mstravelicious: November 2016

What to do in Edinburgh

Europe 11:21 AM

It's been some time since I blogged about my UK adventure in October. Heading north of UK, I travel north towards Scotland. First stop: Edinburgh.

I was only in the Old Town area of Edinburgh during my stay, but I must say it is a beautiful city. The Old Town surrounds the castle, and literally anywhere you go you would see the Edinburgh Castle. It's just stunning. Getting the full experience, I literally WALKED everywhere in Edinburgh. And here's a snapshot of what I did:

1. Holyrood Park & Arthur's Seat
Did you know, there was once an active volcano in Edinburgh?! I didn't know until I returned from my trip to Edinburgh. But apparently, after doing some research, the highest point of the Holyrood Park, also known as the Arthur's Seat, is what was remained from the once live volcano!! It is inactive now, so it's a great nice hike to the top to see all of Edinburgh!

So started from the bottom of Holyrood Park...

...my friends and I slowly hiked up this trail, following the path religiously. The trail was doable to start...

... but as we continued to climb, it got more steep. And I stopped taking pictures of the path, as I held on my dear life, taking pictures at every view point instead.

After an hour or so, I finally made it to a soft landing before the final hike to Arthur's Seat!

The hike up to Arthur's Seat was the most dangerous, I found. The path is covered with the red-orange rocks which tends to roll as you step on them. To make it so much more adventurous, the path to the top is at the edge of the cliff! It was a daunting hike! But I made it to the top! And it was just stunning!

And according to other hikers at the top of Arthur's Seat, many landmarks in Scotland have bearing points to indicate hikers made it to the top!

So great I climb up this inactive volcano to see the beauty of Edinburgh.

2. Palace of the Holyroodhouse

After a nice three hour hike, I made my way to the Palace of the Holyroodhouse, which is literally few minutes away to the Holyrood Park. This Palace is where the Queen stays whenever she is in Scotland!

While the size of this palace is comparatively smaller than the Buckingham Palace, it is still massive with three floors!

Visitors aren't allowed to take pictures inside, but learning about the history of Scotland and how this palace was used was intriguing!

And before we head to the backyard of this grand palace, we made our way to the remains of this abbey.

And then, there was the huge backyard that fits more than 8,000 people! With the Arthur's Seat in a close distance!

3. Scottish Parliament Building

Leaving the palace, we head our way to the Royal Mile to do a bit of shopping. But on our way, we saw this intriguing building! Looking at the stores that sell souvenirs, we realized it was the Scottish Parliament Building. In my opinion, it was kind of out of place compare to the rest of the buildings in Edinburgh. The castle look-and-feel to it wasn't even visible. This was a modern contemporary building for sure! I am super curious as to why the Scottish Parliament Building was built this way... super curious.

4. The Royal Mile

Fact: the Royal Mile is actually not a mile long, but a mile and a wee bit - quoting from a Scottish person. It is fill with shops and restaurants, and it's hustling and bustling with visitors and locals! It's pretty much the best place to hang out at during day or night!

Attractions along this Royal Mile include various cashmere scarf shops...

St. Giles Cathedral...

And at the end of this Royal Mile: the Edinburgh Castle.

5. Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle situates at the centre of Old Town Edinburgh surrounded by a massive garden called the Prince Street Garden! I bet it's a nice place to hang out on a warm summer's day. But when I went to Edinburgh, it was already quite cold, so instead, my friends and I made our way to the Edinburgh Castle and viewed the Prince Street Garden from above.

Things to look for in the Edinburgh Castle include (1) the One O'clock Cannon that fires at 1 o'clock everyday - the most creative name for any cannon :P

The biggest cannon in Edinburgh - Mons Meg! And the size of the cannon balls just beside this big cannon!

St Margaret Chapel, possibly the smallest chapel in UK that fits about 20 people

The prisoner's cell / dungeon during various wars in Scotland and UK

And the grand courtyard where you can find the Scottish Jewelry, the Memorial Hall and the Great Dining Hall!

6. Streets of Old Town Edinburgh
The streets of Old Town Edinburgh is also an attraction of its own, with very medieval looking buildings in the 21st century! Here are some of my favorites:

Prince Street: where you can see the famous department store in Edinburgh: Jenner's and the Scott Monument.

Victoria Street: full of colourful store fronts and amazing restaurants!

Grassmarket: definitely a great place to hang out on Thursdays and Friday evening! And who can say no to this stunning looking medieval/magical building, like those in fantasy movies!