Edinburgh, United Kingdom
A view of Edinburgh Castle, seen from the top of a grassy knoll, is transfixed in a navy sky illuminated by the crackle of fireworks, as music from the Edinburgh festival sinks into the surrounding valleys. The summer months in Edinburgh are packed with festivals, and a stroll away from the hill and towards the excitement could draw you closer to celebrations of anything: from world music, to international foods, to books inspired by Scotland and the literati of Edinburgh.
The following morning an entirely different experience rises with the evaporating dew: the opportunity to see the rolling hills, and mountains sprinkled with houses and sheep, that surround a city decorated with both medieval and neoclassical architecture. Get lost in the maze of medieval buildings of the Old Town during the day, and in the evening stumble into, and out of, the late night pubs in Auld Reekie, known for its partying and mockery of the northern elite. The chilled evening air after a night of drinking brings calm over the city as high heels echo on the cobbled stone streets and an almost empty Princes St. Gardens is seen at its barest below a sapphire sky.
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We know a total of 47 attractions in Edinburgh. See all Edinburgh attractions.
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Edinburgh: The Fundamentals, The Fresh & The Freaky
If I shout Edinburgh, you might shout festival. But while Edinburgh has the characteristics of a bestseller during August, when visitors flock to frolic in the festivities, it is definitely a classic in the grand scheme of things: timeless, mysterious and
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“Edinburgh: Festival Central”
The minute I stepped off the train in Edinburgh (by the way, taking trains and ferries all around the UK and Ireland is the way to travel – but more on that in an upcoming post), my jaw dropped. “Edinburgh is kind of like York on crack,&rdqu… Read more...
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Nora Dunn.
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- Scotland travel guide
- United Kingdom travel guide
- Europe travel guide
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Free Student Tour of Edinburgh
During our stay in Edinburgh, we were lucky to find a free-student run tour of the area. Our tour was extensive and last for several hours. It was very in depth and showed us many of the sights in Edinburgh that a normal tour would take you on.
We were in Edinburgh during the winter and it was a particularly snowy and cold day. Our tour went from the Royal Mile, to Edinburgh Castle, to a pub, to a graveyard where Grayfriars Bobby, the scotty dog, is buried. We continued on to the central part of Edinburgh, where the shopping was.
During our tour we enjoyed the beautiful old city of Edinburgh and got to hear the history, some interesting and a lot of it disturbing. We enjoyed hot soup and beer while our tour stopped for free time near a pub. After the tour was done we shopped around in the downtown area. When we got hungry we decided to go to an all you can eat chinese buffet called Jimmy Chung's.
Our stay in Edinburgh was very memorable and remains one of my favorite towns. Sights of both old and new make this town a concoction of fun. Go here and see it for yourself! If you are looking for this same guided tour, it met outside of the Starbucks at the opposite end of the Royal Mile from Edinburgh Castle.