Four Days in Edinburgh

As I mentioned earlier, I took a 12-day trip to Edinburgh, Scotland and Stavanger, Norway with my parents a few months ago. Since the Paris recap was so much fun to write I wanted to do a series for Edinburgh and one for Stavanger. I'm starting with Edinburgh because that was the order of the trip. Keeping it simple for myself :) I'll start with the highlights, places I would recommend for everyone to visit when they go to Edinburgh, and then go into the details of the itinerary.

Highlights

Edinburgh Castle
The Witchery
Arthur's Seat
The Palace of Holyrood House
Scotch Whiskey Experience
Botanical Garden

Day 1: Overnight Flight from Chicago. Land in Scotland Around 9AM

The first day for me is always a beta day, a trial-and-error type of day. I never plan to do too much because no matter the distance travel is exhausting. We got to our hotel, but the room wasn’t ready, so we dropped our bags and grabbed some coffee. We were staying a bit outside the city center which long term was one of the best decisions we made, but there wasn't a ton immediately around the hotel.

After our coffee we hit the road and just started to explore. We were right near the River Leith with a walking path right next to the River. We ended up moseying along the river and ended up in Dean's village. A quaint fairy tale looking town. We grabbed a bench and sat for a bit then headed back to our hotel to check in.

After a quick nap we had a Sunday roast at the hotel's restaurant. Normally I am not one for hotel food, but man this hit the spot. I had never had a true Sunday roast before and it far exceeded my expectations. We topped the meal off with a sticky toffee pudding then called it a night.

Day 2: Edinburgh Castle and Lunch at The Witchery

This was our first full day in Scotland. After a full night's sleep, in a bed (not a plane seat) we were all rested and ready to go. The hotel we were staying at had a decent breakfast spread so we grabbed a big meal there and hit the road to our first stop, the Botanical Garden. Given that I was traveling with my parents, we opted to take an uber from our hotel to the Botanical Garden. It was pretty easy to get, I ordered an XL due to the size of our party and was about 15 pounds so maybe 20$ to go about a 10-15 min drive. I will say, it was a bit of a challenge to request an uber on our way back to the hotel for the night. By challenge I mean it took closer to 20 minutes to wait for one. So if you can I would try to request a car in advance.

The Botanical Garden far exceeded my expectations. I actually was debating not going, but my sister really wanted to go so I acquiesced, and boy was I glad I did. It was the perfect start to the morning. Tucked away in the heart of the city is this quiet, lush oasis. You really forget that you are in the city and the best part (or one of ) it's free! You really could spend an entire day there, but we hit the highlights since we had tickets reserved for the castle in the afternoon. (Side note, I would definitely recommend reserving tickets in advance. By the time we got there around 1PM they were sold out for the day.) We checked out the butterfly garden, saw views of the castle, walked the China path and saw a pretty rock garden. This place had it all and was the perfect start to the day.

Once we wrapped up there, we made our way towards circus lane, a pretty street in Edinburgh. It was nice to slowly walk around the town as we made our way to the castle. And to top it off the day was gorgeous and somewhat hot. I'll write about this a bit later, but you will need to pack for multiple seasons because it can get quite cold but also quite hot - not an easy place to travel to from a wardrobe standpoint!

On route to the castle, we also passed by St Bernard's Well and then hit the steepest hill imaginable before getting to the base of the castle. If you are not with walkers, or with people that tire easily it may be best to take a car to the castle area. You can also take a car to the tip top of the castle but that is coordinated through the castle directly.

The Edinburgh Castle was really a highlight of the trip, let alone the day. Like I said the weather was beautiful bordering on hot, but the views from the top of the castle were amazing. After we were done exploring the castle and taking in the views, we headed down Royal Mile for our late lunch reservation at the Witchery.

The Witchery was one of the best meals I had. According to the website the name derived from the hundreds of women and men burned at the stake as witches on Castlehill during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is reputed that more witches were put to death on Castlehill during the reign of James VI than anywhere else in Scotland. The actual restaurant is set in an old sixteenth century building in Boswell's court. We were seated in the Secret Garden. A section of the Witchery that is accessed via a stone staircase. I would highly recommended trying to get a seat in the secret garden. It truly lives up to its namesake.

We had the "light lunch" Which came with three courses, each dish better than the last. We were so full from the Witchery we needed to walk off the food, conveniently Victoria Alley was located about 5 minutes from the restaurant. Victoria Alley's lore is that it was the inspiration for Diagon alley and tbh I can see it. So many fun shops, colorful walls it was a feast for the eyes. We then headed to Greyfriars cemetery - another Harry Potter nod and made our way back to the hotel.

Day 3: Arthur's Seat

My family did an all-day bus trip to Loch Ness that I decided to pass so I was able to sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. Once I was ready I decided to tackle Arthurs Seat. And tackle I did. I would say I'm fairly athletic, not necessarily peak athlete but I can hold my own on a walk. Knowing this, I still wanted to know what I was walking in to. I looked up some reviews to see how challenging it was and they all said it was casual hike. And I guess if you're a hiker it is. But man it was steep. I would not recommend it for someone that is afraid of heights, or not a strong walker. I trucked my way up the hill and to be honest, the view was not the greatest. If the weather had been nicer, the sky clearer I could see it being worth the hike, but I didn't feel like I got spectacular views that I couldn't have gotten from another part of the city. OK not to shit all over it, I was glad I did it, but it was a literal hike! Post hike I meandered back in to town to grab a quick bite to eat and some coffee and bopped around some shops.

Once I was done with shopping I grabbed a sandwich from Pret and made my way to Calton Hill. Now, I will say if you want a bit of a walk and panoramic views of the city and the sea, but don't want to be in pain, head here vs Arthurs seat. It's far more manageable and you basically get the same views. Plus there are benches and various monuments to check out. Once I finished my sandwich and was done exploring the monuments I headed back to the hotel.

Day 4: The Palace of Holyrood House and Scotch Tasting

Day four, our last full day in Edinburgh. We started a bit later in the day and took an uber to the Palace of Holyrood House to start our journey. I had zero expectations when I went in, I just thought it was a historical landmark; you see one palace you've seen them all. Boy was I wrong. Once you check in they automatically give you an audio tour guide and an iPhone. This guide walks you through the history of the castle as you tour it. Normally I don't grab a guide, but I'm glad this was offered because I would have missed so much had I not had this guide. Queen Victoria had multiple parties there, Mary Queen of Scots was murdered here, and Royal weddings have taken place all at this working palace.

Once we were done with our tour, we then meandered up the Royal Mile - stopped in a few closes and stopped for lunch before our whisky tasting. FYI - because I did not know this before I went, Edinburgh has what they call Closes all over the city. They are essentially alley ways that lead to additional housing not on the main street. They date back to medieval Scotland getting their name from a gate that would close the alley off to the main public. They are all over the city, some more impressive than others and a few with hidden courtyards that are fun to explore and great for a quick break from the hustle and bustle.

Once we were full from our fish chips we headed to the Scotch Whisky Experience. Let me tell you this was probably the best part of the trip. I am not a scotch girl, really not an alcohol girl, but it was such a well done experience that I walked away wanting to go to distilleries and know more. We were pretty beat after the full day of walking. We took one last stop to the top of the National Museum for some more panoramic views of the city and headed back to the hotel for an early evening.

Day 5: Train to Aberdeen

I know technically this is a 4-day itinerary, but since the trip didn't technically end on the 4th day, I figured I'd add how we got to Stavanger. We took a Scotrail train from Edinburgh to Aberdeen then flew from Aberdeen to Stavanger. The train was about 2 hours of gorgeous scenery. The route takes you up the coast so depending on which side of the train you sit on you have views of the ocean or of rolling hills. Either way makes for an enjoyable vista.

It was actually a pretty cool way to see the countryside and since I didn’t get much outside the city it was nice to take in. Once we got to Aberdeen we went straight to our hotel, so I didn’t get to explore much of Aberdeen. However, I did learn that it is called the granite city because almost all the buildings are built from granite. Quite a sight to see, but truthfully very grey. We stayed at a hotel near the airport so we could easily get out in the morning. While we checked in we learned another fun fact about Aberdeen. Given its close proximity to Stavanger, and North Sea oil rigs, a lot of the people staying at the hotel (read all except for me and my parents) work for the oil company in some capacity. They were either coming or going from Stavanger and working on the rig. We walked into dinner at the hotel and it was all men. Literally a scene from a sitcom.

Alright, that is where I'll leave you for now. Next week I'll post about what I packed and how I packed for an almost 2-week trip to two different countries. Can't wait to hear if you've been to Edinburgh or anywhere else in Scotland. If you have, drop a comment. If not, let me know where you're off to next!