We arrived after a run of the mill red-eye to Edinburgh. We opted to stay at the BrewDog DogHouse Edinburgh which was right off the Royal Mile. Our room ended up being great – a lofted bedroom over a sitting area with a kitchen. And the location was fantastic too. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to check in till 3pm, so we dropped off our bags then headed out to explore.
The Royal Mile absolutely lived up to the hype. It oozed historical charm.
We wandered around for a while then ducked in for lunch – I had to have a Scotch Pie which is like a Shepherd’s Pie but with ground beef – and Chuck had the Fish & Chips. Then it was time to get settled into our room and take a quick nap before we headed back out to the Royal Mile.
This time we explored the Royal Mile close to Edinburgh Castle and ended up walking the entire way back to our hotel. One of our first orders of business was visiting Victoria Street which was the inspiration for Diagon Alley in Harry Potter.
Then there was more meandering and checking out some of the “Closes” (alleys) tucked into the buildings. After a dinner of Indian, which was delicious, it was time for a good night’s sleep.
The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel then headed to The Royal Yacht Britannia. This was the royal yacht of the British monarchy and was in service from 1954 to 1997. It was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth II and sailed 1 million miles on official state visits and family holidays.
This was high on my list and I was so excited getting to walk where Queen Elizabeth II stayed not to mention where Princess Diana spent her honeymoon among other countless trips. It also hosted many dignitaries including Churchill, Mandela, Gandhi, Reagan, and many more.
We did the self guided tour that came with our own audio so we could take as much time as we wanted, much to Chuck’s dismay. He was a trooper though and let me geek out as long as I wanted.
All Aboard:
The main Dining Room that hosted many a formal dinner party and was flanked by artifacts from all around the world:
Then we saw the Queen’s office which was opposite Prince Philip’s office:
Then the Queen’s Bedroom and the bedroom Diana & Charles spent their honeymoon in:
And here are some of the living areas:
We explored all over the yacht from the Bridge to the Engine Room to the Crew Quarters to where the Royal Family lived and worked. It was fantastic!
Once I was done, we decided to grab a pre-lunch snack at the restaurant on board. We were given one of the best seats in the place and I had the best time enjoying my tea, Cullen Skink (creamy fish chowder), and the Victoria Sandwich (Berry jam & white chocolate cream between light pound cake) for dessert.
Once we were finally done, we headed back to Victoria Street, grabbed a pulled pork sandwich at Oink, then walked to Grassmarket Square. Here we found outdoor bar after bar and decided it was the perfect time for a pint!
We also finally got a good view of Hogwarts, I mean, Edinburgh Castle:
Dinner was more Scottish food, this time finished with Sticky Toffee Pudding.
The next day was our Scottish Highlands tour which you can read about here.
We then had dinner at a Tapas Bar and had a chill evening after our busy day.
Our last day allowed us more time to wander around. We planned to head out further afield, but it started raining and we had a busy day with having a late night flight to Norway, so we ended up taking it pretty easy. And then that was that and we flew to Bergen with a brief stop in Copenhagen to start the Norwegian part of our trip.
Overall I loved Edinburgh and really enjoyed Scotland. Chuck enjoyed it too, but was more tepid in his assessment.
