The main reason I ended up visiting Edinburgh was because I had a free EasyJet flight to Reykjavik, and it was flying either from London or Edinburgh. I had never been to Edinburgh before so decided to fly from here and stay the night before. For saying it was February the weather was very mild. I mainly spent the day exploring and walking the streets followed by a night time tour of the underground vaults.
I’m not sure it’s somewhere I would choose to go back without good reason. I saw the main sights that I wanted to see and got a good perspective of the city, but if I am honest, I am not sure I see the big appeal that there seems to be for it. That said, I enjoyed the 24 hours I was in the city for.
Winter 2019 
2 DaysThe tall monument located on Princes Street right outside the train station. It cost £8 to climb to the top and it was well worth it for the views. Mid-February it was very windy at the top which spoilt it a little, and this is certainly not one to do if you are claustrophobic as when you get near the top, the spiral staircase becomes so narrow both of your shoulders will brush past either side of the walls! I must admit, my heart did start to race a little at one point and my chest felt tight! But the views at the top were great, especially since Edinburgh is a costal city.
The Royal Mile spans the length of the main centre of Edinburgh (roughly a mile long) from the castle down to the Scottish Parliament building and the edge of Arthurs seat. You can walk the length of this in 30 mins and makes you realise how small Edinburgh is. Many bars and shops down here, very touristy. I think if the weather had been warmer, or my visit had been in summer I would have enjoyed this strip more.
I am not sure, but I would imagine the bars and restaurants would have table seats outside, perfect for grabbing a glass of wine and people watching. Towards the bottom (nearer to Arthurs seat) there is an awesome little food place called “Oink” and no surprise they sell pig, or rather, pulled pork. The pig can be seen roasting in the window! It was so delicious, I went back for seconds the next day!
Edinburgh Castle is very big, and a family could easily spend a day here, there is the castle, the old prisons and the War Museum. I can imagine that if you had kids and it was a family day out it would be fun, but other than the prison area I didn’t really get much out of this. I think this has been a lesson to me, at I should always go with my gut instinct, and just because something is popular, it doesn’t mean I have to visit!
Victoria Street is a smaller street off the main Royal Mile area, this street is often used in postcards and images to represent Edinburgh because of its colourful buildings. Great Instagram opportunity, and if I am honest the only reason I purposly 'stumbled upon it'.
Carlton Hill was a great way to spend an hour at the end of the day, to see the city from above. I must admit, I was hoping for a sunset, but then given it was February and Scotland, that may have been a tad unrealistic!
I opted to do a tour of the vaults later at night, as its an adult only tour and something to do in the evening. It lasted an hour, for the first 30 minutes we walked the streets and down some back-alley ways learning about diseases of the past before going into the vaults. Our tour guide was brilliantly entertaining; however, I did find the whole thing a bit too “pantomime”. Unfortunately due to everything being in the dark, this was the only picture of the evening I managed to take, which being appalling quality wouldn’t have normally made the cut! But it's the only one.
The following morning, I had a few hours to kill before my flight to Iceland, and so wondered down the Royal Mile and came to the edge of Arthurs Seat (a big hill overlooking Edinburgh). I walked up halfway (as I didn’t have time to go the full distance), and I have since been kicking myself for not having made this a priority on the day before rather than wasting time (and money) visiting the castle.
The views (even halfway) were just amazing, it was such an easy walk or ascent to the top and furthermore it was such a mild/sunny day, I even ended up taking off my hoodie! Anyone reading this and planning a visit, I can’t recommend this highly enough.
This was a nice little hostel that I stayed in for the evening, its very tucked away, although not far from the train station, on the second floor of a building that’s very private and out of sight from any main road. The reception area is also the same room as the kitchen and the small lounge for its guests, which normally I would think was a bit intimidating, but somehow this really worked and made it warm and cosy. Best thing, is that in the mornings the member of staff that is on duty actually cooks you breakfast, which comes as part of the price!
