Part two of my first solo travel here I only had three days to explore the wonderful city. I packed a lot in three days from the castle to eating Korean food in this lovely small restaurant.

The day started in York where I hoped on a train and my journey began. Like York, I chose a hostel that was walking distance from the train station this made it quite essay to navigate the new city. don’t always trust google maps they made me go the long way up Victoria Street not that it was not beautiful but if you ever bean you’ll know what I’m talking about. it’s not an easy one with a suitcase.

Once I dropped off my thing and checked if to my hostel safestay Edinburgh safestay I walked around and got my self acquainted with the area. I was also one street down from the Royal Mile. Now the Royal Mile is not just one long road it’s a succession of many streets from the castle gate to Holyrood Palace. It’s not actually a mile it is 1.6 km this distance is called the Scottish mile. This street is the busiest in the old town with loads of tourist.

Of this street there plenty of things to do. While I was there one of the streets had vendors, both selling different objects. I normally don’t buy anything from this place because they are normally mass-produced souvenirs that are overpriced. But this time I couldn’t stop myself I found this beautiful printed world map on what looks like skids or pallets. It was 25£ but I bargained for it and got it down to 15.

What I did during my days

Because I was only there for a few days I didn’t do everything that was available for me to do. on the day of my arrival, I didn’t do very much I walked around and got my self acquainted with my surroundings. Also, the weather was a bit chillier compared to the 40*c in York and I didn’t pack the right clothes for cooler weather, so I found my new favorite store that is unfortunately not in Canada it’s called Primark for a thin coat. I also took this time to look around what interested in doing.

Edinburgh castle

Now, this is one of the most expensive things that I did during my stay. now it was 20 £ it’s not overly expensive but compared to most of everything else that was mostly free. The Castle grounds are filled with history and knowledge. there is also spectacular views of the Old Town and New Town. You can also pay for tours with a guide or pay for a “self-tour” with a headphone and a pre-recording but if you are like me and are up for a lite of reading then you can easily just walk around at your own pace.

Free Harry Potter walking tour

Now if your the type of person that likes to plan and pre-buy tickets you can find tours on the internet but I had no plan at all when I got there so when I say the sight on high Street and the scheduled tours I showed up for one of them with no pre-booking. There are tours offered along High street that have set prices but if you are like me and travelling on somewhat of a budget this is a great thing to do. How it works is that at the end of the tour you give your tour guide a tip there is no set tip price you give out what you thought what is good. In a group, there are about 15 people so let’s say every one gives out 10 that 150 from there the staff get paid there. Even though this is a free tour it does get busy and to be certain to have a spot you can reserve in advance on their website Free Harry Potter tour especially if your a big group.

This tour last about 1h1/2 to 2h depending on the conversations between the group. I also recommend you wearing a good pair of shoes since it is a walking tour and there are lots of stairs and hills to go up and down. You will learn lots of little facts like how the unicorn is related to Scotland and why it is seen as precious and sine to kill them in the wizarding world.

Camera Obscura & World of Illusions

Just out of the castle grounds there is this and fun and quirky museum with loads of different types of Illusions once on the top floor there is the Camera Obscura. When you pay entrance they give you a time for a viewing of the Obscura. there are only 7 of this in the world
7 camara obscura in the world

Greyfriars Kirkyard

Now in Scotland the cemetery are not just a peace of land that are for commemorated the dead. They are that but are also like a park with benches and people take a stroll trough the cemetery or even I’ve seen someone reading a book and drinking coffee. It is quite peaceful even thought it is situated in the middle of the old town. When eating at the Elephant House if you make your way to the end of the cafe if you look out the window you will see Greyfriars Kirkyard this is also where JK Rowling spent most of her time writing here books and got inspiration on a few characters names in the series

Greyfriars Kirkyard is also know for another thing and its the only animal that is buried in the cemetery near his owner. This is because when the owner died the dog wold not leave his owners side. Friends of the dog owners took in the dog but he keep going back so one day there was a snow storm and the dog died in the cold buy his owner. So the community came together and decided to buried him in the cemetery

Food in Edinburgh

Now I had been living in the UK about 10 months now and I’ve had my fare share of roast dinner with all the fixings so I asked locals where the best place to eat that was more known by local and les of a tourist trap. Don’t get me wrong I did go to some more tourist places.

Kim’s Mini Meals

5 Buccleuch St, Edinburgh EH8 9JN, UK

One place where a local sent me was this quaint Korean restaurant it had about 20 seats. But it was the best I’ve had so far. This place is run by this sweet lady that moved from South Korean to Scotland and opened this little place. She dos all the cooking and her daughter runs the front of house. They make everything fresh in house including there kimchi. Your meal also get complimentary kimchi and other pickled dish and a small bowl of soup and all the mains are all 10£. So reasonable price for a good meal. If I remember correctly they only take cash but I could be wrong but just increase bring some cash’s.

The Elephant House

21 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EN, UK

I also went to enjoy a lovely breakfast at the Elephant house. Now if there are any Harry Potter fans out there this is the café where JK Rowling wrote the second and third book of the collection. I had a wonderful peanut butter, banana, and honey on a lovely piece of sourdough with a cappuccino and freshly squeezed orange just.

The Edinburgh Larder

15 Blackfriars St, Edinburgh EH1 1NB, UK

On my last day in Edinburgh I was only going to be there for the morning and then I was catching a train back home in the early afternoon so I took my time and slept in 8am and then pack up and check myself out. Just up the street from the hostel there is this beautiful little café/bakery that has only 15seats. Also if they have tow pairs that come in at the same time but there is only a table of four they’ll ask if it’s okay to share the table. This place gets quite busy so I do recommend making reservations. I just happened to walk in and my new friend/bunk mate that I made from my stay at the hostel was siting and hadn’t ordered yet so she asked me to join her and I did and it was delicious.