Good morning from Edinburgh, Scotland. We're back in one of our favorite cities in Europe. It has been over three years and it is so cool to be back here again. Yeah, so we're going to be spending a week here and we decided to film a little guide.
We're going to be exploring the New Town, the Old Town and everything in between and we're going to show you 20 things to do in Edinburgh. Let's get started. Our week in Edinburgh was action packed! We sampled gin and Scotch whisky, wandered down tiny closes, braved the crowds along the Royal Mile, ate our fill of haggis, and even visited a castle, a palace, and an abbey. So, if you’re looking for things to do in Edinburgh on your visit, this video guide will show you all of those attractions and then some! So next up we're visiting the most iconic site in the city.
We're going to Edinburgh Castle.
Edinburgh Castle is hard to miss as it dominates the city’s skyline. The first thing you should know about the Castle is that it’s not just one single building, so once you’re inside there’s quite a bit to see and do; you can tour the Royal Palace, see the Crown Jewels, watch the firing of the one o’clock gun, step inside St. Margaret’s Chapel, visit the National War Museum and so much more, so give yourself plenty of time. Just across Edinburgh Castle is the Scotch Whisky Experience, where we dropped by for a fun whisky blending session.
Okay so now it is time for the fun part. What are we doing? Yes. Now here comes the science.
We get to make our own personal blend. Oh. Name of my blend: Sam 'I' Am Shazzam.
And I'm going with 60% grain and 15% Speyside because that is going to give it a smokey, strong and sophisticated taste. Much like its creator. We also made time to visit the famed Royal Mile, which is the busiest street in Edinburgh’s Old Town.
There’s quite a bit to see along here, so we first popped into the Royal Mile Market, which is set inside a former church, and from there we continued down the street, visiting little souvenir shops along the way. You’ll have no trouble finding a kilt here! In Edinburgh you can take a number of different tours. There is a walking tour, there is a haunted tour, there is a literary tour, there is a Harry Potter tour.
There is just about any tour you can think about. Basically something for everyone. And no visit to Edinburgh would be complete without some haggis, so we stopped by the Whiski Rooms to enjoy this dish. Visit www.basilpizzabar.com to find out more regarding pizza bar los angeles
Okay, so let's pretend it is someones first time in Scotland and they've never heard of Haggis. What is in it? Yeah. So the name of the game of Haggis basically is Sheep's pluck.
It contains heart, liver and lungs and it is cooked inside the sheep's stomach and also it has oatmeal, spices and onions so it has got a lot of things going on. It is a very savory dish and I can't wait to try it again. So let's just smother them in gravy.
Nice and creamy. Drown them. So neeps and tatties, if you've never tried them before, are basically Scottish for turnips and potatoes.
And they're kind of like in a mash type of consistency so they're nice and soft. So I'm just going to grab a little bit of both because man they're good. And this is all part of what makes this such a hearty meal because you're getting a lot carbs so.
Oh, that is wonderful. Another attraction you can’t miss in Edinburgh is Holyrood Palace. This is the official residence of the British monarchy in Scotland.
You can grab a headset on your way in and enjoy an audio tour of the palace at your own pace. And of course, we couldn’t leave Holyrood Palace without also visiting Holyrood Abbey and the gardens just behind. Having already tried Scotch whisky, we then made time to visit the Edinburgh Gin Distillery, for a fun gin tasting in a cozy den.
So we are starting the experience with a gin and tonic. Yeah. Starting off with a bit of a milder form here.
Yeah. Not doing straight gin quite yet. So the cool thing is it has an orange peel in it so it should give it a bit of zest.
Yes. And then things got a little tipsy… Where is the Cannonball? So what is this one? What is this one at? 59? 57.2. 57. What was this one called again? Military.
Cannonball. Military grade. Hahaha.
Military grade. Doesn't take long to start forgetting this. So it is 57.
Point two percent. Tell us, where are we now? So we're at the National Museum of Scotland. It is my favorite museum in all of Edinburgh.
And who can we see here? We can see Dolly the Sheep. Dolly the clone sheep. And a cool tip when you visit this museum, and we didn't know this before the last time we were in Edinburgh, is that you can come up to the seventh floor for some amazing views of the city.
Princes Street Gardens is another great place to visit, especially on a sunny day. If you had visited during the Medieval Ages, you would have found a swampy, polluted loch, but today it’s one of the nicest green spaces in the city. So we are now visiting Dean Village and this is one of the most picturesque parts of Edinburgh that we've seen.
It is also really calm and chill here too so it is a little bit away from the downtown core which is awesome. And we came here early in the morning so no one else is around. We're just walking around with our cameras like snapping everything.
It is so pretty here. So we made it to the top of Calton Hill and this is a very short and easy climb but you get some pretty cool views of the city so we're going to show you those next. So we are currently going up the Scott Monument here in Edinburgh.
The tiny spiraling staircase. Argh. The Scott Monument was built in honor of Scottish writer, Sir Walter Scott, and it’s the largest monument to a writer in the world.
It has a series of platforms at different levels, where you can get a bird’s eye view of the New Town. For a little taste of nature, you can visit the Royal Botanic Garden which is not far from the New Town. Another activity we really enjoyed was taking a food tour with Eat Walk Edinburgh.
We got to try a lot of delicious bites and beverages along the way, and one of the highlights was visiting the Fudge House. So this we're going to enjoy. Right now we are heading inside The Fudge House for a little something sweet.
Let's do this. And fudge is one of my favorite foods. Also we're going to learn about tablet I think.
Part of the tour we get to choose one bar to take with us and eat along the way. And they have over twenty varities of fudge here so we're struggling. You know what this has been the hardest decision I've had to make all week.
Picking which one. What flavor of fudge. Another fun way to explore Edinburgh on foot is by wandering down the tiny closes.
These small alleys were often named after a memorable occupant, and the Old Town is full of them. While you’re in the Old Town, you can also visit St. Giles Cathedral, which is one of the main landmarks on the Royal Mile.
And if it’s art you’re looking for, you have a few options with both the Scottish National Gallery and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in the New Town. Lastly, we can’t forget the nightlife. Whether it’s a cozy pub, a live band, or a ceilidh you’re after, Edinburgh has it all.
And that’s it for our visit to Edinburgh, Scotland. We hope you enjoyed following our travels and that this video gave you a few ideas of things to do, foods to try, and places to visit around the city. As always, if you have any other suggestions of things to do in Edinburgh, feel free to share those with fellow travelers in the comments section below.
Until next time!