Mini-Travel Guide: Edinburgh

If you noticed a week-long gap between this post and then this one it was because I was having too much fun in Edinburgh with my best friend from high school Gillian. I was there from early Tuesday to early Friday and within that time explored the Royal Mile, Princes street, the underground "haunted" vaults and Camera Obscura.

The Royal Mile (website) - This is probably the most "touristy" place within Edinburgh. The Royal Mile is full of traditional Scottish shops with Edinburgh Castle at the top and the Holyrood Scottish Parliament building at the bottom. There's many pretty buildings within this street which resulted in me stopping every second one to take a photo. There are also many places to eat along here from major food chains such as Subway to the local independent deli's.We stopped at a small Italian cafe which I can unfortunately not remember the name of. It was near the Holyrood end and was opposite a Christmas shop :) It was lovely nonetheless with delicate decor and a friendly service that wasn't too much on the pennies.


Camera Obscura (Camera Obscura)- If you've ever been to a house/museum that is full of illusions and tricks of the mind then this is along that lines. It ranged from a mirrored maze to 3D pictures (creepiest thing ever!) to logo versions of some famous paintings. There was a show available however we missed our timeslot but I'm sure it was amazing nonetheless. There was student discount available.


Ghost Tour (website) - We opted for the mercat tour (though I went on the Auld Reekie ones in 2002 which appear to follow a similar structure) which started on the Royal Mile, and took us through a few monuments before continuing to the underground vaults which are supposedly haunted. Along they way we were told about the Edinburgh Mob, Burke and Hare, how occupiers of the 'slums' deposited of their waste (it's as lovely as it sounds) as well the ghosts that supposedly haunt the underground vaults of Edinburgh. The underground tour was quick and it almost felt we were being hurried between vaults but at the end of the tour we were taken to a room slightly higher up and given a complimentary drink (we both took white wine, but cannot remember what else was on offer) whilst given the opportunity to ask questions.


Edinburgh Zoo (website)- Whilst Edinburgh Zoo doesn't quite live up to the standards of those in America or safari's in Africa it's still worth a look. It covers animals from penguins to lions. And then rhinos to monkeys (there were a lot of monkeys). Like most Zoo's it has a small gift shop with stuffed toys and knick knacks where I picked up some delightful dark chocolate mixed with pears and almonds. Admission was £13 with student ID. The zoo is located slightly out with the city centre but it wasn't long on the bus (I can't remember which bus we took).


The Hive (website)- our choice of nightclub for the Wednesday night (you'll find this is student night) was the two bar and two dance floor Hive. I really enjoyed this club and would totally recommend it to anyone. The music (from what I remember) was a mix of modern chart music and some older 90's tunes (I remember hearing some Blink 182).


Princes Street (Princes Street)- This is where Gillian took me to do some window shopping. I found that there wasn't many shops on this street however the shops that did exist were huge. I had never been inside a Urban Outfitters store before and got slightly too excited when I entered the Edinburgh branch. I spent ages looking at the various homeware plus getting awe-inspired by their decor (do all stores have a cool multi-level ribbon effect?).

As always, Edinburgh was absolutely lovely and would recommend it to everyone. 

Morag x