The Edinburgh City Guide
Your Go-To Guide to the Capital…
This travel guide is a long time coming, particularly as this trip happened in June! However, I’m so excited to be finally typing up my Edinburgh city guide. This trip was due to my love for Taylor Swift and being incredibly lucky to be able to go and see the Era’s Tour with my husband. However, Edinburgh is one of those places I’ve always wanted to explore, and certainly somewhere my husband and I will be going back to!
This was actually my second time in visiting Edinburgh, the first time being with my dad for university interviews. For those who don’t know, I was actually born in Scotland. And when I was looking at university, there was a possibility I could have gone to school for free. However, life didn’t turn out that way and went in another direction. Still, Scotland as a country holds a special place in my heart. I definitely see more travels to the country and the rest of the UK in the not so distant future.
There’s definitely more to add, but that’s an excuse to go back up. Here’s my Edinburgh city guide with a promise to update it in the not-so-distant-future.
The Edinburgh Packing List
How to Get Around.
There’s multiple ways to travel to the Scottish capital. Train is the most obvious one, a couple of hours and a fairly straight route upwards. You can also fly, an hour from the majority of UK airports. However, if you have the opportunity, I would suggest driving. For us, we’ve about three and a half hours away from Edinburgh. As we had a lot of stuff and I did not want to chance delays with public transport, we decided to load up Margot and hit the M1. It’s a straight motorway drive and rather relaxing. If you want to take the scenic route, there’s an alternative, winding route through the Northumbria countryside that is gorgeous to take in during the summer. But the motorway was clear, easy to drive and allowed us to get there in plenty of time.
The only downside to driving is parking, which is lacking in the capital, but not impossible. Our hotel had parking available and I’d highly recommend it.
Where to Stay.
When it comes to accommodation, you’re spoilt for choice with places to stay in Edinburgh. But, if I could recommend anywhere, it would be the Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel. Not only is it pretty central for exploring the city, but it’s truly stunning. Spoiler alert, we found out that Taylor Swift’s backup dancers were staying at the hotel during the tour, a secret I kept until after her Scottish shows. If it’s good enough for Kam, it’s good enough for me.
The hotel is styled to perfection, a mixture of bohemian and industrial luxe. The rooms are incredible, spacious, even for a comfy-size room. Plus the bathrooms, I always judge a good hotel based on their bathrooms. These did not disappoint.
The hotel also has a spa attached and is dog friendly, so definitely one that will welcome your four-legged friend.
Where to Explore.
Oh man, this could be a whole post dedicated to this subject. Edinburgh is just stunning. And there is so much history to explore. And Culture. Hence the need to come back another day.
In terms of history, you have the one and only Edinburgh castle to explore. We didn’t go inside, however taking the outskirts of the castle walls are just as breathtaking. However, as a history nerd and knowing the significance of the castle to several of my favourite parts of history, I would love to do a full tour another day when we have more time.
There are also several galleries built into the moat that surrounded the hilly castle. All free to explore and great for learning more about the history of the city. And then there’s the Royal Mile, which is a gorgeous cobble stretch up to the castle. There are so many winding streets to go down, independent shops to explore and grab some unique items to take home with you. Scottish cheese is something else and you must grab something tartan whist you’re in the land of the check.
Beside the shops and history, Edinburgh has some great neighbourhoods for you to check out. Most notably is Dean Village, which is a magical neighbourhood just off from the main part of the city centre. There’s also some incredible outdoor areas to look around, such as the Royal Botanical Gardens, Holyrood Park and the viewpoints from The Meadows where you can look down on the castle.
I could honestly go on, but it’s safe to say you need to get a couple of days booked to explore the city in its fullness.
Where to Eat
Now when it comes to food, you will not be lost in Edinburgh. There are so many incredible independent places to explore, and a couple of chains that are a must. One of those being Dishoom. I’ve had dinner at Dishoom in London, but their breakfast is legendary. The naan breakfast sandwich is something else.
We also tried our Noto, which was also incredible. By far my husband’s favourite meal of the trip. A culture mixture for the mouth, the food was delicious, the interiors spectacular. Spenny, but worth the pennies.
Now coffee wise, this is where I pass the laptop over to my husband. One of the first places we stopped at once we parked the car was Cairngorm Coffee and it was somewhere we regularly went back to. I also enjoyed visiting the Sรถderberg Bakery Shop, delicious, unusual pastries that were perfect for the car journey on the way home.
Now over in Edinburgh Old Town, it would be wrong not to mention Mary’s Milk Bar. I hate to say it, but it’s worth the hype. Simply delicious ice cream, get there early so as not to be held up in queues.
Until Next Time.
As I mentioned, I’m 100% coming back to. It’s a stunning place and there is so much more that I haven’t even covered. Until next time Edinburgh.
