We stayed at Nicolson Apartments which were ideally located, just a ten minute walk from The Royal Mile. It was the perfect base and delightfully Scottish, with just the right amount of tweed.
Our first port of call was obviously to get some tartan of our own so that we blended in with the locals, not ready for the full on kilt we each opted for one of these beautiful lambs wool scarfs.
Scarves on, quick selfie in the obscura mirrors before some real exploring...
We arrived Thursday evening and spent 4 nights there, heading back to London Monday afternoon, 96, 288 steps later. we definitely walked the city a few times over.
A few highlights I would recommend if you're ever there:
Stroll to Deans Village
Walking Tour
A free walking tour departs every day from 1pm outside the Starbucks on The Royal Mile-if you're into history then this is a must. The idea is that if you enjoy the tour then you tip the guy what you would have paid for a ticket at the end (usually £5-£10).
Spoiler alert....the two main facts of the day:
-when one refers to 'getting shit faced' it quite literally refers to how men walking home drunk from a night out would end up with toilet waste on their face as they weren't quick enough (due to their drunkenness) to get out of the way when it was thrown from the windows above.
-the national animal of Scotland is the Unicorn...who knew?! Here just off The Royal Mile, they have one perched on top of this monument, waiving the Scottish flag.
Taste Some Whiskies
Walk up Arthurs Seat
Arthurs Seat is a dormant volcano with the most beautiful views over the city. We were really lucky with the weather which made it all the better.
Harry Potter Walking Tour
Diagon Alley anyone...?
Many of you will have heard of The Elephant House and how J K Rowling wrote some of the Harry Potter books in there. Most people think that the first book was written there but it actually didn't open until the first book was being published. There was another cafe where she did write some of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, it isn't there anymore but there is another cafe in it's place called Spoon. We didn't make it there but we heard that brunch was worth visiting for. Beneath Spoon is this coffee house, which is actually owned by J K Rowling's brother in law (who owned the original place that Spoon has now replaced), I can recommend the coffee and bagels here, and if you get a window seat, just watch the world go by.
Lunch at Lovecrumbs
I found out about this place on Pinterest (obvs) and it lived up to my expectations. The place is quite small so you would be lucky to get a seat and may need to share a table...or you could sit at this delightful piano.
The menu is quite limited but the two dishes we opted for were so good, they obviously do what they do well.
Due to my giving coffee up for lent I opted for a tea with my cake (not as photogenic as coffee unfortunately). The cakes are to die for, and tasted as good as they looked.
For Cocktails
I would recommend
and/or
You would be best to book a table in either.
For Dinner
The best meal we had was at Contini...
It's an Italian with tapas like starter dishes, unfortunately I was enjoying my food just way too much to take pictures and so all I have is the above picture of their stunning ceiling. I would however recommend both the Contadino and the Agnolotti. For main I got Chicken Milanese, which was ok but not amazing. I think if I went again I would get one of the starter dishes as a main.
Hope you find some of my tips useful, I would have to add that you need to take clothes for all weather and if it rains don't let that stop you...Edinburgh is still stunning beneath grey skies.
xx
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