My niece’s wedding was the instigator for this trip. After spending a whirlwind week with family in London, I said good bye to them and carried on travelling alone. Why not make the most of the flight?
I enjoyed a couple of days with a friend I’d met in South America and then joined a tour with Rabbie’s Trail Burner’s to Wales. What a great trip! That post can be found here: 5 days in Wales with Rabbie’s Tours

Back in London I boarded a train to Edinburgh. Yes, flying can be cheaper BUT it’s not as environmentally friendly and you have to factor in the cost of getting to and from the airport. Train stations are usually right in town. Besides, the scenery from London to Edinburgh is amazing! After a wonderful 5 days exploring the North West area of Scotland with Rabbie’s Trail Burners, ( How to visit the north of Scotland, one island at a time. ) I’ve got 4 days on my own in Edinburgh before heading to Dublin. What to do?

June 7, 2023. I stayed at the Kickass Grassmarket hostel in a very comfortable pod in a room with 13 other pods. The first night I wore earplugs as I assumed it would be noisy. Nope. These folks are quiet! There appear to be lots of other folks my age here too. The breakfast is decent. The price is right and the location is amazing. I can walk everywhere. Which I did.

One of the first things I like to do when visiting a new city is take a free walking tour. Edinburgh has lots to offer. I just picked the earliest one. It was great, as usual. Not only did I learn lots about Edinburgh and Scotland, I got lots of tips on how to enjoy the the city as well. The city is built on a hill with the castle at the top and the palace at the bottom. The street connecting them is called the royal mile. It’s actually just over a mile. It’s intersected with lots of little alleys called “closes.” So I headed down the hill and past the palace to climb Arthur’s seat. It’s a good hike pretty much straight up. I climbed the last little bit past the seat and that gets a little sketchy but the rest is a good trail. After spending some time enjoying the view, I took pictures for folks. Then, I wandered around. I headed back down and then up the hill to investigate some of the closes. I found the Haggis Box, recommended by the morning’s guide, and thoroughly enjoyed the classic haggis with whisky sauce. Just don’t think about what’s in it. It’s good! I finished off that day with a ghost tour that ended in the Grayfriar’s graveyard. That was fun! Good thing that’s close to my hostel as I was beat. My pedometre said I walked over 30,000 steps!

The next day I took it a bit easier. I purchased a ticket for the hop on, hop off bus. I got the orange one as it offered a 48 hour ticket. I spent a few hours wandering the royal botanical gardens. Then I hiked up Calton hill, which was not nearly as strenuous as Arthur’s seat. After that, I did the Mary King tour of the city UNDER the city. That tour is kind of pricey at 21 pounds but it’s worth it as it’s excellent. I finished of that day with dinner at another recommended restaurant where I again had haggis. Makar’s Mash. It was completely different and just as tasty. I was seated at the window and started chatting with the woman next to me. We had a lot in common and it was nice to have a dinner companion. She too was travelling alone.

Calton Hill

Botanical Gardens

My dinner friend had recommended the village of Dean so I checked it out. What a gem! Lots of interesting buildings and a beautiful path beside the river. After that I walked back to the Princes St. gardens where I checked out he floral clock, the oldest in the world . Then I caught the bus again, listened to more commentary and got off at the Royal Britanica stop. I didn’t want a tour badly enough to pay the price so just walked around and looked at the ship before getting back on the bus. The commentary is great on those things. I got off at the Grayfriar’s graveyard and wandered around trying to find the inspiration JK Rowling used for the names in the books. I found a few.

Grayfriar’s Kirkyard

Village of Dean

Princes Street Garden

Through facebook I stay connected with some folks I meet while traveling. I’d met Sara 5 years ago on a sailing trip around Sri Lanka. Since then we’ve been watching each other’s travel journey through social media. She saw via FB I was in Edinburgh and invited me for brunch, We had a great time catching up in her home town. I LOVE when that happens!

So. That’s what I did in Edinburgh. There is a LOT more to do. I didn’t visit any of the museums as that’s a rainy day activity and it never rained on me.

Next I boarded a flight for Dublin. That post is next.

https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-GYEFRT079J

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
gtag(‘js’, new Date());

gtag(‘config’, ‘G-GYEFRT079J’);