Rick Steves'
Best of Scotland
Edinburgh
Our first stop in Scotland was beautiful, sophisticated Edinburgh. As we drove through the city on the bus that brought us in from the airport, we had to keep reminding ourselves that it was real - everything looked like it was straight off a movie set! The city is indescribably quaint with gorgeous, historic buildings at every turn augmented by the view of the imposing Edinburgh Castle on top of the hill. The slideshow below shows some of our favorite city views.
This was the classic view we got of Edinburgh with grey skies and "misty" weather, which just added to the ambiance.
One of the many little hidden courtyards tucked off the main street.
One of the few sunny views we got of the city while we were there.
This was the classic view we got of Edinburgh with grey skies and "misty" weather, which just added to the ambiance.
Hotel
The lobby of our quaint hotel in Edinburgh.
Our first hotel of the tour was tucked away off the main roads but still in the center of the city.
This was the view across the street from our hotel.
The lobby of our quaint hotel in Edinburgh.
After receiving the name of the hotel we would be staying at in Edinburgh, we decided to book our extra pre-tour nights in the same hotel. It went smoothly, as with a quick email to the hotel we were able to have the same room before and after the tour started. The directions provided by Rick Steves' were simple and easy to follow. We used the public bus to get from the airport to the center of Edinburgh and then it was just a quick walk to the hotel. All of our hotels on the tour surprised us with how comfortable they were and how close they were to the sites!
History in the making
We were lucky enough to travel to Scotland during the Scottish Referendum to witness the vote on independence from the rest of the U.K. (purely dumb luck, I might add, as we had no idea that our time in Scotland overlapped this event when we booked, we just thought September would be a nice month to travel in!). This became the biggest cultural experience for the remainder of the trip. As soon as we arrived, we began to see creative political advertisements spread throughout the city. It was a very exciting time to be in Edinburgh!
