Edinburgh
Despite a mixup with the train departure time (and therefore missing our train), we were able to get a later ticket from London to Edinburgh. We arrived to King’s Cross Station about an hour early so we could grab food before onboarding. If this is your first experience with UK train travel, please be mindful that they really don’t announce the departure platform until 15-20 minutes before scheduled departure time and boarding window is only 15 minutes. The process itself is very easy, there is no security to go through and you handle all bags yourself (unless you opted for assistance prior to booking). We did book the First Class tickets (they were the only 2 available after our mixup) which I think was still about 250 pounds for both tickets. The train ride itself was delightful, the stewards came around quite often with cold drinks & snacks as well as a hot beverage cart. I really wanted to try a grazing box (various meats, cheeses, crackers) but ended up going for an orange sweet treat. I have no idea what it was or the name of it but it was almost like an orange custard, it was very good but quite rich.
About 4.5 hours for the train ride, we arrived in Edinburgh Waverly Station by 10:00pm. Because we had so much luggage, I opted for an Uber to take us from the station to the hotel though it would’ve been less than a 10 minute walk. If you are unfamiliar with Edinburgh, most of the streets are on an incline and many are nearly vertical stairways so I highly recommend scoping things out prior to arrival to ensure you are prepared adequately. Uber was not very expensive, it was less than 15 pounds including the tip.
Rainbow over a coastal town along the train line
We stayed at the Cheval Old Town Chambers and I will definitely stay there again. The staff was so incredibly kind & helpful, the facility is beautiful and our apartment was quite spacious with a balcony. We arrived late in the evening and the front desk workers helped us carry all of our bags over to our building. There are elevators here but you do have to endure less than a dozen steps between the main lobby & apartments building. Because we had gotten in so late there weren’t many food options still open so we had McDonald’s delivered. We had McDonald’s for breakfast in London but wanted to see the differences in the regular lunch/dinner menu. I got the Chicken Selects with Buffalo Mayo and my mom tried out the Big Arch burger which is similar to a Big Mac but has white cheddar cheese, crispy & slivered onions, and Big Arch sauce (which wasn’t quite like the sauce we have here stateside). It was all very good and honestly, I have a totally different experience with fast food in the UK compared to the US. The Coca-Cola is so much better over there .
View from the Living Room, Cheval Old Town Chambers
Day 2 in Scotland we had a Highlands tour. I did a separate post for The Highlands because we had so much fun that day, I didn’t think I could fit it all in here. So check that out next!
View from Balcony, Cheval Old Town Chambers
Our last day in Scotland before traveling back home, we decided to explore Edinburgh’s famous Royal Mile. We kicked off our morning with an incredible breakfast at a little cafe called The Castle Rock. We stumbled upon it by chance on our way to Edinburgh Castle, it’s just off the Royal Mile and tucked in a courtyard. We each had a turkey & cheese roll toasted, a millionaire’s shortbread (so delectable, still dreaming of this), and I had a hot tea. My mom absolutely loved the sandwich and hypes it up every time she talks about our trip, the bread was so good & fresh and the amounts of turkey & cheese were perfect. Once we cleaned the crumbs from our plates, we trekked up to Edinburgh Castle to explore.
When I visited last year, we had a tour guide who did a great job at providing facts & history as we walked about. We didn’t opt to do that this trip but I highly recommend it. You learn so much more about the castle itself and the town surrounding it as well as all those who dwelled in it. However, if you prefer to tour yourself it is very easy to navigate & is fairly expansive—there are several buildings honoring fallen soldiers from various branches, the Scottish Crown Jewels are on display, there are dungeons you can explore, and a private chapel. There are refreshment options on the grounds, including a coffee/tea/soda truck that has snacks & ice cream and more filling options such as a grab & go cafe. We opted to do Afternoon Tea in the Garden Room which was a lovely experience. Eat person gets a tiered tray of light treats (sweets like a macaron, lemon meringue, scones with jam & clotted cream, and varies finger sandwiches like coronation chicken, salmon, egg) and choice of hot tea. I went with my tried and true favorite, English Breakfast, and believe my mom tried elderflower & lemon but truthfully can’t remember, they have a good selection of teas to pick from. You can check out their menu on my other post Scotland: Food.
Afternoon Tea, Edinburgh Castle (Menu)
After having tea & meandering about the castle grounds, we spent some time shopping our way along the Royal Mile and Victoria Street. We found a really cute boutique (Swish) on Victoria Street where we got Edinburgh skyline printed tops, I got sweaters & a summery dress. They had a variety of graphic tees, mostly women’s apparel & accessories but the men’s section was fairly expansive and the staff were friendly. We popped into a couple of the traditional tourist shops to purchase gifts for loved ones back home and I splurged on another cashmere sweater because I absolutely love the first one I bought there in 2024. I have very sensitive skin & normally can’t wear many sweaters because it results in an eczema flair up but the cashmere & merino wool there has given me no troubles during the brutal Pennsylvania winters. We also stumbled upon the Tron Kirk Market—it is more artisan locals and vendors. I found several jewelry pieces including necklaces, earrings, and rings that I now wear daily. They also have a variety of art prints, pet products, ceramic pottery, and more—definitely check it out!
Tron Kirk Market, Edinburgh
We concluded the evening with another absolute highlight that I highly, highly recommend. Edinburgh is known for it’s iconic Islander Bags and Islander offers a workshop at one location where you can design & assemble your own bag. My mom chose a backpack in traditional hunter green with navy tartan flap and I went for a more summery option with a straw crossbody & white/pale blue flap. It lasts about an hour and we had such a blast. We had about 10 people in our session and our workshop leader was A+. He was so funny & engaging, making sure to stop by each of us to chat & double check screws as we assembled. You can check out more about this experience if you are interested in learning more Here.
The next morning, we met our driver to head to the airport (the hotel arranged this for us & just charged the room, they have a private cab service they work with). It wasn’t too far of a drive and we arrived about 2.5 hours before departure. The airport was very easy to navigate, we went to United to get our bags checked which only took about 15 minutes then we headed to security. We were through there and into the duty-free shopping zone within 10 minutes. Now I wouldn’t recommend arriving less than 1.5 before boarding but unless it’s an eventful weekend with high volume of travelers, it shouldn’t take too long to get through. We found a table at Wetherspoon’s and had a wonderful breakfast. Then hopped on our flight and headed home! We had a 7.5 hour flight to D.C. then another 2 hours to home. We did run into an issue once we landed—a storm moved through so the airport shut down, delaying all flights. We had about an hour delay which then affected baggage claim when going through the connection customs & security. Luckily we had a 3 hour planned layover, so we ended up only having about 45 minutes of free time before boarding the final flight.
