Edinburgh was named a royal burgh in 1124, and it has the gravitas and architecture to prove it. It’s a lively and crowded city – lots of tourists, lots of students – and there’s a lot to do. We were surprised by the hills (the variety, and how the city seems to be built in layers right on top of each other). In general, very beautiful. Three days was both plenty and not nearly enough – it felt satisfying, but we’d be very happy to return.
Getting there: we took the 10:25 easyjet from Geneva and were at lunch in Edinburgh by 13:00. The tram from the airport is super easy and stops right in front of our hotel (the wonderful ***Gleneagle Townhouse).
I’ve organized this in the order we visited sites, with food and lodging at the end. Note that most (all?) of the National Museums are free, but the rest of the sights can be very expensive.
Day 1:
Friday: Arrive early afternoon, check in to the hotel. We started with lunch at our hotel (the **Spence), which was very good. And then on to a lot of walking! The day’s events were fairly reasonable to pull off within an afternoon of walking:
- **Walker Slater has two locations, for men and women, and really beautiful products. I bought a wool jacket.
- *National Library of Scotland is a quick stop – there’s a small gallery with some of the more famous items in the collection. Not worth a diversion.
- The **National Museum of Scotland is kind of overwhelming, housing collections that celebrate the nation’s culture, history and people – everything from dinosaurs to fashion to airplanes to political events. Stop in though – it’s free, and the science and technology side is in a beautiful atrium (a former department store, I believe).
- **Greyfriars Kirkyard Cemetery claims to be one of the most famous graveyards in the world – very old, very important in Harry Potter lore, suitably creepy. Worth a wander.
- **St Giles’ Cathedral: Filled with monuments, plaques, and stained-glass windows dedicated to great Scots and historical moments, St. Giles’ serves as a kind of Scottish Westminster Abbey. It was the home church of John Knox, who helped turn once-Catholic Edinburgh into a bastion of Protestantism. It’s very impressive, nearing the end of a major restoration, and while cluttered, quite beautiful.
- The **Christmas Market is elaborate and opens early in the year – in full swing in late November. It surrounds the train station with amusement park rides, lots of shopping, and extensive amounts of indulgent food and drink stands. Fun!
Day 2:
- We started the day strong at the ***Scottish National Portrait Gallery. It’s a beautiful building with a very recognizable collection of paintings of Scottish nobles and residents.
- ***Gladstone’s Land (National Trust for Scotland): a rare surviving original tenement that was acquired by a wealthy merchant in 1617. There are docents on each of the three accessible floors, which have been restored to different periods of time, and different degrees of wealth for the inhabitants. It’s very interesting and presented well.
- **Edinburgh Castle is a must do, though it’s a bit exhausting and requires booking a day or two in advance. I’d call it more “important” than “excellent,” but there are important moments and good views over the city.
- Stewart Christie & Co Ltd was another especially pretty traditional clothing shop – a very old and elegant one, which still does on-site tailoring.
Day 3:
- We started with the ***Royal Yacht Britannia, Queen Elizabeth II’s former floating palace. It was impressive and well narrated (audio guide) – we enjoyed it a lot. Clearly designed, used, and maintained with a lot of love.
- Calton Hill was our next stop, for views over the city. You can then easily walk down to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which we did not tour on this trip, by walking through the atmospheric New Calton Cemetery.
- From the palace, we walked the full length of the Royal Mile… an experience I didn’t find particularly engaging. The upper half, castle side, is far more dynamic, with the lower half trending towards tourist gift shops. I think you’ll cover enough of the mile simply through walking to the various museums and restaurants and don’t need to make a point of the entire walk.
- **National Gallery of Scotland is very fine: a place I’d like to revisit. For the most part, this is art at scale – massive canvases by great masters. We made it through two floors before needing a nap – I especially appreciated the lovely Sargent.
Food and Dining:
- Starting with the ***Gleneagle Townhouse – what a lovely place! Location is good and restoration (from the Historic Bank of Scotland building) is top notch. Service is near perfect, attentive and thoughtful. Breakfast may be the best I’ve ever had in a hotel. Big, comfortable rooms. On the average list: the spa is really more of a gym, without much else, and the rooftop bar is very loud. But these are minor complaints, staying here is a treat.
- **The Spence (Gleneagle Townhouse restaurant) is expensive and elegant, in a gorgeous domed dining room. I would not necessarily go out of your way for lunch or dinner if you’re staying at the hotel – the breakfast is even better, in the same space.
- **The Abbotsford Bar & Restaurant: a well-preserved Edwardian Pub. Packed, friendly, lots of whiskey on tap.
- **Cafe Royal was a fun choice – a beautiful bar with tiled art showing notable scientists. It was packed, be prepared to fight for your seat. Part of the building is an oyster bar – for next time!
- **Cafe St. Honoré, a longstanding locals’ favorite, is overseen by the veteran Scottish chef Neil Forbes, cooking French food with Scottish ingredients. It was bistro-chic and intimate, with an older, more sedate crowd and very good food. We also loved the look of just about everything on Thistle Street on the way there – to explore next time.
- *Ka Pao Edinburgh: “Experimental small dishes inspired by the flavours of south-east Asia.” The food was pretty good but we didn’t love the setting, next to a movie theater. High end food, mall experience.
- **Monteiths was selected because of their very discrete entrance, in a touristy area, which if you slip in is a hidden garden. Slight demotion for being really quite cold in the restaurant, but the setting, and the food, were very good. Feels like a hidden find. Scottish classics.
- **The Outsider Restaurant is very trendy, packed with people, and on the upscale side. It was pretty good, if not excellent (food was a bit overcooked).
- *Timberyard was a disappointment. It was eye-wateringly expensive, the equivalent of most three star restaurants in France. It’s a pretty space, and service is attentive. Food – aside from an undercooked fish dish – was very good. The wine pairing annoyed me, natural wine served with great pomp and circumstance, but not particularly interesting choices – as Galen called it, “the California rolls of the natural wine world.” This would be a ** at ⅓ of the price, but I can’t recommend it as it stands.
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