Exploring Edinburgh
By NomadicMatt | Published: June 11, 2009
I’ve always heard good things about the city of Edinburgh and I have to say that it fully lives up to its reputation. I’m here to celebrate my birthday tomorrow and I couldn’t have picked a better place to do it. I really love cities with a medieval feel- cities with cobblestone streets, Gothic architecture, tiny windy alleys- Edinburgh has all of that.
The city is beautiful. The old city, where the castle and museums are located, is everything you could ever want. There is Gothic architecture all over the place, ancient cathedrals, a great garden, small, windy streets, and historic buildings. All of this is surrounding the castle that is perched high upon the hill, where you can find great views of the old city and the modern area that surrounds it.
Today, I walked around the city. Though I hate to use the world, the city is very charming. In many ways, it feels like Bruges- medieval, well preserved, peaceful, scenic, romantic. Besides being a great city for young people, Edinburgh seems like one of those places to have a romantic holiday. You come here with your significant other, spend some time in an Edinburgh bed and breakfast, explore the city, and fall in love all over again. Well, I didn’t do any of that but I did fall in love with the city.
I took the free walking tour around the city today. It lasts three hours and walks you around the old city with the guide pointing out the major sites and giving you some of the history of the area. One of my favorite things about European travel is that in every city around Europe, you’ll find a free walking tour. Sure, the stories they tell are cheesy but I find that the tours are a great way to orient yourself to a new city. You can learn a little bit about the city, get your bearings, and find out the major sites to see. Tomorrow, I’ll head to the Edinburgh castle and some of the other sites on a tour to better acquaint myself with them.
One thing I did do today was visit the National Museum of Scotland. All the museums in the city are free and I plan on seeing more but today, it was time to learn more about the history Scotland. Rising six floors, the museum covers the history of Scotland from the ice age until now. You’ll be able to learn the geological, political, social, and economic history of the land. I found the museum did a good job of explaining the history. They cover a lot of ground and they do it well. There’s interactive videos and artifacts are really well explained. My only beef with the place was that the museum wasn’t laid out well. They design each floor to deal with a certain period of time and, while the order of the floors is good, the individual floors are not. Most are thematically designed not chronological. While this lets you see each aspect of Scottish life in detail, it makes seeing the transition from one age or century to the next a little hard. It takes a bit of work to find out where the floor begins chronologically and where it ends.
For you backpackers out there, I recommend Castle Rock Hostel. It’s pretty cheap and they run a lot of activities where you can socialize and meet other people. There is a big common area and the hostel is located right across from the castle giving you an amazing view. I’ve had a lot of fun here the last few days and am really happy with the chose. The beds are comfortable and it’s great to have hot water. I know that doesn’t seem like a novelty, but I’ve been traveling Asia where hot water is a novelty.
Edinburgh has been a great city. I often hate going to hyped up locations because I usually am disappointed. Not this time. Edinburgh lives up to the hype. I haven’t even left yet but already, I want to come back. I can’t wait to spend the next 3 days exploring the city more, visiting the castle, Rosslyn chapel, and getting lost in the city’s windy, narrow streets.
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Oh, we loved Edinburgh too! And since we were there during the Military Tattoo, seeing those perfectionists performance we were totally amazed and in love with this city. Of course, we love most of Scotland…..
I was meaning to wait to congratulate you on your birthday, but here it is, a couple of hours to early:
Congratulations x millions. May you birthday be filled with lots of great beers (or whisky!) in some great pubs and filled with laughter!
Have a top stay!
Cheers!
Glad you are enjoying Edinburgh.
As well as the castle one of my major memories from visiting Edinburgh as a kid was the Scots Monument (had to look the name up). I remember being allowed to make the climb on my own (not sure how old I was, but not that old), Thought it was a really cool structure. Remember it seemed to be really tall (but then again I was only small myself), so maybe it’s not actually that tall.
Hope the rest of your trip goes well and Happy Birthday
If you’ve got the time I recommend taking a walk up Arthur’s Seat, you’ll get excellent views of the city and surrounds from the top.
Sadly, I didn’t make it up there! But the castle had some good views!
Oh, and for something different, a walk along the Water of Leith through Dean Village. When I lived in Edinburgh I loved taking that route as it made me feel like I was no longer in the city. http://www.waterofleith.org.uk/walkway/
Some great sights mentioned here and especially like Dan’s points about trying something different. It’s always good to get off the beaten track.
We recommend getting onto the Homecoming Scotland website to read about the events that are running in Edinburgh (and throughout Scotland) over the rest of the year. You can find out about some of these on our Edinburgh Holiday Lets blog http://www.edinburghholidaylets.co.uk/blog/ as well as the main website: http://www.homecomingscotland2009.com/
Never been to Edinburgh, so I really appreciate the honest and positive review!
ur welcome
Edinburgh also one of my favorites – they have a great mix of nightlife options and a crazy New Year’s celebration too (Hogmanay). If you like the medieval feel, a daytrip to Stirling Castle might be up your alley. It’s a fairly quick train ride from Edinburgh.
The nightlife was really good though it seemed like a city where you really needed to know the good places to get the best out of it.
I’m having my birthday there too on September 9th. 9|9|09 and a holiday in UK, I’m from Australia
Haven’t been there yet, thanks for the information. I will check out the Edinburgh Bed and Breakfast since we will be traveling as a couple. Your photos make me want to go there. I love grand old buildings.
Happy Belated birthday Matt
You know, the way you descriptively narrated you’re experienced in Edinburgh makes me feel I am there too. Imagining the places you have had visited somehow makes me wanting to go and visit the place like the castles and the gothic structures there.
I’m really glad you liked Edinburgh! I’ve lived there the last few years finishing college, and using it as a base to hop around Europe. I love the old town, and medievil architecture & cobbeled streets. Edinburgh is a great night out and I feel a really strong affinity with the city. If you come back head up Arthurs Seat or Calton Hill for stunning views. Also the brass monkey pub just off South Bridge is cool place to be for a night out.
It’s not often that I feel sad to leave a place, but I will miss Edinburgh when I depart for my next trip.