting many of the same subjects again. Déjà vu!
(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)
Edinburgh Castle
The view from the castle looking down on Edinburgh
Victoria StreetCalton Hill
The view from Calton Hill to Arthur’s SeatHolyrood Palace
As always on an OAT tour, we experienced a home-hosted meal, and on this itinerary we visited a home in Edinburgh. We were hosted by a lovely young couple, Ashley and Ian, and Ian’s father, Ross, a cool guy who shared our taste in music. The dinner was at Ross’s home, but Ashley and Ian did the cooking. They are working towards growing their catering business to eventually opening a vegan restaurant, so they tried out some recipes on us. I especially enjoyed the dessert—chocolate mousse made with 350 grams (12 ounces) of silken tofu, 150 grams (5.3 ounces) of dark chocolate, and 3 tablespoons of maple syrup. Whip it up in a food processor and chill! How easy is that?
Back in 1997, when Tony Blair became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, he promised constitutional reform within the UK. A Scottish referendum was held on two questions: to decide whether or not there should be a Scottish Parliament and whether that Parliament should have the power to vary taxation. The majority of Scots voted Yes to both proposals. In July of 1999, a Scottish Parliament met in Edinburgh for the first time since the Union of the Parliaments in 1707.
From 1999 to 2004, the Scottish Parliament Building was constructed adjacent to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Enric Miralles, the Spanish architect who designed the building, died before its completion. How sad that he never got to see his creation and the awards it had won, including the 2005 Stirling Prize.
(For all pictures, click on the image to see full screen view.)
I thought the architecture was fabulous; very unique and interesting! My favorite area was the debating chamber, a shallow elliptical horseshoe of seating, with the governing party or parties sitting in the middle of the semicircle and opposition parties on either side. This layout is intended to blur political divisions and encourage consensus. I liked the design of the desks, chairs in the gallery, the light fixtures, and the way the glass panels let in a lot of natural, diffused light. Notice the designs in those glass panels. as well as in the light fixtures. They look a lot like whiskey bottles, don’t they? I can imagine how after a long session of debating, the politicians take a look at those bottles and wish they were real bottles full of whiskey!
Ceiling light fixtureThis ceremonial silver and gold Scottish Parliament Mace symbolizes the power of the Scottish Parliament to pass laws.
She is made of Lego!
Following our tour, we returned to the National Museum of Scotland to see a few more exhibits and check out the views from the rooftop. It was a perfect vantage point to see the Edinburgh Castle from another perspective.
Edinburgh Castle as seen from the rooftop of the National Museum of Scotland.
Holyrood Park and Arthur’s Seat
We enjoyed our final day in Edinburgh very much! Having walked to the Scottish Parliament Building from our hotel through Holyrood Parkand past Arthur’s Seat, and then adding more miles walking all over town, we made the most of our day! It was a wonderful way to wrap up our stay in the city before returning home.
This view was photographed during our walk through Holyrood Park
The flowers were blooming beautifully in the park!
The following are photos I shot throughout our six days in Edinburgh that didn’t appear in my previous posts.
St. Giles Cathedral
Victoria Street/ The West Bow is one of the most photographed streets in Edinburgh.
No, I did not Photo Shop that bird into the picture! I caught him flying straight towards me!
The view of Edinburgh Castle from the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh
This stairway was made of several types of stone.
This group, performing near the Waverley Train Station, was an interesting mix with bagpipes. They played a cool rendition of Pink Floyd’s, “Wish You Were Here,” in honor of a former band member who had died.Scottish Cairn Terriers
These murals were painted on a temporary wall that was hiding a construction site.
What a great adverstising campaign!
Their currency is a lot more colorful than ours……and cute!
I spent some of that currency on chocolate! This one was for my chocolate wrapper/ label collection.
Thank you for reading! Craft show season is just around the corner, so Bruce and I won’t be traveling internationally again until 2024. Stay tuned then for posts on Patagonia and many more!
If Road Scholar hadn’t cancelled our tour of the Scottish Highlands, we would have spent two weeks exploring the region. Bruce and I didn’t want to completely miss out, so we booked a day trip out of Edinburgh. We always prefer a small group experience, so we opted to go with Rabbies, since their tours are for a maximum of 16 people, and they get an excellent rating on Trip Advisor.
(For all pictures, click on the image to see full screen view.)
The Highlands, located in the northwest region of Scotland, are renowned for their natural beauty. The area is sparsely populated, mountainous, and green – a lovely place to drive through in between stops on our tour.
Stirling Castle
After passing Stirling Castle, stopping at Loch Lomond (the largest lake in the UK), and seeing Loch Long; we visited the 18th-century town of Inveraray, located on the western shore of Loch Fyne. The main draw was seeing Inveraray Castle, which was built over the course of 40 years, beginning in 1744. Although it was closed the day we were there, we were able to walk around the castle and enjoy the beautiful grounds.
Loch Fyne, at the town of Inveraray
Inveraray Castle
The town of Inveraray
During the tour, we learned a few interesting tidbits and facts about Scotland. Although the population of the country is about 5.4 million, the sheep numbers peak at about 12 million in the summer time. Excellent produce is also grown in the lowlands for export, but they are best known for having “the best strawberries in the world,” according to our guide, Andrew. Top food and drink exports include chocolate, whisky, salmon, and lamb. Interestingly, although they export their lamb, they import lamb from New Zealand. Go figure…
Language in Scotland can be a challenge. Although English is the main language, there are also many dialects of Scots and Scottish Gaelic spoken. (There are 270 words for “snow,” for example!) The dialect of English spoken is referred to as Scottish English; and, I can tell you from personal experience while riding the public bus in Edinburgh, it is impossible to understand. Fortunately, most of the people we talked to spoke easy-to-understand English!
This was my favorite quote of the day from Andrew: “Football (soccer) is a gentleman’s game played by thugs. Rugby is a thug’s game played by gentleman.” (After watching all of the episodes of Welcome to Wrexham to date, I would have to agree!)
Back to our tour, we made another stop to get a view of the abandoned Kilchern Castle and to enjoy the views (and sheep!).
Kilchern Castle
A hotel near the castle
By now, I was bummed I hadn’t yet seen a Highland cow; however, Andrew surprised us at our next stop. Yay! This is one of the oldest breeds of cows in the world, and their shaggy hair gives them a cute look. I didn’t realize this, but a cow’s horns are for body temperature control. Blood circulates through them, and the horns will feel cool at the tips and warm nearest the head.
Our final stop was at Doune Castle, one of the best-preserved medieval castles in Scotland, and is best known for the filming location of the TV show, Outlander. It was also featured in Monty Python’s Holy Grail and The Outlaw King. Built in the late 1300s, it was a key stronghold of Robert Stewart, Duke of Abany.
The tour was long, but we were happy to get to see the Scottish Highlands, even if just for one day.
Next up: Touring the Scottish Parliament & Scenes Around Edinburgh
The Royal Edinburgh Ticket we had purchased for the hop-on-hop-off double-decker bus tour included entrance to the castle, palace, and Royal Brittania Yacht – three of the attractions we wanted to see in Edinburgh. We also wanted to see the Royal Botanic Garden, which happened to be free of charge. It had worked out nicely to divide and conquer; see the castle and palace on one day, and the gardens and yacht – both on the blue bus route — on the following day.
It had rained prior to our stop at the gardens, which was quite welcomed as far as we were concerned. We practically had the gardens to ourselves, having arrived just when they opened; and, rain drops add and interesting element to flower photographs.
(For all pictures, click on the image to see full screen view.)
The Royal Botanic Gardenwas founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants. Currently, as an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, it is a scientific center for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Covering 70 acres, it is beautifully designed and a lovely place to take a stroll, have a picnic, do photography, or all of the above! They also host many events including live performances, guided tours, and exhibitions; and, it is an important center for education.
Located nearby was the Water of Leighth Walkway, so we wandered through a section of it before returning to the garden to hop back on the blue bus.
The Royal Brittania Yachtwas our next stop for a self-guided tour of the 412-foot-long vessel. Launched by HM Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, it was decommissioned in 1997 as the last in a long line of Royal Yachts stretching back to 1660.
All of the clocks were stopped at 3:01 pm, the exact time the ship was decommissioned. Bruce and I got chills when he looked at his watch during the bus ride back into town; it read 3:01 pm.
Although we had put a lot of miles on our feet by the afternoon, we still had some energy left in the tank to take the bus back into town for a short visit to the National Museum of Scotland. What a gem! On Trip Advisor, it is ranked #3 of 534 things to do in Edinburgh for good reason; it is fabulous. Not only is admission free; but, the exhibits in this massive museum are top-notch. Had it not been so late in the day (we left at closing time), we would have seen more.
So much to see, but so little time. What a fabulous day, though!
It was bound to happen. After so many trips in a row with great weather, our luck was eventually going to run out. What better place than Scotland? Known for its gloomy skies and rain, we expected it; and, today was the day.
There’s something about seeing a Scottish castle and palace in gloomy weather. It seems so fitting! (Although, it makes for rotten cityscape photography…) Since we didn’t exactly have a choice with our limited days in Edinburgh, we gave ourselves a “make lemonade out of lemons” pep talk, donned our rain gear, and set off to explore.
Royal Edinburgh Ticket and reserved Edinburgh Castle Tour ticket in hand, we boarded the green double-decker tour bus and climbed the stairs up to the top for our guided hop-on-hop-off tour. It was raining lightly, so Bruce opted for the covered seats in front, and I headed to the back, so I could do some photography on the way to the castle. Thank goodness for waterproof pants! I swept the puddle of water off the seat, plopped myself down, and happily snapped off a few shots (that appeared in my last post).
For those of you unfamiliar with Edinburgh, I’ll give you the Cliff Notes version of this capital city. It’s the second largest city in Scotland (after Glasgow) with a population of around 506,000, and the seat of the Scottish Government. Edinburgh has been the country’s capital since the 15th century or so. The city is a center of education, and it’s the second largest financial center in the United Kingdom. There are loads of historical and cultural attractions, so it is the UK’s second most visited tourist destination.
Speaking of historical attractions, Edinburgh Castle topped our list of the places we wanted to visit for Scottish history—at least, visually, and for photography. Construction of the castle began in the 11th century, and it has seen a lot of battles and wars since then! There was the Wars of Scottish Independence, from 1296 – 1357; the Siege to free James III of Scotland, in 1482; and, the Lang Siege, from 1571 – 1573. There were a total of 26 sieges in its 1,100-year history! That poor castle was the most besieged place in Great Britain and one of the most attacked in the world. Do you think England finally got the message? Hands off!
It’s a much happier place now. Historic Environment Scotland is taking good care of this gorgeous gem, and it has become the most visited attraction in the country—especially in August during the annual Edinburgh Festival. That’s when the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo takes place.
(For all pictures, click on the image to see full screen view.)
A small force of men loyal to King Robert the Bruce scaled this rock to retake the castle from the English.
See that funny-shaped building off to the right in the distance (above) and in the center-top (below)? Check out this article about the “Golden Turd,” (aka the “Poop Building,” as well as several other not-so-complimentary names.) W Edinburgh is located in the St. James Quarter of Edinburgh.
This dog cemetery has been used since Queen Victoria’s reign (1837-1901) as a burial place for regimental mascots and officers’ dogs.
The stained glass windows (below) were photographed inside St. Margaret’s Chapel, located above the dog cemetery. It is the oldest building in Edinburgh Castle. Built in about 1130, it is dedicated to Queen Margaret, who lived in the castle in the late 1000s.
From a sign near this display: “…Maintaining the highland military image was an expensive business. At a time when officers had to kit themselves out at their own expense, the regiments became a magnet for the wealthier and more fashionable officers of the army. Ironically, the extra expense of maintaining a highland soldier’s kit was a burden to those serving in the ranks.”
Edinburgh’s other historical icon is the Palace of Holyroodhouse, located on the other end of the Royal Mile from the castle. (You can also call it Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse; the Scots won’t mind.) Since the 16th century, this has been the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. For those of you who didn’t get the memo, that would be King Charles III; although, he only spends one week at the beginning of summer there each year. The palace doesn’t sit empty the other 51 weeks, though; it gets a lot of paying visitors!
Following our Iceland tour with Overseas Adventure Travel, the original plan was to fly directly to Edinburgh, Scotland, and spend six days on our own, before hooking up with Road Scholar for a tour of the Scottish Highlands. We received a phone call from Road Scholar in June, however, notifying us our tour was canceled. I won’t get into the reasons why it was canceled, but we were disappointed. Fortunately, we were able to change the our flight, so we could return home after our six days in Edinburgh. Not that we didn’t want to see more of Scotland; it was high season, and hotels were already booked up.
As an alternative to completely missing the Scottish Highlands, we decided to book a day tour for one of our days, and spend the remainder of our time seeing everything we wanted to see in the city. I had done a lot of research on Edinburgh, so I felt like we had a good plan in place.
But first, why Scotland? I had never been there before; it would be my 70th country. More importantly, I had heard nothing but wonderful things about it! Most importantly, when I first started dating Bruce back in 1986, I asked him what country he would most like to see. “Scotland” was his reply. After all, his first name is Bruce, his middle name is Robert, and he was named after Robert the Bruce!
Somehow, over the years, and throughout all our travels, we never quite got to Scotland. Then, when we finally booked a trip that would have included the country, it was canceled due to the COVID pandemic. Now, we were finally going to see Scotland! (We will see more of the country next year on another trip.)
The first thing we wanted to nail down for Edinburgh was accommodations. My go-to website for advice is always Trip Advisor; however, I had a couple of criteria that were important to me this time around. First, I wanted a location near a bus stop. (The public transportation system in Scotland got rave reviews!) We didn’t mind taking a bus into the city center, but wanted to be close enough for the ride to be short. Second, we wanted to stay somewhere unique for a memorable bed-and-breakfast experience rather than at a chain hotel. Third, the price had to be within our budget. The other criteria are always in play: Clean, comfortable, quiet, safe, and rated 4-5 in Trip Advisor reviews.
We found just the place that ticked all the boxes: Hotel Ceilidh-Donia. Ranked #4 of 169 hotels reviewed on Trip Advisor, it met all of our criteria. The biggest surprise was what I hadn’t listed that ended up being the best part of our stay: Susan, Kevin, and their staff. They made our vacation so memorable! (See my review of our experience.)
Our plan for seeing the city and sights was to purchase the Royal Edinburgh Ticket for the hop-on-hop-off double-decker bus. It is run by Lothian, the same company as the public city buses, and the tour had excellent reviews. The ticket included entrance to Edinburgh Castle with a reserved time slot—a very important feature, so you can bypass the lines of people waiting to get in. (Or, in the case of the week we were there, right before the Fringe Festival, if you didn’t have a pre-booked ticket, it was sold out, every single day!) The bus ticket lasts for 48 hours, so you can ride the bus and hop on and off as many times you like within that time period. The ticket with castle admission cost USD $84 per person, but believe me; it was money well spent!
On our first day in Edinburgh, we rode the bus into town, and then took care of business before sightseeing. “Business” included checking out where we would be starting our Royal Edinburgh bus tour in relation to where the city bus dropped us off. There were four different buses (red, orange, green, and blue) with different routes and features; however, we wanted to make sure we took the green bus with a live on-board guide—much better than listening to a recorded narration!
Next, we had booked a Scottish Highland tour for later in the week, so we wanted to locate the bus station on foot, so we would be sure to have a smooth commute on tour day. (More on that tour in a future post…)
Once we had those details ironed out, it was time to hit the Royal Mile, the main thoroughfare of Edinburgh’s Old Town. Edinburgh Castle is on one end, and Palace of Holyroodhouse is on the other end; so, I can see why it is such a popular pedestrian street. Those are two of the most-visited tourist attractions in Edinburgh!
I had read the reviews; the Royal Mile ranks #8 of things to do in Edinburgh. Some rave about it, and others say it’s a tourist trap with too many shops full of “Scottish” souvenirs made in China. They’re both right, and I wouldn’t have left Edinburgh without seeing the Royal Mile. (As it turned out, we ended up walking its entire length several times over the course of our stay in Edinburgh!)
Sure, there were a lot of tourist shops. I walked past most of them, didn’t purchase anything in any of them, and only spent five minutes browsing in the largest one located near the castle. I am always curious to see what is made in each country I visit, so I popped in, took a look around, and snapped a couple of shots. If you like plaid, Scotland is the place to shop! I’m not a plaid person…
What I loved about the Royal Mile was the architecture (so much history!), the hanging flower baskets, and a large part of the thoroughfare being closed off to traffic. It was a safe and comfortable place to walk.
Besides seeing the Royal Mile, Bruce and I rambled all over the city on our first day! By the time we took the bus back to our hotel, we were happy to return to the quiet and lovely residential neighborhood where our little hotel was nestled.
Just by chance, for dinner, we found a casual and reasonably-priced Thai restaurant located just a ten-minute stroll away. Papaya Thai Street Foodwasn’t yet rated on Trip Advisor, but we were hungry, and Thai is our favorite cuisine. We decided to take a gamble. What a find! It was so good I gave them Trip Advisor’s first review! (I later found them on Google; 20 reviews and a perfect score of 5.) It was the exclamation point on a wonderful first day in Edinburgh!
Below are photos I shot on and near the Royal Mile during a couple of different days walking in the city as well as a few snapped from the top of the double-decker bus.
(For all pictures, click on the image to see full screen view.)
Dunbar’s Close Garden. There are several closes off the Royal Mile– alleyways that lead to private property and closed to the public. This little slice of heaven off the busy Royal Mile is gated; however, it is open to the public for free during daylight hours.
View from a cross street of the Royal Mile
New Calton Burial Ground, located near the Palace of Holyroodhouse just off the Royal Mile
This little garden was located adjacent to the Palace of Holyroodhouse
Viewed through the window of a restaurant on the Royal Mile.
This was a not-so-wee bite we picked up at the Zebra Coffee Co. on Bank St., just off the Royal Mile. The window display was too tempting to ignore! These cookies were so tasty, we returned for another one the next day.
Elaine-iaK's Travels: A Traveler's Tales of People, Places, Photos, Pools... and CHOCOLATE! 