¶ Planning a Trip to Edinburgh
Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast . Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website , tracy Collins . In this podcast , tracy shares destination guides , travel tips and itinerary ideas , as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation .
Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages , from historic castles to beautiful islands , and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns .
Hi and welcome to episode 26 of the UK Travel Planning Podcast . In this week's episode I'm joined by Doug Hello , we decided we would talk a little bit about Edinburgh this week . Well , a lot about Edinburgh , actually , because we're going to start this on Edinburgh this week completely and we realised we've done quite a few podcasts about Scotland .
We've done Far North Scotland with Sally Ann from North Coast Explorers and we've talked about the North Scotland Coast . We've talked about our road trip around Scotland , but what we haven't done is actually specifically focused on Edinburgh . So that's what we thought we would do this week .
Basically , we have got a very useful article on the website which is 20 tips for first time visitors to Edinburgh , so we're going to use that as the basis for this episode . I will go through it , obviously adding some extras based on our trip again this year .
So a little bit background about our kind of relationship , I suppose , with Edinburgh is I've been visiting since I was a child because my mum has a very good friend who lives in Edinburgh , so I used to drive up quite a lot from Northumberland . I used to just about make it before I was sick .
I used to get a car thick because it's not a very long drive and , doug , you've been in Edinburgh about a few times as well .
Yeah , many times . I used to go many times from when I was a young lad , and they're working for the hour as well . I visited so many times over the years and I actually worked in Edinburgh for a little while . So , yeah , we both do it very well .
Yeah , so we thought we would actually specifically , as I say , talk about Edinburgh today and some practical tips really for first time visitors to Edinburgh . I will just start off , actually , by saying just a bit of a dog and eyes actually is that it's pronounced Edinburgh , which I guess you know .
Obviously you know , learn how to pronounce different names from North , but just to say that it's got an H at the end , so it's Edinburgh , it's not Edinburgh , because we quite often see it without the H at the end . So I know that's been an hippie book .
Many many , many times .
We just already mentioned it . It's a good one to put in there so practical things , things to know before you visit . So the first thing I would actually start off with was saying is basically you need to be booking in advance .
So once you've decided when you're going to go to Edinburgh we will talk about that in a minute is really you need to be booking things in advance . So you need to book in your accommodation and tickets and tours and things ahead of time , because Edinburgh can be particularly busy at certain times of the year .
That's right and it's busy all year round to a certain degree , because it's not just visitors overseas , it is a lot of people throughout the UK visit .
Yeah , it is a very popular city , a very popular city with Brits and you know to go over there to go over there to go visit Edinburgh for a weekend away , that sort of thing , so that is a popular place for Brits to go .
And Automation , Sport and Events as well . People visit .
Yeah , that's true , Lots of sport and events and obviously there's been some recent . There's been some quite big names doing some concerts . I know Bruce Springsteen was there recently , in May I think it was . So , yeah , it's a popular city for really everybody to go visit .
It's the capital city of Scotland and it's a very beautiful and ancient city with lots of lots of history . So you really have to think ahead to book things if you're planning to go to Edinburgh .
So I'd say as well , if you're , One thing that we do recommend and I've talked about this in quite a few other podcasts , and that's , I guess , point number two is to kind of , you know , look at actually experiencing Scottish hospitality .
So we I always advocate really , if you go to this outside of London , to look at going to B&Bs , really if you can , or guest houses , Because you get a far more genuine kind of experience . And we always say at the same , guest house in Edinburgh , although your guest house , because we know Murray who runs it .
You know he's Scottish , born and bred from Edinburgh . So there's lots and lots of information .
It does , and it does the most fantastic Scottish breakfast as well .
It does . That's absolutely true . So we found that really good location and really good value for money . It doesn't have parking , but you know if you're arriving by train , which is generally what we do , that's what we find .
And it's also Ryanix . The Edinburgh bus station has the level of vision . It's incredibly helpful .
It is Well if you're planning to do a public transport around Scotland . It's a good place to be , whether you're going by train or by bus , really , so we found that excellent . So the third thing I'm going to mention is something that really you have to consider when you visit in Scotland Any time , any time you ever use to pack for the climate .
So the weather in Edinburgh , as a sort of , can be variable . I remember in May last year when we visited , that we arrived on the Sunday and it was absolutely gorgeous . On China , I actually got a Sun tan . I've got a sunburn , I should say , and the sun tan from it . But Sunbird , oh , where's the next day ?
I've asked photos of me cover head to foot , with my leggings on a raincoat , on my willy hat , on gloves on . It was so cold and it just poured down with rain .
Yeah , it was wet .
Absolutely , so you need to really think about the climate . When your package only is , there's always the thing to do and also , obviously , there's some fantastic shops , so I tend to buy stuff whenever I go to Edinburgh , so you can always buy things when you get there . But really , what you do need to consider as well is comfortable shoes .
Most definitely the . There's so many Cobbles , particularly past the Royal Mile , and off the Royal Mile there's a couple of stones and steps and , you've got to be sure , fulfilled absolutely so .
One thing as well Well , obviously , when you've got your packing , is think about how you're gonna get from . You know how you arrive in Edinburgh to your accommodation , so you know if you're you're gonna be going up and down steps . Maybe you need to think about transfer , but we will talk about that a bit .
So the thing to do , as well as to consider and I did mention earlier when I said about booking head is to Consider when your book and what time of year that you're planning to book , because , like Doug said , edinburgh is a populous city throughout the year , but at particular times of year it is very busy and far more expensive to go .
So you're probably wondering when those times are . So August August is when the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is on . It's when the tattoo is on , so it's incredibly busy in Edinburgh . So if you want to go , then you really need to book well ahead , and the second time if you had to visit would be to consider very carefully . Booking ahead is Hogan money .
Hogan money . Yeah , so that is the new year in Scotland . So if you want to book that , make sure that you do that ahead of time because it does get very , very busy . Also , you didn't think if you're , you know that again the time of year . So if you go in the in the winter months you're gonna get far less daylight , so that's also worth considering .
And it will get darker earlier , will get dark , it will be , you know , light later on the in the morning , so you're gonna have far less time .
I guess if you want to get out and about to explore Good months to go and time when we tend to visit , our kind of May June we weren't visit , we weren't May last year during the shed in me , yeah and then also a good time to go is September and October . They're also pretty good months to do here , even in December .
You know we've been very lucky in the past when it's been a bright , freezing cold , clear day about some beautiful bars out . I was there once when it was there snow in heaven , well , which was beautiful really .
Yeah , yeah , absolutely . Well , we'll be going again this December , so hopefully we'll . We can see it , maybe a bit of leaf , it was a little bit snow so also by a new itinerary in advance . So we have got itinerary suggestions on the website as well as lots of guides about what sort of things to do in Edinburgh .
But really you need to consider what things that you want to do that may get booked up . So I know in our Facebook group the other day somebody was saying about Edinburgh Castle that they had tried to get tickets or a Tour and they couldn't . It was fully booked .
Another thing is to think about if you want to go to the Palace of Honourud House , for example . That's closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays , except during the peak months of July and August .
So you know , if that's something that you really want to visit and it is worth it highly recommend it you need to consider you know if you're at going outside the time of July and August that you need to consider . You know what days you are going so that you can book ahead of those places .
So next tip that I would think of is Basically to think about the free things that they are .
Yeah , there's many , many free things , my favorite being Some that I finally accomplished last year when that walked to the top of Arthur's seat .
Yeah , and actually I was gonna talk about that a little bit later , but we can do . We're going a little bit more detail , but the subject can talk about what Arthur's seat is and I know in a previous podcast With with Wendy who visited with her husband from Sydney and they they had watched Doug's video .
He did a little video of his walk up Arthur's seat and they decided to do it themselves . Yeah , I had two takes so I could do it . That's my excuse . But there are lots of free things to do .
There's the , you know , scottish National Gallery , there's a Royal Botanic Gardens , a quark around the grass market and obviously the Royal Mile , dean Village , which we visited this year . I've got some beautiful photos of Dean Village . It's become a more popular so you know it's a bit more touristy now . So you know , go earlier and on in the day .
Really , if you want photos . St Giles Cathedral , right , this museum you can get out and leave . There's just a lot of free things that you can do when you're in Edinburgh . So obviously we'll get us about how to get around .
Yeah , so your options in Edinburgh are wide . There's a lot of things around the Royal Mile and Princess Street . There's also a very good bus and tram network . The tram network has recently expanded all the way to Leeds so you can go to the Royal Yacht Botania that way .
Yeah .
But the bus system is also very , very good . You can get like a day tickets and rubber tickets and tram tickets and so , yeah , it's easy to get around .
It is , and there is a hop-on-hop off-bus as well , if that's something that you're interested in . It is a pretty walkable city . However , I'm going to kind of temper that with that . My next point , which is how accessible Edinburgh is .
Edinburgh , basically , is a lot of steep hills , narrow cobbled streets and a lot of steps , so it's not the easiest city to navigate , really to get around .
No , and if any visitors have recently been to London , they will know that the amount of walking you do should not be underestimated .
Absolutely , and especially in Edinburgh , because you seem to go up steps constantly . Yeah , it's just constantly up and down steps . Seriously , I'll post some photos with a show notes of this , because I think unless you see the steps , you can't say yeah , no , actually it's a lot of steps and obviously Edinburgh Castle's on the top of an extinct volcano .
So you're walking uphill to get up the Royal Mile to visit that . So you really have to think about that . And we do have a link to a range of wheelchair accessible tours of Edinburgh as well on the website and I'll put that in the show notes as well .
So we'll talk a little bit more about Arthur's Seat , because that was your kind of last year , that was your huge achievement .
Well , the thing is , arthur's Seat is towering over Edinburgh , towering over the castle . It's a part of an old volcano and all these many times I've been to Edinburgh , I have never found a , whether it's visiting for enjoyment or from work . I just never got the opportunity to .
So when we went on the train last year , it was a beautiful , hot , sunny day and I said to the first thing I'm going to do , I'm going to walk apart the seat . And it did . It did yeah , it did yeah . It took a lot out to me , I'm not going to lie , but it was so rewarding .
When I got to the top there and I've said this before in other castes it was like the League of Nations and there's people walking up and down from every country on this planet and it was an absolute joy and the views from the top were just breathtaking .
I was going to say actually it's one of those places where you get fantastic views . I mean , you do get really good views when you go to the Edinburgh Castle as well . You get fantastic views , but I know the views from Arthur's Seat are particularly spectacular . It's even higher
¶ Tips for Exploring Edinburgh
?
Yeah , absolutely , and I'm so glad we did it . As Jordy said , that was the last sunny day we had over a little while . Yes , out to that with a cloud cover . Yeah , you want to see anything ? Yeah , so glad I did it when I did .
So I think that's a good tip . So if you actually want to walk up Arthur's Seat , then it's a nice day . Then don't put it off , just do it that day .
Just put some good shoes or boots on , because it's really uneven in places . Nice day .
Yeah , yeah . So that kind of brings me to my 11th tip , which kind of rolls on from when you climbed Arthur's Seat , which is number 10 , is that you joined me at Macca's Math bash bar afterwards , didn't you ?
I did . It was yeah , I got to you rather quickly because I was rather hungry by this time .
Absolutely so . I guess the number 11 is to sample some authentic Scottish food . So when you're there , really , I you know , and we have had so many people off the podcast and in our Facebook group who have tried Heggis because we've suggested they all said , come on , try it when you're there , and I've actually enjoyed it .
The thing is , if you go to Macca's Bash Bar they do kind of a small portion of Heggis , neeps and Tatleys . So do you want to explain what that is to people , doug ?
Well , what the Eeps are , I'll turn it the Tatis are obviously Tatos , and as for the Heggis , it depends whether they're in season or not on that big visit .
OK , well , I'll leave that to you , magish . But yeah , what Heggis is made up of , it's very tasty , it's something that we really enjoy and we always head to Macca's I have to say it's off whenever we got Edinburgh's first night's destination . Obviously , we also enjoy sampling some Scottish drinks from one area as well . So obviously Whiskey .
Scotland's famous for Whiskey , so you know that's something that I drew . Doug doesn't drink , but certainly I'll have a wee drama now and again . Obviously there's a gin distillery in Edinburgh as well , so you can sample some gin and Doug's favourite , one of his favourite soft drinks , yeah , is Scottish .
Oh , I love Iron Brew , iron Brew , so the very famous orange drink you'll see all over Scotland and it's very tasty . And again I will put a picture of Iron Brew so you know what look for .
And they do a sugar-free Iron Brew . Oh , okay , that's very good .
And then the next thing I would say well , if we're gonna kind of stick to the food thing so we've talked about you know , try the authentic Scottish food and definitely try a wee drama too . Or if you're not a drinker , then try some of the soft drinks like Iron Brew Is to try traditional afternoon tea .
So that's something we enjoyed thoroughly last year when we went to the Georgian tea rooms at the Dome and that was our favourite . We did sample a few , and I've got a few more afternoon teas I'd like to try at Edinburgh , but that by far was our favourite , wasn't it last year ?
It was . It wasn't just the food and drink and the place . The staff was so lovely .
It was absolutely . Yeah , it was fantastic . So do book yourself in a nice afternoon tea . There are obviously lots of other restaurants who would recommend that you try , and pubs are some really good ones in Edinburgh , but we'll put some more information in the show notes about those .
So the next thing I'll talk about , I guess , is if you're going to do , if you're going to visit Edinburgh and we visited Edinburgh so many times , haven't we ? But what we did last year we didn't get a chance to check , unfortunately I got sick . But as we did some guided tours now , they were absolutely fantastic and that is the way to .
I always say this that is the way you're going to find out about history . You're going to find out far more information doing a guided tour than wandering around somewhere on your , to be honest . So we did a very good guided tour of Edinburgh Castle , learned a huge amount of information that none of us knew , and then dug a nice little patchy .
I did a historic Edinburgh tour on the Royal Mile , which was fascinating , absolutely fascinating . I it was fantastic . I cannot tell you how interesting it was .
We went down some of the small little alleys off the Royal Mile which I had not explored before and I learned a lot more about history of Edinburgh and what it was like in the Middle Ages and and yeah , so I'd highly recommend it . If you've got interest in history , do something like that . And you did the vaults , didn't you ?
I did a vaults tour and the guide was sort of split between sort of a history lesson and a storyteller and it was just a fantastic blend because there was all ages on the tour and all levels of interest and I just think , every single box for me , particularly if , if you don't mind a bit of darkness and a bit of witchcraft .
Oh well , of course , if you're interested in that sort of thing , there are lots of ghost tours as well that you can take in Edinburgh , and and I have got an article which sort of details all those different ghost tours that you can take , and I'll link to that again in the show notes .
So one of the favourite things that we love doing in Edinburgh is just wandering around Edinburgh , and that there's one favourite place that I like to go to is down to to see Greyfriars Bobby .
So Greyfriars Bobby , the story of Greyfriars Bobby is a basically he was a dog that when his master passed away , he sat on the grave actually until he passed away , and he was very famous for the people of Edinburgh .
So there's actually a small statue of Greyfriars Bobby and it's near the Greyfriars Co-Card , which I also would recommend that you have a wander around . I would put . The fans in particular will enjoy that , and there's a little statue . So one of the one of the things that is requested by people from Edinburgh is to not Greyfriars Bobby's note .
So there was a bit of a thing about it would bring you good luck . Well , it's not true . It's just one of those you know myths and actually it's damaged his nose , so now his nose is very shiny and the actual . So it's yeah worn and it's really could ruin the statue . So just one of those tips please don't rub Greyfriars Bobby's nose .
It's not going to do any good , it's not going to bring you any luck , it's certainly not bringing him any luck , so please don't do that . One thing we asked about his currency , I guess , because it can be quite confusing , because Scotland has different bank notes than in England , so they look different . However , you can
¶ Currency and Day Trips in Scotland
use English notes in Scotland and you'll find the coins are exactly the same . Now , it's generally not a problem , to be honest , these days the use of cash , I think , is I would always have a little bit of cash with you , but really you don't need huge amount , so you shouldn't have a problem using English bank notes in Scotland . So just say that .
However , if you do get some Scottish bank notes again , you shouldn't have a problem in England exchanging those . But if you go back to London , people might not recognise what they are , so you might have to go to a bank .
I mean , actually they should accept them , but if it's a problem , you're better off really spending any Scottish notes they have before you leave Scotland .
I said , just remember , in Scotland it is still pounds and penned .
Yes , yes , it's still the same , it's just that they have their own . They make their own bank notes . Yeah , they're a bit , but the coins are exactly the same . So I hope that kind of explains that . One thing I just want to quickly mention , because it's come up a few times when we've tried it to people , is an itinerary consult .
Particularly if you're doing a drive and trip round the UK and you're going to stay in Edinburgh , you will find that a finding accommodation with parking can be incredibly difficult in the old time or the new town .
So really that's something if you are , if you really need some parking , then you need to make sure that you start to you look for that when you're booking your accommodation ?
Yeah , and the parking can be quite expensive .
Yes , absolutely Definitely . So , yeah , it's definitely something you've got to consider , really . And we have got a link I'll put a link to different accommodation options in Edinburgh , with parking as well , in the show notes . So if you are planning to do that , drive and trip , why not ?
I mean , we tend to pick up a higher car in Edinburgh when we're leaving Edinburgh and then take the car from that point when we're touring Edinburgh for Scotland . So next thing I would say is consider a day trip . So I think that's number 18 , I've kind of lost track . Number 18 is consider a day trip from Edinburgh .
They've got lots of options , haven't you ?
You have lots and lots of options , whether you want to take a tour or go by train or bus to the local areas down to the borders areas . Who's ? Your options are unlimited If there's what your interests are and what time of year you are to visit .
Yeah , so I mean you can do things by train . So this year we went to St Andrews for the day , which was incredibly easy , and I've just put together a YouTube video which I'm gonna be posting soon , which is kind of details the day and how we did it and what to expect . And it was very it was honestly very easy .
It's a lovely train ride , very easy to get in from Lucas train station into St Andrews itself .
That's it , and I've written some Spain . It's from Edinburgh as well , so you can take day trips where you can . How far you can get by train ? Yes , and back in the day as well .
Yeah , that's it . So not , as well as having the article that we've got about the top day tours from Edinburgh , and we've also got best day trips from Edinburgh by train with itineraries with that go with it . So we've got we have got a lot on the website about this .
Another place that is a favorite with us that I'm gonna just quick talk about is the Kelpies .
The .
Kelpies yeah , because that's an easy . If I was goes a very easy day trip as well . I was going to places to choose from . It depends what you're interested in really .
It is . There's something for everybody around the whole area .
And if you are in Edinburgh and you're just spending a few days there and that's gonna be only kind of dipping your toes into Scotland and you desperately , desperately wanna go just to the Highlands or Loch Nair , so you wanna go on the say the Jacobite , and then what do all of those kind of further away things , shall we say , from Edinburgh there are tours
that you can book that will take you out for a day . It will be a very long day but you can do that . So again , I'll put a link to that because there are ways that you can incorporate those into your itinerary , even if you're gonna stay in Edinburgh for a few days .
It did that . You know , as you say on the theme , there's whiskey tours and day tours up for the whiskey trail and there's , yeah , the heritage trains the castles .
Oh , there's so much , so much . I mean really . You know , I know people tend to a lot of the time where we talk is put Edinburgh in for a few days and that's the first dip in the toes in Scotland . But we know who . So we've talked to so many people that after they spent those few days in Edinburgh that we can't wait to come back and explore Scotland .
And I have to say we know we're planning our trip for December , january , and I'm already talking about , well , we will be going up to Scotland , but we're taking the Caledonian steeper up for sure and we'll definitely be spending some time up in Scotland . You know it is cold , it's dark .
When I get snow , I mean to me that's a perfection , to be honest , having that just for a short period , Just a magical feeling of going to sleep in England and waking up in Scotland . Oh yeah , on the Caledonian steeper . It's fantastic .
Oh yeah , I'll actually just mention , obviously because we have got some other podcasts which maybe you know will be kind of of interest off this one , and one of those is about the Caledonian steeper . We also have an episode 26 , which is how to get from London to Edinburgh by train , and which shares tips . So there are different .
You know , we have got some other podcasts which will kind of go along with this one and we are going to have some more podcast episodes coming up about Edinburgh . We're going to do a day trip one and I'm actually going to be talking to somebody very soon Cheryl , about her 36-hour itinerary for Edinburgh . So they'll be coming up in the next month or two .
So I guess the next thing I want to say is don't over plan . I know that sounds crazy . I'm saying plan and book , but do give yourself some free time , because you will find that you'll need just a bit of downtime and then there might be something that you think , oh , I really want to do that .
So just give yourself that time where you might just want to take a stroll . You might just chill out a bit .
Yeah , for the reasons we've already said , the weather can be changeable and it is quite tiring in Edinburgh .
Absolutely . So , yeah , just kind of give yourself the time to do a bit of that . You know I always like to walk down Prince Street , always go and do a little bit of shopping down there . I think every trip I've done that and that's just something I enjoy doing when we're in Edinburgh .
So the next thing I guess is number 20 , is not to call Scots people English . So my family is Scottish , parts English . My maiden name is Maconarchy , so I kind of have Scottish blood . But it's very important not to , you know , to some Scots it's really , you know , there was a 45% basically vote to become independent nation in 2019 , the referendum .
So for a lot of Scottish people it's very important and it's a key part of their identity that they are Scottish and we should respect that . So really they're not English people from England or English people from Scotland or called Scottish . So it's really important . They have a fantastic , rich cultural heritage and so really we need to . So they're proud people .
Absolutely , absolutely . I can say that as part Scottish as well and also part Irish , irish , scottish and English . They've got everything . So , yes , except Welsh no , I don't think I've got any Welsh ancestry , but definitely English , scottish and Irish for both sides .
So , yeah , so it's just something worth bearing in mind and I know some people get quite confused about that because I might use the term Brit , and if I say Brit that tends to include English , welsh , scottish , english from England , scotland from Scotland , welsh from Wales . So I kind of think we've covered quite a lot of tips in there .
I think the main thing is just to take from us is to think about when you're going to go . Make sure that you book ahead , particularly for those big times , so you don't kind of miss out . Think about where you're going to stay . But the old city , new city . If you're going to be taking the train , we tend to stay very close to Waverley Station .
Well , where we stay anyway , is you know , the old here is very close to the train station , so that's where we tend to stay . You can say that many times though . Yeah , we have . So think about you . Know , getting around Edinburgh is easy . You've got the trams . You could do a hop on , hop off bus . There's plenty of tour opportunities that you can choose .
There's plenty of places to eat . There's some excellent restaurants , some excellent pubs . So you've got . You're really ask for choice . In fact , you're going to go and say , wow , I need to spend months here . So yeah , so plan carefully .
And it's also very good for all budgets as well .
Yes , Like I said , there's three things to do when you're there as well . But , like , obviously , to make it more friendly to your wallet , avoid August and the kind of Christmas into New Year , year to year , because it is more expensive . I think that kind of covers everything we wanted to talk about in this episode .
As I've said , we have links to different podcasts that kind of relate to this with . Also , I will put links to all of those in the show notes . Anything else that talks about the tours that we've been on and the hop on , hop off bus , you know some of the longer tours that will take you up to Loch Ness , for example .
We'll put links to those into the show notes . And obviously you know we have got an article which summarizes a lot of this that we've talked about today .
Yeah , one thing I will add is what , what ? Edinburgh is just the same as the rest of Scotland , the P-Blind incredibly friendly and helpful . Yes , absolutely no other problem there , really not .
Absolutely yeah , so am I . Well , I can say happy UK travel planning , which we're all going to end on , but actually I guess we're going to say you know , happy Edinburgh travel planning , but yeah , until next week , from both of us , happy UK travel planning .