One day in Edinburgh

After a lot a VERY long day of traveling from the US to Edinburgh via London (check out the post about that here) I woke up thinking my travel buddy would be joining me. Instead, I receive a message that Erin’s first plane was delayed, so she missed her connection and wouldn’t be arriving until 5:20pm 😔 so I decided make the most of it, and have an incredible day in Edinburgh. Here are my tips on what to do with one day in Edinburgh.

Free walking tour

I think a walking tour is a great way to start a visit to any city- get an idea of the history of the city, some stories, and usually some great recommendations. So that’s just what I did. And just walking to the tour meeting spot had me walking around the back of the Edinburgh castle for some glorious views.

The free walking tour started on the “royal mile”. We started walking down the royal mile, passing the side streets called “close”, streets that lead off the main street. From these you can really tell the history of the city, which was built up rather than out. 

St Giles Cathedral

St Giles cathedral is located right on the royal mile, and dates back as early as the 14th century.

Inside, they have carvings of angels playing bagpipes and some beautiful stained glass windows.

There is also a special chapel for the Order of the Thistle- a special chivalry for Scotland that was started by King James in 1687 and whose membership include members of the royal family (which I also learned about when I visited Holyrood Palace later in the day). 

Near the cathedral is the spitting stone, which is supposed to bring good luck. Additionally the town market was where the term ”ear-marked” came from this- thief’s were punished by having their ears nailed to the stone, and they had to stand there all day.

Authors of Edinburgh

A suggested place to visit is the Writers Museum, located just off the Royal Mile in an adorable courtyard.

The writers museum celebrates three Scottish writers- Robert Louis, Robert Burns and Walter Scott.  

Speaking of Walter Scott- the Sir Walter Scott memorial is a tribute to the author of Ivanhoe and Rob Roy. It has 287 steps to the top. Unfortunately, he died the day before the monument opened. 

And another famous Scottish author- JK Rowling! We walked to the West Bow and Victoria Street, the inspiration for Diagon Alley.

There you can see the the former brush store which sold brooms- perhaps the inspiration for Olivanders? I also liked the former joke shop, with its nose and glasses above the door. 

Grassmarket

The tour continued through the Grassmarket, an lovely area with markets on the weekend, and the supposed oldest bar in Edinburgh- the White Hart Inn. 

Greyfriars Kirkyard

Soeaking of the author, J.K. Rowling used to frequent a few coffee shops in this area as she was writing Harry Potter, and she clearly found inspiration from the nearby Greyfriars Kirkyard, a cemetery where you can find the graves of William McGonagall (professor McGonagall anyone??) and of course- Tom Riddle.

This cemetery was so charming- with its walls being the back of these flats- and eerie (check out these cages over the graves to keep out body snatchers!).

Make sure to check out the statue dedicated to Bobby, a loyal dog who was so devoted to his owner that he continued to lay at his grave for years after he died. Bobby is memorialized with not one but TWO statues in his honor.

Exploring more by foot

Did I mention that I walked 13 miles during my one day in Edinburgh? Let’s continue…

My tour ended in the cemetery, but the guide gave me lots of ideas for how to spend the rest of the day- starting with a vegan haggis wrap. Everyone says haggis is the National dish of Scotland, and since I don’t eat meat I thought this was a good way to try it. It was- interesting. Maybe too mushy for me. 

National Museum of Scotland

I visited the National Museum of Scotland. It offers free entry and is open every day from 10-5. They have a little bit of everything. Animals, fashion, and historical items from Scotland, including Mary Queen of Scots book of hours- a prayer book that she wrote in. Scroll through the pictures below to see some of the options at the National Museum of Scotland.

They also have an area called “Explore” where they have impactful items of more recent years, including Dolly- the first animal to be cloned. It was a pretty cool museum to spend some time in. There are 6 levels of exhibits- and you can even access the roof for great views! 

Museum of Edinburgh

I also visited, on my tour guides suggestion, the Museum of Edinburgh. It’s another free museum, and I bet you can guess what it features. That’s right- information about Edinburgh. I learned a lot of information about the city, much that I had already learned during my walking tour, so I would recommend it if you don’t do a walking tour. In the museum I especially liked the model of the ancient rickshaw.

Holyrood Palace

After visiting the museums, I continued down the royal mile, walked to Holyrood Palace, the royal palace of Queen Elizabeth when she visits Scotland.

This palace was also inhabited at times by Queen Victoria and before that by Mary, Queen of Scots. There are so many rooms to explore with so much history- and included in the £18 ticket is an audio guide which was very informative, and even included audio given by Prince Charles and princess Ann.

The palace is 87k square feet and has 289 rooms. The queen, when she is here one week a year, stays on the second floor, where visitors can’t visit. However, here were some of my favorite rooms: 

Visitors also get to see the Abbey located behind the palace (but closed to visitors while they do some repairs) and walk the grounds, which are well-manicured.

Calton Hill

After I walked to Calton Hill for great views of the city and also to see Scotlands National monument (inspired by the Parthenon in Athens). This monument was intended to honor the fallen Scottish soldiers of WW2, but was never finished.

Also up on Calton Hill is Nelson’s monument, modeled after an upside-down telescope. This monument commemorates admiral lord Nelson, who died during the Battle of Travalgar versus Napoleon.

The city conservatory is also located here, designed to look like a Greek temple.

And finally a monument for Dugald Stewart, a Scottish philosopher, looking out over the city.  

Princes Garden Park

That’s about when I got caught in a rain storm and had to duck into a pub for a pint. 
After the rainstorm, I got a message from Erin saying that she was taking the tram so I decided to head back to the hotel. But on the way back I decided to walk through Princes Garden Park. It has beautiful with a tribute to World War II soldiers for the Polish soldiers.

And of course great views of the park.

I also walked through the  grounds and cemetery of St Cuthbert and wish I could’ve seen the inside because this is the cathedral where Agatha Christie got married and features some pretty Tiffany glass. Next time! I also got some gorgeous pictures of it from my walk home later that evening.

Dean village

Erin arrived and after cleaning up we decided to head out. We went to see a part of Edinburgh called Dean Village which was SOO charming. Especially the stream running by the buildings. 

After that we started walking towards dinner but found ourselves headed back towards Old Town and since it was her first evening I decided that would be a great place for dinner. I had a scotch old-fashioned and yummy current curry dinner. When we left the restaurant it was 1030 but it didn’t look like it outside the sky was still pretty light because we are so far north. So once again we were awarded beautiful views of the castle with the moon in the background. 

There you have one day in Edinburgh. I hope you enjoyed, and got some good ideas for how to spend time in Edinburgh. Check out some other posts about Scotland if you need more tips, want to read about my adventures or see pictures. Catch you soon!

-Catching Katie