We woke up on our first day in Edinburgh knowing that we were joining our first non-private tour. So far we’ve been lucky in that regard and had dedicated guides arranged by our tour company, but this time it’s left to the whims of the universe and… we ended up with a private tour! It was a great outcome, actually, as the guide, Shauna, did a fantastic job and we were very pleased with the tour overall. But… I’m getting ahead of myself so let me start at the beginning.
Our hotel from behind, view from just off of North Bridge (in the right of this photo)
We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant – it’s included with the room and overall it is very good. There’s a buffet section for continental breakfast which also includes most American items (bacon, eggs, etc.,) as well as a mixture of yogurts, fruits, and pastries. You can also optionally order everything from a bacon roll to haggis to kippers (fish). I didn’t venture out of the norm this time, I got an omelet (if I remember correctly!) and a few items from the buffet (yay brie cheese!). It was good, and we had to work through it quickly to meet our guide!
Tours in Edinburgh were booked through a website called Viator. They allow local tour companies to advertise their outings and then individual guides are assigned to groups as they fill up. Today our tour started, by sheer luck, outside our hotel lobby. We exited the building and met our guide, Shauna, who walked us up and down Edinburgh.
From our hotel, the Balmoral, you can take the “North Bridge” road that separates what they call “old town” from “new town” in Edinburgh. Fun fact: “New town” is all slightly over 250 years old – so yeah… even the newer buildings are older than the entire history of the United States. Needless to say… there’s a lot of history here. The same road, North Bridge, walks you to what is referred to as the Royal Mile.
The Royal Mile in Edinburgh is actually just a little over a mile long, and begins and ends with royal residences – on the one side is Edinburgh Castle (which we’ll visit later) and on the other the Palace of Holyrood House. Between there are a great deal of shops, cafes, and churches that hold a great deal of history for the town – and Shauna gave us the Cliff’s Notes to the best of her abilities.
The Scott Monument – from afar
We started by learning about the old town and new town, as well as getting some pictures of a monument to Sir Walter Scott while walking the bridge. Scott is credited with creating the romantic pictures you see in your head of Scotland – all of it – from the kilts to the castles. Sure, there were some, but the world wasn’t in love with Scotland until he wrote the Waverly Novels – a huge hit across Europe at the time in the early 1800’s.
From there we’d walk along the Mile. She took us to the first stop – the corner of North Bridge & Market Street – and talked about the bloody history of Scotland royalty and the life of Mary, Queen of Scots. Her life was quite rough, and quite interesting – for most of Scotland’s royal history where there was strife… Mary was there – and the strife was usually happening to her.
Looking up and down the Royal Mile
Looking up and down the Royal Mile
Shauna continued to tour us around Edinburgh, we would go uphill, down through what are called “closes” (usually a named ‘close’ like “John’s Close”, etc.,) which are akin to alleyways. Typically a close will cut uphill and/or downhill – and early on in the tour I found myself turned around pretty easily – and that’s hard to do with me usually (I can hear Jen Holder laughing right now – shut it!).
The “Mercat Cross” – where a town crier would have been – and a statue that denotes trade is allowed.
Along the way though we had a mixture of Scottish history, Edinburgh’s history, and of course… Harry Potter lore. The tour was pretty much split in half – first Scottish history, then Harry Potter. And boy – were there some Harry Potter places to see in this town!
Many who have had an outsized impact on Edinburgh are asked to put their hands in the concrete… like a Walk of Fame of sorts…
J.K. Rowling finished the 7th Harry Potter book in our hotel. We haven’t made it to the room yet but apparently people now pay thousands a night to stay in the room where the series was penned to completion. I see the appeal, but my pocketbook doesn’t, so we’re all just in normal rooms. That said, we may pop up later this week and see the owl carved into the door of the supposed suite.
Add to that the fact that the books, in concept, were developed here and you get a lot of sites to visit – a street that inspired Diagon Alley, the “Elephant House” that claims to be the actual coffee shop / birth place of Rowling’s first drafts, and graves of people with last names like McGonagall and Riddle. It was quite a tour all in, and Shauna did great with us as a group and with each of us individually, young and old (my nephew still wants to find a way to be her friend!).
We were caught in a downpour or two…
Victoria Street, from Victoria Terrace – the inspiration for Diagon Alley
Victoria Street – the inspiration for Diagon Alley
We finished up the tour in the Scottish Museum – looking at a chess set, the Lewis Chessmen, that inspired the game of wizard’s chess in the books and movies – and then headed out to lunch at a place called McGonagall’s (he was actually a very, very bad poet) and to see the Elephant House and a nearby Harry Potter shop.
Okay, okay! This was from Starbucks later in the day, but it’s my first one this trip!
After returning to the hotel for a nap and some rejuvenation after another 5+ mile day… we meandered around Edinburgh near the hotel until we found a pizza place recommended by the hotel concierge for their “hot dog and French fry” pizza (please remember I’m traveling with children, it wasn’t what I ordered!). It was actually very good – both the atmosphere, and the pizza itself! I got one with a good deal of meat on it, as well as a dipping sauce of hot honey. It is absolutely worth a trip if you make it here. Check out Pizza Pilgrims – they’re a chain, I think, and they really do a great pie.
We headed to bed excited for the next day – we have a twelve hour tour that includes watching the Hogwarts Express going over the famous viaduct you see in the movies! It’s going to be one of the most exciting days in Edinburgh, I think!
