Sixteen Days, Sixteen People and a whirlwind of fun, history, food, whisky and some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world.
Day 1 - We arrive bright and early on July 4th at Edinburgh airport after an uneventful flight from JFK. We grab our bags and head out to get our shuttle to Celtic Legend Car Rental (1). We get ourselves and our bags into the car (barely) and since we can not get into our rental property until 3pm, we have a full day planned and a few things to see before we head into Edinburgh. So we head off to start our family adventure!
Our first stop is Blackness Castle (2), Â where we can use our Historical Scotland Explorer Pass (3). Blackness Castle is a stop I'm very excited about, as it is also one of our first Outlander stops, which was one of our major inspirations in planning this trip. Blackness was 'Fort William Prison' in season 1 of the Outlander and was also featured in the movies Mary Queen of Scots and Outlaw King. The Castle is a massive 15th century stronghold which is also known as 'the ship that never sailed' due to the way the fortress walls on the edge waters of the Firth of Forth and the North Tower points like a stern of ship headed out to sea. Â Exploring the castle, we find a commanding view of the River Forth and a glimpse of the Forth Bridge, which we will get a better view of later.Â
The day is overcast, with a bit of a chill in the air, true to Scottish weather, and it gives us an authentic feel as we explore the old Scottish castle and learn some of it's history. After we explore a 'wee bit' of the coastline, we head towards Edinburgh.
On our drive into Edinburgh we go just slightly out of the way to get a better look at The Forth Bridge, a cantilever railway bridge which spans the Firth of the River Forth. On the UNESCO World Heritage List, we had to check it out and it did not fail to impress!
We make our way into Edinburgh and find The Four Sisters Boatel (4) on the canal (yes, a houseboat, because if you are taking a adventure, why not take make it a real adventure). We take a few minutes to get settled and check out our quaint, cool, unique home for the next two nights before we have to head out the door to have a few minutes to grab a pint before we catch our bus.
And when I say grab our bus, I mean our red double decker bus with Red Bus Bistro Tours (5) for our first foray into the world of Harry Potter with the Harry Potter Bus Tour. We take our seats on the top floor of the double decker bus, which has been converted to a moving restaurant, where we enjoy finger sandwiches, pastries and butterbeer (both adult and kid versions) as we travel to the many locations which inspired J.K Rowling's famous series. We see Greyfriar's Cemetery, Victoria Street, Edinburgh University, Hollyrood Palace and Waverley Station, as well as the famous Elephant House Cafe where the author was known to have spent many an hour penning the famous stories.
A bit tuckered out after our full day, we make our way back via Victoria Street, or as Potter fans know it, the inspiration for Diagon Alley. As we are headed back this way tomorrow, and we need to find somewhere to eat, we don't spend much time here today, but it is still a fun and a bit magical to actually be here.
We get back to the canal and find one of the canal side restaurants within walking distance of our Boatel. We settle on Zizzi (6), and have a fabulous meal with appetizers and desserts that were as pleasing to the eye as they were to the tastebuds. Then we settle in for our first night across the pond.
Day 2 - Waking up bright eyed and bushy tailed (okay, maybe dragging a little because we are still on US time), we are excited to get started today because we will be meeting up with the rest of the group before days end. On our agenda for the day is Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile, Old Town and everything they have to offer. It is quite an ambitious day which involved LOTS of walking. Â And if you are going to walk, might as well start at the top and work your way down hill, so it is off to Edinburgh Castle we go.
We head towards the Grassmarket we can see the grandeur of the Edinburgh Castle looming over the city and we start our ascend up the Granny's Green Steps and then onto Castle Wynd Steps, 187 steps leading to Castle Hill. It is no small feat to make it up these steps, and no lie, we have to take a rest a few times. We take a brief look at the Cannonball House (so named for the cannon ball embedded in it's wall) before we head to the Castle Esplanade. The Castle Esplanade is set up with bleachers, as it is home to concerts throughout the summer. We go to the Castle Gate to get our tickets and head into Edinburgh Castle!
A strategic fortress and stronghold since the middle ages, Edinburgh Castle (7) sits at the top of The Royal Mile (8). We spend a few hours exploring the amazing grounds, buildings and museums. We check out the Scottish National War Museum, the Great Hall, the Mons Meg (a 15th century cannon), the Dog Cemetery which has been used as a burial ground for officer's pet dogs and regimental mascots since the 1840's and best of all look in awe at the spectacular views of Edinburgh city and the surrounding area.
After the castle, we head to the top of The Royal Mile. Our first stop and meeting point with the Wagenseller's at the Witches Well (where over 300 women were burned at the stake for witchcraft). At this point, some of us head to The Scotch Whiskey Experience (9) and some of us head to Camera Obscura & World of Illusions (10) depending on what kind of 'double vision' we want to experience, lol. We now have about half of our group and should be meeting up with the Cunningham's for lunch.
Now we are starving so we head down to the Grassmarket to find a place for a pint and some food. We find The Last Drop as well as some more of our group and we all get some pints of Scottish beer and try some delicious Scottish food as we catch up and let everyone know the must do's in the city for the afternoon. We only have the James family left to grab and then the gang is all here. We grab a dram at The Wee Pub (11)(because how can you walk past a place called 'the Wee Pub') before we meander up Victoria Street (Diagon Alley) to the Royal Mile and Old town to complete our ensemble.
We head up through the Victoria Terrace stairway towards the Lawnmarket and Parliament Square areas of Old Town. We see the impressive Tolbooth Kirk & the breath taking St Giles Cathedral, The Mercat Cross, Parliament Square and Laws Court as well as the Midlothian Heart. The Mercat Cross is supposed to be our meeting point, but as the rain is starting to pick up, we duck into the Burgers & Beers Grillhouse for a pint.
Finally the whole gang is here. Since the weather is not cooperating, we head over to the Cunningham's lovely siute at the elegant Fraser Suites to have a little family hang out time until dinner. Once we are all caught up, we all head out in our respective directions to grab food and get to bed. We are headed out of the city early in the morning to continue into the Highlands, so everyone needs a good nights rest. On our way home, we hit Auld Jock's Kitchen to grab some yummy Scottish grub and then off to our Boatel for the last night.
Reviews:
#1 - Celtic Legend Car Rental - although they are not on TripAdvisor, I highly recommend this company for your car rental needs in Scotland. Because we were renting all the cars in our group from them, they added all of our rental days for our group together and we were all able to get monthly rental rate for our cars. They were attentive and helpful.
#2 - 11 - feel free to check out my reviews on TripAdvisor!