Complete and utter madness to attempt Edinburgh in a day is what I can hear people in the know saying. It was somewhat bonkers, but it was the time we had and of course the main target was Edinburgh Castle. Before we came we boughta Historic Scotland Explorer Pass which gave us 14 days to enter certain historical sites for free rather than pay as we go. Edinburgh Castle was included in this pass. We still booked a time slot though, because I don’t think there is any time when this site is not busy and we had 1 day to make it work!
The first challenge was to find a parking space for Big Bertha and her friend who always seemed to be right behind 🤣 I had pinned a carpark near the castle and we wound our way through narrow cobbled streets once again testing our drivers’ skills. We arrived only to find a height restriction which meant we were smack bang in the middle of Edinburgh with no plan for parking our beastly homes. Quick google and found another, not so close but hoped it was more suitable. It turned out to be a dead end street with a boom gate… reluctantly we entered wondering if we were going to make it back out. With some skilled turning manoeuvres we took up some spaces, locked up, downloaded the parking app and headed off to find breakfast and then meet our 11am entry of Edinburgh Castle.
Tip #7 – when researching a place to park your van, don’t forget to include heigh restrictions as a criteria – doh!
Edinburgh Castle sits on a big rock overlooking the city below. It is imposing and jumps out at you from every available skyline. It was easy to spot as we drove into the city and certainly easy to find from within.
We walked around in wonder at the castle from exhibition to exhibition trying to imagine the sieges and the many times it changed hands between the Scots and the English. So much history it is a little overwhelming!
Just ourside the gates to the castle on the left is a large Tartan Weaving Mill which also contains a not a very obvious studio which you can get dressed into some costumes and take pictures. Very touristy, I know, but also alot of fun.
From the castle to the streets of Edinburgh we wondered from one street to another trying to see all the neat places and architecture I had tagged. The royal mile did not disappoint having a bagpipe player front and centre.
We got news from home of a friend’s father passing away so quickly found a pub (not a difficult thing to find!) to buy a beer and give a cheers to Doug. The barman in that particular pub was a giant the size of Haggrid and he kindly let us behind the bar for a snap with a couple of shorties!
We had lunch at Greyfriars Bobby which has been made famous by the statue and story of a little terrier who apparently guarded his owners grave for 14 years! The little statue sits across the street from the pub with is nose apparently good luck to touch. So much so, that it has been polished by millions giving his nose a rub over the years.
After lunch we found some more landmarks I had tagged to see such as the Milkbar in Cockburn Street and the Tolbooth Tavern back in the Royal Mile. By this time our parking (and legs) has well and truly expired so we hiked back to the vans via the Princes Street Gardens.
Back in the vans, we made our way to the Caravan Park for the night which was a short stroll from the bay known as the Firth of Forth. A nice park with friendly staff and clean facilities. We used our club membership to book here as it is a members only site. Membership was complementary with our hire booking (have I said that already?!).
Again exhausted bodies disappeared into their vans for the night suitably satisfied with what we managed to see in a day. There was quite a few places I would have liked to see here that we didn’t get to, but I guess that just means I need to come back 🤞
My Happy Travels 