Two Days in Edinburgh, Scotland

Travel notes

Population recorded at publication: 495,360

Languages: English and Scots

Currency: pound sterling

A panorama of Edinburgh from Calton Hill

Scotland is part of the United Kingdom in domestic and international affairs, while competing and taking part separately in many sporting and cultural activities under its own flag. It is one of the UK's four countries, alongside Wales, England and Northern Ireland. The flag above on the left is Scotland's; the one on the right represents the United Kingdom as a whole. At the time of this post, Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip, held the title Duke of Edinburgh, having received it before she became Queen. The city's Old Town and New Town are UNESCO World Heritage sites. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is one of the world's respected universities; my notes cited a ninth-place international ranking in 2010.

The University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh

Getting to Edinburgh and visa requirements

We had one of those strange travel experiences. We had booked a hotel and flights to Dublin and were already at the airport when we were told we couldn't enter Ireland. Although we had researched it and had UK and Schengen visas as well as permission to live in England, we were told those did not meet the relevant requirements. On Ireland's official website, we had seen wording about visiting with a UK visa, but the small print applied to particular tourists. Strange, but true! A Schengen visa wasn't enough for Dublin either. I was living in England yet needed a separate visa, while some tourists with a UK visa could enter. It also depended on nationality. I was frustrated that Turkey seemed to be excluded from so many visa-free arrangements and grumbled that our choices always seemed limited to Arab and African countries. We quickly changed our plans to Edinburgh, knowing our situation allowed us to go there. It turned out to be a very good decision: we had wanted to visit for ages. Not what we planned, but perhaps what was meant to be 😊

Edinburgh Airport

Edinburgh has kept its authentic character while fitting modern life into it beautifully. We left very happy, and it went straight onto our list of places to revisit. I had done some research, but initially it hadn't looked as though there would be much to do, and the photographs hadn't especially drawn me in. In person, we found so much that we didn't want to leave! Getting from the airport to the city centre was easy: buses were waiting just outside the doors.

The buses drop you in the area called New Town.

Old Town

Victoria Street

Victoria Street

Victoria Street is one of Edinburgh's liveliest, most colourful and distinctive places. Its cafés, colourful shops and buildings, and narrow streets are adorable. Edinburgh has two main areas, Old Town and New Town. Scotland's two major cities are Glasgow and Edinburgh; I had heard Glasgow described as newer, with less of that historic texture.

Scott Monument

An enormous monument in the middle of the city: imposing and rather eerie.

The Royal Mile and St Giles' Cathedral

Traditional Scottish clothing

The kilts worn by Scottish men 😊 They may seem unusual to some visitors, but are an important part of the culture. One story I had heard was that hunters used to get their clothes muddy up to the legs, so wore skirts as a solution, later adopting them for weddings and special occasions. They are still worn at weddings and celebrations today 😊

The National Museum of Scotland

Inside, the museum is almost like a shopping centre, with departments across several floors: science, technology, animals and more. There were dinosaur fossils and skeletons, early computers and telephones, animal skeletons and preserved specimens, the first cloned sheep, early bicycles and displays showing how machines work. We really enjoyed it; you should go.

The world's first cloned sheep

Early computers

Early bicycles

Hula Café

This café is on Victoria Street, among those colourful cafés and houses. It is quite well known and suits anyone wanting fruit, vegetables and healthier choices. In the photograph is something like a fruity, ice-cream milkshake topped with fresh and dried fruit. Different, and good! On the Royal Mile, there was also a shop selling newspapers and magazines from many countries. I hadn't read a Turkish newspaper in ages, so I bought one. It was nice to read one again, but then the news made me miserable. Couldn't anything good happen back home? 😞

Radisson Blu

This branch of the well-known Radisson Blu hotel chain looked so lovely that I couldn't resist a photograph 😊

Victoria Street

Calton Hill

Have I included rather too many photographs this time? 🙂 It is such an incredibly beautiful, photogenic place. You really must go and come back with lots of photographs.

What souvenirs can you buy?

Famous Scotch whisky, magnets, University of Edinburgh T-shirts and fleeces, and Scottish biscuits—which are delicious.