4 Days in Edinburgh Scotland

Day 1- 23rd February 2022

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I landed in Edinburgh Scotland at 3pm from London Heathrow airport. It was so nice to travel on a plane again after so long. Prior to the pandemic, I was taking at least 4 overseas trips every year. Nothing can ever replace that rush of happiness I feel when bursting through the arrival doors of an airport with my suitcase. It’s the excitement of knowing you’re about to experience something new.

I took an express bus from the airport to the city centre. By the time I checked into Code hostel it was 4pm. I spent 45 minutes unpacking and freshening up before heading out for an early dinner at 5pm. The weather was soooo bad today! like torrential rain that did not stop. I went to Mussel Inn for dinner and decided to try grilled oysters for the first time. Ewwwww! that is the only thing I can say at this point. I am the ultimate seafood lover…but oysters seem to be the only seafood item I have ever disliked. But at least I got to eat some mussels too (my favourite)

Day 2- 24th February 2022

I woke up very early today and left the hostel at 8am and it was snowing! My first stop was an organic shop to buy some honey. In Scotland, it’s easier to find unprocessed pure honey that has come from a local farm. Then I wondered around the souvenir shops on the royal mile until cafe’s/restaurants started to open at 10am. For breakfast I went to Deacon’s House Cafe and ordered some porridge and green tea. The staff were so nice and let me in early before opening because it was snowing so heavily.

My next stop was Edinburgh Castle. I decided not to go in because…I literally just didn’t feel like it. I’ve been to so many castles in Europe that they just don’t really appeal to me anymore. Sometimes I plan to visit places, and then just don’t feel like it when I actually reach the destination. The snow had calmed down at this point but my hands were numb. So, I decided to go and try a hot toddy for the first time.

Then I went to the National Museum of Scotland which is where the top left photo was taken. This place is free but also amazing! there are like 4 or 5 different floors full of different types of exhibits. I went for an early dinner again at 5pm because I knew that I had to get up early for a tour the following day. So I wanted my food to have more time to digest before sleeping. Anyway, the three dishes above were all starter pots. I decided to get 3 of them instead of a main course. I ordered cullen skink, stovies, and haggis. After this, I tried a smoked whisky hot chocolate and a shot of Drambuie whisky. The Drambuie was very nice and tasted like sweet herbs. By the time I left it was around 7.30pm so I went back to my hostel and took a long hot shower before relaxing.

Day 3- 25th February 2022

I had to get up very early at 6.30am for a tour of the highlands. I did a highlands tour last summer on my trip to Glasgow. But this one included a different route with different locations. Our tour guide dropped us off for 30 minutes to get breakfast in a town named Pitlochry. I had a bacon butty at Cafe Calluna Then we drove up to the mountains and stopped off at a forest in Cairngorms National Park. This is where the middle picture of me was taken. The third picture shows Loch Ness which is where we stopped off for lunch. I tried a tablet flavoured icecream and it was very tasty!

Day 4- 26th February

After getting up early for 3 days in a row, today was the perfect opportunity for me to be lazy. I did not set an alarm and decided to stay in bed until 9am. I am generally an early riser even on weekends, so 9am is quite late for me. Check out was at 11am so I had a long shower and spent some time packing. My first stop was to the Harry Potter shop, which can be seen in the top 2 pics above. I bought some “butter beer” from here, which I intend to drink whilst watching Harry Potter this autumn. The shop was honestly so cool! it was full of magical/herbal books, crystals, and Harry Potter related merchandise (wands, scarves etc.)

After this, I went back to Deacon’s House Cafe and had a smoked salmon bagel for lunch. I think my gluten sensitivity is improving because I never had any symptoms after risking it with that bread. Then I went to the Scottish National Gallery which was free. This was an interesting art gallery because of the way they have positioned the photos creatively on the wall. The rooms were also shaped like hexagons meaning you had to walk around in a circle. My final stop before the airport was Calton Hill which was VERY windy. I didn’t stay too long because I could literally feel the wind attempting to blow the pores off my skin. *shivers*

Want to see more of my Scotland travels? Then click here to check out my trip to Glasgow.