Scotland Part 1

Hello everyone, I recently went to Scotland and had an amazing time I wanted to share a little bit more about my trip with you all in blog form. I filmed while I was there and have posted the vlogs too! My husband and I started our trip in Edinburgh and we stayed at the Travelodge Edinburgh Central Princes Street. Our room was very clean, the staff was friendly, and it was affordable; win, win, win we all win. The Travelodge was in a great location, it was only a 30 min bus ride from the airport and really convenient to everything we wanted to see in the city. If you are looking for a clean place to stay on a budget I definitely recommend it. We were able to walk everywhere and didn’t use any transportation while in the city although we did get in plenty of miles in everyday. We got in late our first night so we only went out to eat but we went to Jamie’s Italian and it was so good. I am a huge Jamie Oliver fan so it was really exciting to go to one of restaurants for the first time!

Jamie’s Italian!

On our first full day we went to Edinburgh Castle and on the way there we walked up the Royal Mile which is lined with brightly colored gift shops selling all sorts of items made in Scotland. It was also really neat to hear someone playing the bagpipes and you knew you were in Scotland! We toured the castle and I didn’t get to film or photograph a lot of that because you can’t inside the various areas in the castle walls. I loved seeing the coronation stone also known as the stone of destiny. There is a great movie based on a true story called The Stone of Destiny about a group of college students who stole in in the late 1950’s. I highly recommend! We also saw the room where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to King James VI (as in the King James Bible James) which was a tiny little room in the castle. It was quite surreal to see. After that we walked around the grounds of the castle which provides very impressive views. There are  also plenty of benches to take a break or rest on the grass and have a picnic. Staring up at the castle jetting out of the rock was very impressive from below in the gardens. I have visited some castles in France and it was interesting to see how different some of them were compared to Edinburgh Castle. From the view below looking up you felt that Edinburg Castle was more of a place of defense and to keep the royal family safe rather than opulence and abundance. I know it is still a castle but something about it felt very different than the castles I saw in France where Mary Queen of Scots spent some time. After viewing the castle we made our way to Calton Hill as the sun was kinda going down. Sunset was pretty late which was wonderful for making the most of our days. The views from Calton Hill are stunning! 

On day two we were on our way to hike Arthur's Seat. I feel that Arthurs Seat was undersold. There are more trails than the main one that goes to the top of Arthurs Seat. Luke and I were both wishing that we would have known that we could have spent way more time there. If you are wanting more of a hike bring some extra water and some snacks or lunch so that you can stay longer! I packed my LL Bean duck boots because I busted the toe cap on my hiking boots and they have been leaking when I get them wet. Since I wanted to prepare for wet hiking conditions in Scotland I decided to pack my bean boots and honestly, they worked out perfectly. I think they are good to hike in as long as you aren’t scaling mountains but for light hikes and lots of walking they were perfect! I did notice a lot of people wearing tennis shoes and converse though so, as long as the trail isn’t super muddy I think you would be fine. The trail wasn’t too bad either, towards the top of the trail itself gets a wee bit scrambley but it isn’t bad. Also, until you get to the summit it isn’t too crowded. I highly suggest walking down the other side of Arthurs Seat, it opens up and it offers a great view and you can have more space to sit and take it in. On our way back down we took a few other trails to see a few different views. The gorse was also stunning and it smelled so wonderfully of coconut. I am still trying to find lotion, candles, anything gorse scented to buy and reminisce!

Day Three

We decided to not have this day completely planned out and it was so nice. We started by grabbing a pan au chocolate at La Barantine Victoria. It is a wonderful french bakery and then we headed up to the castle before more people got there and we just took in the morning views. Then we just wandered the charming streets for hours. We popped into shops and strolled below the castle and found little gardens that were tucked away. We also found the Writing museum as well as where John Knox was buried under a parking spot. I think one of my favorite things about Edinburgh is that  you can see so much with no agenda. I typically like to have things planned out but if you have an extra day I highly recommend just wandering around Edinburgh. We ended the day back at the castle while the sun was going down, the sunset was gorgeous. 

The next day we were on our way to pick up our rental car from the train station that was really close to the hotel however, we ended up having to take the bus to the airport to get a different rental car. Long story short the car rental place at the train station did not have any automatic cars and the airport did. Something to keep in mind if you can’t drive a stick. My husband has rented a car in Ireland and France and we didn’t think that it would be an issue but they were out. We were both happy that the airport was pretty close and it didn’t put us behind schedule. Also, if you are a little worried about driving on the left it may be better to get it from the airport because you can avoid driving in Edinburgh traffic straight away. We picked up our car and headed to Dunbar which I will write about in part two!

Thanks for reading!