Edinburgh: A Travel Guide
Jan 29, 2020
In the spring of 2019, Tom and I traveled to the United Kingdom.
One of our stops Edinburgh.
And I say this about a lot of European cities, but to visit Edinburgh is to literally walk through the streets of a fairy tale.
You know you are in a magical location when your point of reference is the castle.
Here is a summary of our time there. If you find yourself making plans to visit Scotland’s beautiful capital, I recommend the following.
DAY 1:
Disclaimer - the event mentioned below is in reference to my day job as a Group Tour Specialist for Witte Travel. Part of the reason for our UK adventure was for me to “work”.
Upon arrival (from Glasgow by train), our first sight was the castle. Immediately we felt as if we had traveled into the setting of a fairy tale. Our first stop was Mansfield Traquair where we had a tasting for a welcome dinner for one of my groups. The food was delicious (so was the wine) and the space was stunning. Tom helped me pick out menu items and select up-lighting. We felt like we were planning our wedding all over again! (Except – with our actual wedding I gave him no “say” in any of the decisions. He still complains about this).
Next, we took an Uber to The Lane Boutique Hotel. Although it wasn’t in the city-center, we loved that we felt as if we were in a more local part of town. Also, the hotel was connected to a hole-in-the-wall pub which was run by the owner.
A black and white version of our hotel room
When we arrived at the hotel, we followed instructions posted on the door and found James, the head-bartender/hotel manager and he carried our bags up to our rooms and gave us a history on the building and the pub. The rooms were gorgeous. The ceilings were unbelievably high, and the bathroom was huge. The design was very sleek and modern, and I told Tom – if I were to design a hotel (or another house) – this is what it would look like.
After unpacking we made our way next door to the pub (the Canny Mans) where we were provided with a complementary drink. As we enjoyed our drinks we were entertained by further history lessons from James behind the bar and banter from elderly locals complaining about Brexit. There were also a few references to a certain U.S. president, but I swear as an American, this topic can’t be avoided no matter where you go. We loved the experience. We truly felt like locals!
At the bar at Canny Man’s
Sampled beers while on our walking tour
This evening we had dinner at Cold Town Beer, a recommendation of our guide from this afternoon. It is an eclectic, energizing pizza restaurant. The pizza was delicious (we were super hungry) and I had an amazing drink that as our waiter very accurately described: “literally tastes like blueberry cheesecake ice cream.”
DAY 2:
Breakfast wasn’t included at our hotel, and we were pressed for time, so I think we just snacked this morning on mini Lara Bars.
Today we went on a walking tour of the Royal Mile with Mercat Tours. Although it didn’t quite live up to our walking tour yesterday (probably because beer wasn’t involved ), it was a very informative and interesting tour. It lasted a couple of hours and ended at Edinburgh castle where we got fast-tracked inside. Once we got into the castle, the guide talked a little more and then we were on our own. Tom and I visited a couple of the exhibits before going on our way.
Edinburgh Castle
With Greyfriars Bobby
For lunch, we found an adorable French café nearby the church that I immediately became obsessed with. The Maison Bleue, was eclectic and modern, yet cozy and comforting. Lots of stylish charm!
This afternoon we went to the Scotch Whisky Experience and did the Silver Tour. For someone who (before this trip) was completely clueless as to how Whisky was made, this was a very informative and well-presented tour. The sample at the end was, of course, an added bonus.
Experiencing Scottish Whisky
For dinner, we went to a local grocery store by our hotel and bough bread and cheese and munched while we watched British reality TV.
DAY 3:
We had breakfast at a café near our hotel before walking to Edinburgh Waverly train station. Here we picked up our rental car for the day.
Don’t worry, Tom drove.
It went well – he was anxious the whole time – but it was so cool experiencing the beautiful countryside this way!
We drove to the small town of St Andrews (and only got lost once) where we visited the British Golf museum, had lunch at the café overlooking the course, and had a walking tour of the old course. This was Tom’s dream-come-true. Our guide was a little old man who clearly led these tours simply out of shear enjoyment and passion for the game.
Looking at the town from the course
The highlight of the tour (for Tom at least) was getting to stand on the iconic stone footbridge (the Swilcan Bridge) which is apparently an icon of the course and the championships played there.
On the Swilcan Bridge
After our visit we drove back to Edinburgh and returned the car. On our walk back to the hotel we stopped at Montpeliers Bar for a delicious plate of Fish and Chips.
