London -> Edinburgh - City trip

So after a 9-hour bus ride, I finally arrived in Edinburgh and I was immediately enchanted by the many old houses that adorned the streets.

Since I arrived at 9:00 am and my hostel didn't provide the room until 2:00 pm, I had to spend the rest of the day exploring the city. Fortunately, I was able to leave my luggage at the hostel, so I was only carrying my backpack. Right at the beginning, I found a small café in the old town where I had a little breakfast. Spoiler alert: I will only visit this café during my trip because I liked it so much!

Then I started exploring the old town. Everywhere you look, there are old gray brick houses with chimneys that you know from old movies. My friend doesn't call Edinburgh "the city on multiple levels" for nothing, because this city really takes place on several levels. You walk on a street that is actually a bridge and below you is a busy street. Victoria Street, as the most famous street in Edinburgh, is a good example of this.

The biggest hustle and bustle is around the Royal Mile, the main street of the old town. The Edinburgh Castle, perched above the city, offers a good view of the city, but not the best one!

The best view of the city is from Calton Hill and from Arthur's Seat, the 250m high mountain adjacent to Edinburgh. Admittedly, it's not high, but you have a great view of the city and on the other side, you can see the sea!

Day in Edinburgh and hike to Arthur's Seat

After a very restful first night, I went back to my café today to start the day off right! At first, I strolled through the streets of Edinburgh and let the sun shine on my skin, it was just a beautiful sunny day!

My path led me past the castle towards the historic Dean Village, a small sweet village located in a valley outside the old town. The city already seems very flooded with Spanish tourists. The paths here were steep and narrow, many people were looking for their way to the small village in the gorge.

I didn't find it that great and made my way through the valley towards Calton Hill, as I wanted to take some photos today with better weather! The streets on this side of Edinburgh are steep and in a more Victorian style. The streets remind me of a time travel to the series "Peaky Blinders".

After a short stop at Calton Hill, my path led me to Arthur's Seat and it was crowded in the direction of the sunset. The ascent wasn't particularly difficult, took about 1 hour, and it was very windy at the top. I didn't stay up there for long, so my path led me a little further downhill, where I also let the drone fly. I flew over the hills of the city with the setting sun on the horizon. It was simply fantastic, but cold!

Finally, my descent took me to the steep cliff where you can look directly at the city and here I let the drone fly again. Simply fantastic!!!!

Finally, I just took a shower and fell dead into bed for my last evening!

My last day in Edinburgh, a little city tour and the hunt for Victoria Secret

This day was going to be successful again, so I went to the Free Walking Tour through the old town early in the morning. Highly recommended, it's donation-based, so you only pay if you like it and the amount is up to you. I think this model is very strong, all the tours we have done so far have been very entertaining.

The stories about the old town were very interesting, for example, Edinburgh was built on multiple levels because the old town was surrounded by walls and the people wanted to live protected. That's why some buildings were 15 stories high. The downside of the history was that people in the Middle Ages didn't have toilets and threw the feces into the streets. Scots also had a very rebellious phase against the British Empire and still fight against the belonging to the United Kingdom to this day.

In the 18th century, a British king visited the capital of Scotland because he had gained a completely romanticized view of the people of Scotland from stories by famous Scottish authors. According to the story, the people of the city then behaved extra nice to the king but also laughed a lot at the same time. But not with him, but rather about him, because his Scottish skirt was too short.

After the tour, I went to the New Town to buy my friend a little something at Victoria's Secret. The store was very hard to find and I was also extremely overwhelmed in the store.

I spent one last afternoon in my favorite café before heading to the airport to fly back home.

The time in the UK was very interesting and I really enjoyed it, but Ireland remains my favorite island up here!