Exploring Scotland: Edinburgh & Glasgow
Our road trip in Ireland is sadly over, and while I am sad to leave this beautiful country behind, I’m thrilled to land in the heart of Harry Potter country: Edinburgh, Scotland! We’ll be in Scotland for about three weeks, one of those weeks we’re spending in two of the largest cities and the other roughly two weeks we’ll be back in the car road tripping.
Edinburgh, Scotland
Total time spent here: 5 days, 4 nights
Where we stayed: An AirBnB that I didn’t love and wouldn’t really recommend, so I’m not linking it here. The location was good (about a 10-15 minute walk to the city center), but it wasn’t the cleanest or most comfortable.
Edinburgh is magical. In the Old Town, everywhere you turn you’ll see a picturesque street or alleyway with a colorful shop on the first floor. And if you’re a Harry Potter nerd like me (I’m also currently re-reading the series right now so the magical vibes feel real extra for me), you can really feel the inspiration for this classic series all around you while walking the city streets.
Experiences of Edinburgh
Potter Trail Free Walking Tour—As I’ve said multiple times already (and I’ll continue to say, so just deal with it) Edinburgh plays a very important role in the creation of Harry Potter. Why is that? Well, the outstanding JK Rowling wrote much of the books we know and love here in the city. There are many places around the city that she used to influence the plot and characters and because of this, I believe a Harry Potter tour is a must while in Edinburgh. We took the free tour with this company and had an amazing tour guide who was energetic, knowledgeable, and a total Potterhead just like us. We learned a lot of interesting facts about JK Rowling and how she used the Greyfriars Kirkyard (graveyard) to pull some inspiration for character names while writing the books. Most famously, she used the grave of Thomas Riddell Esq. to pull the name for a one Tom Riddle, a pretty important character in the books. Other notable character names from this graveyard include McGonagall and possibly Moody. Our tour guide took us to all of these gravestones before taking us to the Spoon Cafe, which was previously known as Nicolson’s Cafe and owned by JK Rowling’s brother-in-law, where she wrote a good amount of the first book of the series. The guide also took us to the more famous Elephant House Cafe, which claims to be the “birthplace” of Harry Potter, which the guide debunked simply because the first book was already published when the Elephant House Cafe opened, however; it is known that Rowling did write later books in the series in this cafe. The tour also took us to what some people think Rowling used as inspiration for Hogwarts, George Heriot’s school. This school is known for it’s four “houses” and it’s colors. The tour also took us to many other Harry Potter sights around the city and we played some fun trivia. If you’re a big fan of Harry Potter, I couldn’t recommend this tour more.
Thomas Riddell’s (misspelled from the books) grave. Our tour guide said this is the most visited grave in Britain.
The school that is said to have inspired Hogwarts.
The very popular Elephant House Cafe.
Currently Spoon, previously Nicolson’s Cafe.
Outside of Spoon cafe.
City of the Dead tour—Edinburgh has a bit of a seedy, creepy history and of course, Michael thought it’d be a great idea to take a ghost tour. I hesitantly agreed and he chose this tour, claiming to be the only tour to take us to the underground vaults, also known to be one of the most haunted places on Earth. Cool, Michael, real cool. We did the Double Dead tour starting at 8PM and the tour began in said underground vaults where it was damp and musty and so creepy. Our tour guide was a phenomenal entertainer and did a great job making the tour even creepier. While he was telling the gruesome history of the vaults, he would blow out his candle, our one source of light, leaving us completely in the dark. I wasn’t scared at all (read: I was freaking the hell out). Suffice it to say, I made it out alive and only screamed out loud one time (I’m pretty proud of myself too). For some reason, I wasn’t as scared on this tour as the Loftus Hall tour we took back in Ireland, and if you’re a weirdo like my husband and like being scared, then I’d recommend this tour. The history aspect is really fascinating and worth it.
Edinburgh Castle—You can’t walk around Edinburgh and not be stunned by Edinburgh Castle, sitting in all its grandeur on the top of an inactive volcano. The sight of it alone is remarkable. Of course we paid to visit the castle, because you have to. But I’d say it was very expensive and while some of the buildings were interesting, the view was ridiculously impressive from the top, it wasn’t worth the price. Just my personal opinion. We did take the 30 minute guided tour that was included in the price and this was honestly the best part of the visit. If the guided tour had been larger and more in depth, it would have been worth it. Either way, that’s the best part of traveling: you get to try things and decide if it’s worth it or not. This wasn’t for us.
National Museum of Scotland—This free museum was so, so good! It has a huge collection of artifacts from Scotland and all over the world. There are also great interactive sections included in the STEM area. We took the free guided tour that showed us some highlights of the museum and then we made our way back down the 7 different stories on our own. We spent about 4 hours here, but you could easily spend an entire day.
Other “Not to Miss” Experiences in Edinburgh
Victoria Street is definitely a must do on your trip to Edinburgh.
Strolling Victoria Street—this bending cobble-stone street, also the said to be inspiration of Diagon Alley in Harry Potter is a marvel to look it. You can meander in and out of the colorful shops that line the street, buying all of your souvenirs or stopping for a coffee or tea.
If you’re a Potterhead (Harry Potter fans for my non-Harry Potter fans who shouldn’t even be reading this any longer because this note is clearly not for you): Don’t miss popping into Museum Context on Victoria Street to buy all of your Harry Potter merch! This place is wonderfully decorated in true HP fashion and stocked to the brim with things you’ll want to buy, so try not to get annoyed at how tight the space is and how many tourists are taking photos while in the shop.
Grassmarket, another shopping area in the heart of the Old Town of Edinburgh, this area has a more interesting history. It was once the place for public executions. I believe the executions are no longer a thing, as now you’ll only find pubs, shops, street performers, and happy ice cream carts. It’s a cool place to take a stroll.
The Royal Mile is a street connecting Edinburgh Castle to Hollyroodhouse in the heart of the Old Town. The street is lined with touristy shops where you can buy as many kilts, cashmere sweaters, or whisky as your heart desires. We walked part of the Royal Mile up to the Castle.
When you come around a corner in Grassmarket and see this beauty that is Edinburgh Castle sitting on top of a volcanic rock.
Edinburgh Eats
Mums Great Comfort Food—On our first night in Edinburgh we hit up Mum's and we’re so glad we did. We ordered the steak and ale pie with housemade chips and Sausage (3 different kinds) and caramelized leeks with their classic house gravy—my mouth is watering just remembering how tasty all of this food was. We went completely on the recommendations of our waitress and she did not disappoint. We washed it down with a ton of cider (maybe a bit too much?) and Treacle and Date Pudding.
Mum’s advertising is on point.
Dishoom—If you read my London post, you’ll know that we already went to this famous restaurant in London for breakfast. We decided that we had to go back for dinner and since they had one in Edinburgh, we waited until we got here! We decided to go for an early dinner, since the place is known to fill up fast with long wait times, and were seated right away. Michael and I split a few different dishes (I honestly can’t remember them, all I know is one was a shrimp dish, two lamb dishes, one potato dish, and some naan.) Dinner was great and super filling. If you like Indian food, you’ll love Dishoom.
Glasgow, Scotland
Total time spent here: 2.5 days, 2 nights
Where we stayed: A beautiful but hot AirBnB that was in a wonderful location. 2 minutes from the train station, 2 minutes from the city center. It was just so hot and we only figured out how to open the windows late on our last night there.
To preface: We didn’t do a whole lot in Glasgow, and by a whole lot, I mean nothing really, other than walk around. We didn’t even eat at any restaurants or visit any pubs. I want to say that it was all because the weather wasn’t great, and it wasn’t for some of the short time we were there, but I think it was because we were tired. We did all the things in Edinburgh and we just needed a second to breathe. So we walked and that was enough for us. Glasgow was a beautiful city and I’m not sure if we gave it a fair shot, but here’s what I’ve got for you.
Experiences in Glasgow
Walking—See above.
Shopping—There is a plethora of shops all along Argyle Street, Trongate Street (the oldest street in the city), etc. Souvenir shops, shoe shops, clothing shops, tech shops. You name it and I’m sure Glasgow has a shop for it.
Street Art—We saw quite a few impressive street art pieces that were definitely worth seeing. Smug seems to be a popular artist in this area and his pieces do not disappoint. It’s crazy to me that anyone can be that artistic, let alone with a can of spray paint.
Honey I Shrunk the Kids!
Smug’s depiction of St. Mungo.
Glasgow Cathedral—Upon our walking around the city, we found the gorgeous Glasgow Cathedral with it’s stunning stained glass windows and beautiful ceiling.
The Friends of Glasgow Necropolis—I’m not sure what it is about wandering around graveyards, but I guess it’s just something we do. However, this isn’t just any old graveyard. This graveyard is home to over 50,000 people and spans 37 acres. It’s interesting to walk around and see the prominent graves of so many.
George Square—If you’re looking for a place to just sit for a spell and people watch while sipping a coffee or tea, this is your place. You know how much we love to do this, so of course we spent some time here.
And with that, we’re on our way to the next portion of our trip: Road Tripping Scotland!
With love,
Emily
