Edinburgh, Scotland - Feb 16 through Feb 18, 2008

For our first trip of 2008, Annie and I headed north to Edinburgh, Scotland. We took the train from London, which was about a five hour trip. While it was long, it was relaxing and there was some beautiful scenery especially on the Scottish side of the border.

3+

1. While Edinburgh Castle gets most of the press, Arthur's Seat was by far our favorite site in Edinburgh. Arthur's Seat is an extinct volcano in Holyrood Park, at the opposite end of the Royal Mile as Edinburgh Castle. We took the long (and steep) route around the Salisbury Crags to the top of Arthur's Seat. Although it was a tiring walk, it was well worth it. Thankfully, it was a bright, clear and sunny day, which allowed us beautiful views of the city, the water and the Highlands in the distance. If you have only one day in Edinburgh and you are reasonably fit, I'd highly recommend going to Arthur's Seat. (There are easier routes than the one we took, we just chose the first path we saw.)





Arthur's Seat


On top of Arthur's Seat


2. Calton Hill was another one of our favorite spots in Edinburgh. There are several interesting (and some unfinished) monuments on the hill and it provides panoramic views of the city. Wandering to the hill and around it was a great way to spend our last morning in Edinburgh.




Calton Hill and Scottish Parliament



3. There are lots of great cafes and restaurants in Edinburgh. We spent most afternoons enjoying a cup of coffee in the cafes and enjoyed several good meals. Some restaurants and cafes we enjoyed were: Le Sept, Chocolate Soup, Always Sunday, Barioja, David Bann and Henderson's Bistro. Just make sure you have reservations for dinner! (See number one of the three minus list.)

3-

1. If you are in Edinburgh on a Saturday night make sure to have dinner reservations before you go out for dinner. The phrase "Do you have a reservation?" became very familiar to us as we strolled the streets of Edinburgh looking for somewhere to eat. We were rejected by several places (including 3 different Mexican restaurants!) before we gave up and had dinner at one of the many Pizza Huts. And even that was crowded!



2. The streets of of the Old Town are extremely slippery when wet. We saw one poor girl totally wipe out.



3. As you can tell from our number two reason, we are really grasping at straws to find flaws with a city that didn't really have any. For the amount of time that we spent there we could only come up with one reasonable minus (number one). Overall, it is a great city for a weekend trip.

Overall Grade: A