I decided to split up our UK/Paris trip into multiple posts because I have SO many pictures and they won't load if there are too many photos in one post! Links to the other posts are at the bottom of the page. So here is part one about our time in EDINBURGH SCOTLAND!
Also, I'll put the highlight video I made of our whole time in the UK at the beginning of each post that includes Edinburgh, Alnwick, London and the Harry Potter Studio tour!!
First off, I LOVED THIS CITY. We were only there a day and a half but visiting Edinburgh Scotland was like stepping back in time. The most magical thing about this city was the fact that the buildings, streets, parks, signs, EVERYTHING looked like it had remained pretty much its' old, beautiful self. Cobblestone streets and old churches and buildings. It was so enchanting and even the modern stores were placed into the older buildings. We passed a Scottish man in a kilt playing the bagpipes and walked past many drunk Scottish men yelling various phrases at people passing by (I LOVED THAT FOR REAL HA HA, like how perfect and authentic is that?! ha ha so funny!) It was very chilly when we were there but that didn't stop us from walking the streets and exploring the little nooks and all the closes (what they call alley ways)
If you are a fan of Harry Potter, JK Rowling lived here for quite a while and Victoria Street (with all the colorful store entrances I have pictures of below) is what Diagon Alley was inspired by! Also, The Elephant House restaurant is where Rowling wrote quite a bit of the first Harry Potter book! You can also look through the cemetery and find many of the Character's names used in the book on various gravestones and there's a school in the city that Hogwarts was also inspired by! So Edinburgh was CHOCK FULL of Harry Potter references and Tyler and I were in heaven.
Edinburgh Castle was just as amazing as I thought it would be! We explored the grounds, dungeons, palace, great hall and saw the crown jewels of Scotland!! If you are interested in Mary Queen of Scots you should TOTALLY watch the show "Reign" on Netflix. I'm obsessed with that show and it was fun knowing a lot of the history before visiting Scotland and telling Tyler all the random facts I knew about "Bloody Mary" The views of the city from the top of the castle were breathtaking! You could see everything and it had the perfect view of Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano that you can hike up (we didn't have time sadly.) But Arthur's seat is supposedly where Camelot was located which is freaking cool!
I can't express enough how much I loved Edinburgh. It was also super clean for a city! All the gardens were so beautifully kept and I was really grateful that we were there during springtime! All the blossoms on the trees were huge and beautiful, especially in the park below the castle. There were tons of pubs each with their own signage and colored buildings. I loved how colorful some of the shops and pubs were compared to the old cobblestone everything was made out of. The city itself had lots of twists and turns making it easy to get lost. But, honestly that was one of the best parts of Edinburgh! Getting lost and turning a corner to find a beautiful cathedral or winding staircase or vine covered park. It truly was magical! No wonder JK Rowling was inspired by living here! Getting around the city was very simple (once we figured out the bus system.) And even though we really only had a day and a half to explore, we loved the old vibes and I wished SO MUCH that we would have had the time to explore the rest of Scotland because I'm sure the highlands and castles out in the country are a sight to see! We'll just have to come back and visit the rest of it!
We found the best little Airbnb in Edinburgh! It was just out of the city, directly next to a bus stop so we could hop on the bus and drive in without having to deal with the traffic and parking a car. It was TINY. It was someone's extra garage/shed that they converted into an apartment and it was darling! It was so perfect for what we needed and it was really inexpensive as well which was nice.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO OUR PARIS FRANCE POST
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