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After going to London to visit a friend, my next stop was Scotland where I was about to visit another friend living by Aberdeen.
I booked a flight landing in Edinburgh, where I would have an entire day to explore, before catching a bus that will take me to Aberdeen.
Edinburgh Blew Me Away
I caught a tram going from the airport to city centre and I was immediately blown away by what I saw! As of writing this article, I've been travelling around the world for 11 months, and to be quite honest, I am getting numb to sight seeing. Everything is starting to look the same and that shock factor is gone...or so I thought!
As soon as the metro I was taking passed by the old city, my jaw dropped. I can't believe how beautiful Edinburgh is! I love being surprised and it was such a nice feeling to have that shock factor again when I saw the old city!
Once I reached my stop, I went to the central bus station to lock my bags in the locker storage. After grabbing breakfast, I made my way to the infamous "Royal Mile" which is the strip where all the tourist goes to explore Edinburgh.
My first stop was the Edinburgh castle. Despite being touristy and expensive (it cost 17 Euros to enter this castle), it was still worth it. I got to see the crown jewels and explore this sizeable castle. The castle was more like a small village because there was quite a few dwellings inside. Besides the dwellings, there was also a jail cell, a church, a museum and various other chambers.
I do recommend buying your ticket online because the queue to make a purchase in person can be very long. Many tourists were complaining about the long line up and I don't blame them because it took almost an hour to purchase a ticket! Regardless, I was here already and decided to eat the cost to see this famous castle.
After I was satisfied exploring, I continued to walk along the "Royal Mile". There was many street performers and it was definitely a lively place. You had people acting in a play or doing stunts.
At the other end of the Royal Mile lies the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Apparently, it's a tourist trap so I didn't bother going in. Along the Royal Miles also lies beautiful cathedrals, and museums. I was quite choked when I learned I missed a key tourist attraction which is the city UNDER Edinburgh. I didn't realize there was an underground city and the current city was built on top of the old one. Oh well, I guess I have an excuse to return back to this city one day.
After exploring the Royal Mile, it was time to leave and so I quickly went to buy some food before heading to the bus station. I also noticed that there are many grocery stores in Edinburgh where you can buy food for cheap making it a very budget friendly city to visit.
In the future, I'd like to come back to this city and stay here for a week because the vibe here is just amazing. It's hands down my favourite city in Europe and so glad my friend convinced me to visit it because it was never in my plan to come to Scotland during my one year trip around the world.
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