We have made a little road trip in the Scottish highlands and no Scottish trip is complete without the capital, Edinburgh. Here I would like to share the best views from Edinburgh as we could have explored in almost 1,5 days. Hope you'll find it useful :)
1. Edinburgh Castle: OK, that was obvious. Edinburgh castle is located along one of the highest points of the whole city, so it's almost impossible to miss it. The castle was built in the 12th century on the volcanic hill, called the Castle Rock which was formed almost 350 million years ago!
The castle was placed on top of the hill for military reasons, such that it gets easier to defend the castle and observe the city from the higher ground. Bad news is, you kinda have to climb all the stairs or hills to reach there.
Edinburgh castle can be visited by purchasing a ticket for about 18 pounds (2018) and is definitely worth it. The castle was not only the royal residence of the kingdom, but also a gathering point for the army or military prison. Most of these buildings are kept as their original shapes and each building are turned into museums that you can learn about the Scottish history, the royal wealth and many other cultural heritage.
Even if you do not care about the history and everything, observing the square in front of the castle and the architecture of this amazing town is completely worth it.
BONUS: We visited the place on Sunday, but I heard that every day at 1PM, they still perform a ceremony where a military officer shows up to shoot the Mons Meg Cannon.
2. Royal Mile: Royal Mile used to be the biggest street which connects the Edinburgh castle to Holyrood Palace, where the queen used to live. Since the street was the main road that the royal family used to take every day, it was called as royal mile.
Due to the importance of the street, the overall city was actually located around it. Here you can find the oldest houses and oldest churches of the city with the magnificent architecture. Due to its touristic popularity, you can find many gift shops and even men with their kilts walking around (no, i'm not kidding). Do not just walk around the main road tough, visit also some little narrow streets that are called close just to understand a little bit better the old version of Edinburgh.
BONUS: We didn't actually do it, but on the royal mile you can find many brochures about free walking tours or ghost tours starting here.
3. Grassmarket: Right below Edinburgh Castle, there is this huge historical square, called Grassmarket, which was built in the 16th century.
Even though most of the buildings are from the 16th century up to 20th century, the modern developments made on the buildings give this part of the town a popular meaning, with a unique look, that I am completely in love with!
4. Calton Hill: Edinburgh is surrounded by a couple of hills. Edinburgh castle is located on of them, and the other one is Calton Hill. It's very close to the city centre, even by walking distance, so if you are up for a little climbing (after a delicious fish and chips lunch especially) this place is amazing to have another panaromic view for the city.
On the hill, besides a spectacular view of the city and the Edinburgh coast, there is also the unfinished National Monument and a nice park to chill out and enjoy the good weather - if you are lucky enough obviously!
5. Broughton and Princess Streets: After going down from the hill, we decided to explore the surroundings around Broughton Street, where there are many cafes and bars. We have been there during the day, but this place is also very famous with its night life.
Princess street on the other hand, is almost the parallel street of the Royal Mile. I can actually define the Princess street as the modern version of Royal Mile. If you have the time and interest, you can check out the National Gallery here, free of charge. Alternatively, if the weather is nice, you can enjoy the freshness of the princess park, which used to belong to the royal family as well.
6. National Museum: Unlike London, Scottish government decided to gather all National museums, such as National Science Museum, National History Museum, etc. into one single museum and it is free of charge. The complex itself is huge and you can spend one complete day inside, but it's not the whole point! The museum has a terrace with one of the best views for the Scottish architecture.
7. Little streets everywhere: There are many other things to see and places to go in town, but what we loved in Edinburgh more than everything was the gothic kinda architecture and the holistic spirit of town. Being lucky enough on our first day to find a good weather in Edinburgh, we just hit the road and kept walking around in the big and small streets back and forth.
Even though Edinburgh centre is actually not that big, it took us forever to explore it (and to be honest we couldn't finish exploring at all) just because I was stopping for another shot in every 10 meters! That's OK tough, Edinburgh is amazing and very photogenic in every single try!
8. Chill out mood: Edinburgh has a wonderful historic atmosphere, but describing it using only the historical mood would be completely unfair. There are tons of amazing and cozy places to hang around to make up for the cold and rainy/snowy/cloudy weather.
In fact, Scottish government made an amazing job adapting the old spirit of the city to the modern spirit. I believe that is exactly why Edinburgh made it to my top 10 capitals in Europe (if it still counts as Europe!).
Enjoy!
Labels: Edinburgh, Highlights, Scotland
