Jeremy and I wanted to give you all our Itinerary for our trip to Scotland. It has a mix of History, Scenery, Food, Luxury, and all things Scotland...We hope it gives you inspiration!
Day 1:
So...
We arrive in Edinburgh by landing in EDI and it was a great trip. We used United Airlines and got window seats and I was THRILLED. We landed and all I could think about was "I'm really here." It didn't seem real! We made our way out to the bus to be taken to our hotel, and I was so excited because...it was a DOUBLE DECKER! I was instantly in Harry Potter world and I was ready to take on this adventure with my husband.
We stayed at the Cairn Hotel (Address: 10-18 Windsor street,Edinburgh,Scotland EH7 5JR, united kingdom) in basically the city center. It was a very mellow hotel with friendly staff and a very clean and quaint room. We opted for a queen sized bed and a decent view of a tiny little courtyard. Our street was very pretty and very, very quiet. Another great thing was that it was only about a mile to Princes Street and the Royal Mile...and that is where a lot of Historical monuments are, tour meet up spots, great food, and awesome street performers. We were very lucky to be so close.
Side note: we didn't realize how close Waverley Station was to use the trains and we used a cab (which was an awesome experience, please try one because it's a lot different than American Cabs) ...but keep in mind that Waverley Station is only about 1.5 miles from the Cairn Hotel...we would have taken more advantage of that had we known earlier.
We had originally planned on taking a free Harry Potter tour through the city when we arrived, but our plane was delayed a couple hours and we were STARVING. We had a paid Harry Potter tour later that week, so we decided to just find somewhere to eat, have a drink and just explore for our first day in Edinburgh...and I was very thankful for that. I was excited and tired, and not having a plan was nice for the first day.
We dropped off our luggage and found a cool little pub near the hotel called The Newsroom. I got my first REAL fish and chips, and it was literally the BEST fish and chips I've ever, or will ever, have. Also...if you aren't into beer (i hate beer...i like ciders) please try their ciders over there. My first one was at the news room and it was called Old Mout, but there are a few others like: Kopperberg and Thistly Cross...all delicious.
Our bartender was awesome and sweet and totally helped me pick a cider I would like, and because we were the only ones in there at the time, she helped Jeremy try and pick a Scotch out of the endless bottles! She was great and I would visit this pub again in a heart beat. While we were eating and drinking, another patron came in. His name was Tom and he was a local. We got to talking and he even bought us a round at the bar! I was so thrilled to have made a new friend and have our first experiences in a new country all be positive! We had dinner just outside of Edinburgh at a place called The Kings Wark with our brother in laws parents. They were so fantastic, and the restaurant was delicious! After all that, we just explored the city, drank at more pubs, took tons of photos, and soaked in the beauty around us.
DAY2:
The next day was a busy one. We only had a week in Scotland and I wanted to see as much as I could in that time. So...we booked a tour of the Royal Mile with a company called Mercat Tours. They do dozens of different types of tours, and our first one with them was up the Royal Mile and into Edinburgh Castle. We had a crazy start to that morning...they wanted us to meet them at Mercat Cross near St Giles in the middle of the Royal Mile. Okay, easy enough, right? Wrong. We walked up and down the Royal Mile for about 45 minutes (that GOODNESS we are early risers and wanted time to get coffee before the tour) and we couldn't find it! Eventually we asked for some help from a friendly shop worker and she discovered that "mercat cross" just means the "market cross" or "market center"...we thought we were supposed to look for a building, but it was the old news post in the middle of the street near St Giles...and our tour guides had bright orange umbrellas and everything, haha! We weren't late, and we found them and all was well. This was an amazing, informative, and hilarious tour. Highly recommend using them if you want a guided tour of Edinburgh. The castle was awesome too!
You would think that would be plenty for day 2...but we still had so much more! After our tour, we were starving. So we started walking around and found the most beautiful restaraunt I've ever eaten in. It's very close to Edinburgh Castle, and it's called The Witchery.
O. M. G. This place was MAGNIFICENT. We were dresses in jeans and sweaters and were totally underdressed (at least that's what I thought)...and I thought "there's no way we can afford it"...but Jeremy commented that we could just get a drink and appitizers and move on if it was too expensive. (Also, for lunch you can walk in, dinner is reservation only.) So we checked out he menu, and to my surprise, the lunch menu was affordable! Score! So I had some sort of fancy duck dish and Jeremy had some kind of soup??? It was incredible! We also discovered that many famous people like : Leonardo Dicaprio, Jack Nickolson, and the one and only JK ROWLING eat there when they are in town!!! What!?!?! Also, the Maître d' told me that we were even sitting at her favorite table! I thought I had died for a moment...Also, for some history: The Witchery was originally the site where they held accused witched before execution. Currently, they have the restaurant, a secret garden, and it is a luxury boutique hotel.
Our bellies were full...and only about 1pm. We had the rest of the day for adventuring and I had two tickets to Linlithgow Castle ready, so we went searching for the train station because it's about a 30 min ride to Linlithgow from Edinburgh. We didn't have internet so we couldn't google map it (and even though I printed maps and directions, it was very mysterious). So instead of taking all day for that, we decided to get a taxi.
Our driver asked us several times if we wanted to go that far, and I was getting nervous because I thought it was going to be crazy expenseive...no...I was looking at a clock and I'm ditzy. It was roughly 30 pounds for a 30 minute ride and he even showed us where the train station was so we could use it the rest of our trip. The cab was awesome and had seats that folded down and you could sit backward and also stuff about 10 people back there! Our driver was very nice and gave us plenty of tips for the city! We got to Linlithgow Castle in great time too!
Linlithgow Castle was a self guided tour. There were plenty of plaques, signs, pamphlets, ect to educate you as you walked through the ruins of a once grand and elegant estate. We walked up and down spiral staircases, looked out over vast meadows, strolled through the abbey...I felt lost in time. We rode the train back to the city center, grabbed a light dinner, and headed back to the hotel for some r&r for the rest of the evening.
Day 3:
Today is the day I've been waiting for since I was about 10 years old and discovered my insane obsession with the UK. This is the day I finally see the HIGHLANDS!!!! We used the Hairy Coo Ness Bus Tours. Our driver's name was Mark and he was the best tour guide we've ever had. Informative, hilarious, entertaining, lively, friendly, organized, and surprising. We met at Deacon House Cafe and got coffee before boarding our tour bus. This was one of my most memorable experiences on any trip we've taken. We spent time in the Highlands gazing at the Three Sisters. I got extremely emotional and didn't want to ever leave.
We saw the WW2 monument, the GIGANTIC Kelpies sculpture, spent time in Fort Augustus, took a freakin' yacht ride on LOCH NESS, and even did a Distillery Tour at Deanston Distillery near Sterling. I have little words to describe the vast, deep, dark waters of Lock Ness and how big it really is. The scenery was epic, and all the food and drink throughout the day hit the spot every time.
Day 4:
We were supposed to see the National Museum of Scotland in the morning, but we were wiped from the day before. We left the hotel at about 9am, explored, at lunch at The Whiski Room on the Royal Mile (they made me a BLT and it was AMAZING!), and then we did a Harry Potter Tour! The tour we took was with See Your City. Our guide's name was Monique, and she was great. We did Potter Trivia ( I won), A wizards duel (I won), and even got sorted into "houses"! Super cute. We saw the Elephant Cafe (JK Rowling wrote the Sorcerer's Stone there), a cemetery where she got character names from, her hand prints in the concrete sidewalk, and even Victoria's Street (the inspiration for Diagon Alley!)...it was pretty awesome.
We had scheduled a "dark side of Scotland" tour later that night...but the tour guide was pretty boring so we bailed half way through and went to a rock and roll bar called Black Bull Tavern, ate some dinner, and then went back to the hotel. Great day, great drinks.
Day 5:
We started day 5 with another tour. Again, we used Mercat Tours, and I am so grateful we kept choosing this company. This tour was for the opposite end of the Royal Mile. We saw David Ruccios grave, many gardens, John Knox's home, and so much more. We ended up getting a private tour because no one else showed up! Crazy! We were thrilled though because our guide was amazing. We got to ask her tons of questions and take a little more time at the places we were especially interested in.
This is the day we see Mary Queen of Scots old Palace, and the current Queen of England's Palace in Scotland...Holyrood Palace. Oh man was it beautiful! We saw Mary Stewart's chambers and the spot where poor David Ruccio was murdered. There was so much history and beauty! We walked around the gardens and the Abbey and just took our time.
The day isnt over! We got to do a REAL High Tea! We went to the Colonnades at the Signet Library (for the British Parliment)...and it was amazing. Our brother in law is from Scotland, and his parents still live there. So...before we went on the trip we reached out to see if they would want to hang out with us (it's the same people that we went to the Kings Wark with) and we invited them to have tea with us. I am so glad we did, they are amazing people and we still keep in touch! After tea, they drove us to Arthur's seat for wonderful views of the city! Perfect sunset to end a perfect day in Scotland.
Day 6:
Another day of history awaited us with Rabbie's Group Tours. We met up at Rabbie's Cafe for breakfast and then hopped on a luxury Mercedes coach, headed to Hadrian's Wall (this is the wall that helped the Celts defeat the Roman's in a crazy ancient invasion)! We actually saw some of England: Jedburgh, Northumberland, and the Vindolanda Trust (the Roman museum on the Hadrian's Wall path.) We ate at the Vindolanda Cafe, explored the Roman ruins of their homes, lookouts, Temples, and the indoor museum. There was a lot to learn and our guide was extremely intelligent and full of interesting information. On the way back to Edinburgh, we visited Jedburgh Abbey, an old Queen Elizabeth I bath house, and strolled along a quaint village to shop and grab some coffee! We even saw a sign for Peebles (which is the little village I grew up in, in Ohio which was named after this Scottish village).
Day 7:
We woke up super early, at breakfast in the hotel, and just let the wave of Scotland wash over us as we packed to leave. This experience was incredible. If we ever get to go back the next things on our list are Outlander related!
Isle of Sky
Sterling
Culloden
Craigh na Dun
Glasgow
A day in Edinburgh to see our new Scottish friends again!
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