Climbing the Scott Monument

Located at Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh to honour the Scottish author, Sir Walter Scott. Built in 1841-1845 and has 288 steps broken into four sections going all the way to the top (200 feet 6 inches). 

It's a beautiful black and grey structure that casts its shadow down onto the busy Princes Street. Climbing up means views all over the city centre. And just like Arthur's Seat it took me a few visits to Edinburgh before I managed to summit the tower.

For a fiver you too can climb the many, many stairs to the top. As you get higher the walls become narrower and the stairs steeper. I don't like heights and couldn't make it to the last level. The wind was wiping around me and the views were pretty decent from that 3rd platform, I decided to stay right there and wait for my friend to make the ascent.

contemplating going higher

Despite having a irrational  completely rational fear of heights I still like trying to push myself to see  a city from all its angles, including high ones.

(Be sure to check the times, they change depending on the season).

From which angle do you love seeing a city from?

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What To Do Off the Royal Mile

The last few times I was in Edinburgh I played pretty close to the Royal Mile, as in, pretty much everything I did, see, eat, and drink was on the Royal Mile. There is totally enough to do and see along this famous stretch of cobbled stones; from museums to pubs, you hardly need to leave if you haven't even been here before.

This time around, however, I was glad to have done with the major tourist attractions on this length of road and now was free to explore some of the many other things Edinburgh has to offer. And there are plenty.

So here's my very short list of things you should do in Edinburgh that isn't found right on the Royal Mile, which should start you off.

Dean Village
This idyllic little residential village not far from Edinburgh Castle is the prettiest, quaintest place in all the city. These 19th century homes line the winding Water of Leith which snakes through much of Edinburgh.

You might think this quiet little place without any restaurants, pubs or even public loos wouldn't be of consequence to check out, but really it's well worth it. 

Get out your camera (or camera phone as the case may be)!

Hutton Roof
I first discovered Hutton Roof on my maps.me app. There it was, listed on George IV Bridge, right near the National Museums Scotland. But when Googled, no Hutton Roof comes up. I was perplexed. I wanted to see the city of Edinburgh, and the Royal Mile for that matter, from a different perspective. I asked all my Scottish residing friends and acquaintances and no one had heard of it either. Almost defeated, my friend and I decided to see if it was somewhere in the museum itself and stopped by the Tower Restaurant for a spot of tea and cake. There were nice views here, but I wanted more. I wanted a roof! 

Wandering around the museum for a bit we finally found a sign reading, 'Stairs to Rooftop' and ascended. We found it! Although nowhere is it marked with it's proper name until you are actually on the roof itself, but Hutton Roof is there with a garden and the wonderful views I had been hoping for. 

Stockbridge Market

I recently wrote about this lovely foodie market on the Water of Leith. I wouldn't call it a little known market as this place was packed when we visited, but maybe it's unknown to the tourist stuck on the Mile. 

Within a half hour walk of the Mile itself, it's a great place to pick up some produce or better yet, a haggis sausage roll.

Harvey Nichols Rooftop

This trip was very much about the rooftop views, as it often is for me when I travel. The other rooftop I enjoyed that isn't too far off the Mile and has stunning city views in it's own right is the Harvey Nichols Fourth Floor Restaurant. It's Harvey Nichols, so don't expect a cheap meal, but definitely a G&T is doable. 

On a sunny, warm day everyone wants to be on the narrow balcony; if you bide your time and order a second G&T, you too, can enjoy a spot of sunshine while watching the small people below from this small strip of paradise. 

Go ahead! Pretend you're fancy AF.

St. Anthony's Chapel Ruins at Sunset

At some point, you should certainly trek up to Arthur's Seat. The views of Edinburgh are something else. The wind was breathtaking as well.

There are several trails that can be taken throughout Holyrood Park each are lovely but I suggest not ignoring St. Anthony's chapel ruins. From here you can see the Firth of Forth along with the castle and much the same views as up on Arthur's Seat, however with a lot less wind. My personal recommendation is to choose a particularly pretty evening and head there for sunset. The light is stunning and your selfie game will be on point. 

Eteaket

A pub crawl is a must when visiting pretty much any European city and Edinburgh definitely has a great many pubs to choose from. However, if you aren't into the pub scene or fancy a pot of tea mid-afternoon, Eteaket located on Frederick St. is the perfect little tea room. They serve meals and cakes and of course afternoon teas. 

Dishoom

Through my London Instagram friends, I'd been seeing and reading all about Dishoom, Bombay Cafe with several locations around London. The #foodporn photos looked amazing and I desperately wanted to check it out. Then a new Scottish friend mentioned a restaurant which had just opened up with a great breakfast called 'Dishoom'. I gasped and began salivating. We immediately made plans to breakfast there the next morning. 

I've been daydreaming about this meal and more specifically the bottomless chai tea ever since. Pictured below is the Kejriwal, fried eggs on chili cheese toast. Hungry yet?

What would you add to my list of things to do in Edinburgh? 

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To Market, To Market: Stockbridge Market

I haven't done a "To Market, To Market" post in a very long time. Moving away from the UK has meant that I don't get to visit markets, any kind of market, as frequently as I'd like to. So, when visiting my friend in Edinburgh and she suggested checking out Stockbridge Market, I made sure we made it there so that I could get my market fix. 

It runs every Saturday from 10am to 5pm and is located at Jubilee Gardens along the Water of Leith. On this fine spring morning, we took a very scenic route down through Dean Village and the waterway path toward the market. It was a beautiful morning with brisk air and blue skies. The perfect marketing weather! We definitely weren't the only ones to think this, as we passed countless strolling mom's and tots and sniffing meandering dogs on long leads. 

Had I not been with my friend who knew where we were supposed to be going, I would have just continued on that lovely little pathway, but my rumbling tummy convinced me that market food was what I needed. 

Jubilee Gardens is a small park space, but boy do they ever pack it in with vendors! You can find all sorts of different foods and artisan items, this is seriously foodie heaven! There is the usual market fare and also some traditional British and Scottish treats, like scotch eggs, haggis Sausage rolls, and shortbread. We couldn't help ourselves and purchased a small feast breakfast. 

Eventually the heaving crowd and long lines got the better of us and we existed in search of a cafe nearby to rest our feet and share a pot of tea. As with most markets, arrive earlier in the day to avoid longer lines. We had arrived later in the day along with most of Edinburgh. 

If I lived in Edinburgh, this would certainly be a frequented weekend location, fulfilling my grocery treats that just can't be satisfied by Asda or Tesco.

Do you have a favourite market?

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What to Expect When Visiting Edinburgh

Sometimes visiting a new place can be a bit overwhelming, you might experience some major culture shock, language barriers, and even homesickness. But fear not! Go ahead and plan that trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, I got you covered boo!

Expect Wind
It will whip and whirl around you, not a hair will stay in place. Accept it and style it out.

Expect to spend a lot of time on the Royal Mile
You got the castle at one end and Holyroodhouse on the other and so many wonderful things in between from museums to pubs. And if it's not on the mile, it's not too far off it.

Expect to find good food
We found a great Thai place one night when wandering, we had an excellent lunch in a museum cafe, and many perfect pints in interesting pubs. The food is good.

Expect to want to try haggis and deep fried mars bar and 
Spoiler alert, they're good.

Expect  to like it
Yeah. Like seriously. Don't be scared.

Expect  there to be Scotch drinks
You don't have to like it yourself, but respect the heritage this golden spirit has in this county.

Expect  tourists 
They will be everywhere, doing all the things you are doing. Accept it and deal. You are in an awesome city that's big enough and cool enough to share.

Most importantly expect to have an amazing time in Edinburgh. It's a glorious city with much to see and do.

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Climbing Arthur's Seat

Not every step is equal. 

On my trip to the UK I had brought along a pedometer, curious to know how many steps I'd take on an average touring day. Some days were exhausting great reaching a high of 38,000 steps, others were spent in bed and foraging for food only hitting 2,000 steps. Then there was the day I climbed Arthur's Seat. From the base to the top was roughly 800 steps. But they were a steep, inclined 800 steps. Not every step is equal.

It could have been that we were slightly out of shape, huffing and puffing up that mountain; we wheezed as people ran past on their routine run and dogs literally ran circles around us as they charged up. I'm calling it altitude issues. We simply were not used to being that high above sea level, the air was too thin. That is clearly why native toddlers doddled past us, as we reached the rocky summit.

Full disclosure: we were looking for the easy path up. We chose wrong. 

Finally at the top, we found a place to perch our quivering bodies to keep from being blown off and to catch our breaths, only to have it taken away again by the panoramic views of the city. From one side you can see the city centre and Edinburgh Castle looking small and unimpressive in the distance, the other direction you have views of the North Sea.

I was there in January, it was mild weather but still chilly up on that seat. If you are to adventure up today it would hopefully be a heck of a lot warmer and sunnier, but guaranteed to be just as windy!

At the end of our journey up and back down again we felt we deserved a little sugary treat and hot drink to restore our body and  more importantly our spirits. I would climb that mountain everyday if it meant I could eat that decadent peanut butter brownie again and again.

It took me three visits to Edinburgh before I finally got around to climbing Arthur's Seat. For one reason or another I wasn't able to until this last visit and I knew I couldn't avoid miss it any longer. Worth the wait.

Have you climbed Arthur's Seat? What was your experience like? Did you discover you are as out of shape as me?

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