
Rick Steves'
Best of Scotland
Tour Days 1 and 2: Welcome to Scotland & Conquering Edinburgh Castle
We awoke excited and nervous to meet our tour group on the first official day of the tour. We had heard great things about how wonderful the guides and tour mates on Rick Steves' tours are, but we had never done anything like this before, so we were a bit apprehensive. We didn't need to worry! Our tour mates were great, and we all got along right away. Before meeting our tour, we did a bit of a walking tour through the University of Edinburgh, Old Town, and the Royal Botanic Gardens. After meeting our group and taking a short orientation walk of the neighborhood surrounding our hotel, we had a nice dinner and everyone enjoyed the chance to get to know our new friends.

We loved these colorful buildings we found in Old Town on a walk around the city.

You can't go to the UK without a pub stop! We found these a bit confusing, as each one seemed to have different etiquette on whether to seat yourself or not, and whether to order at the counter or wait for a waitress. We gave the staff a few chuckles at our cluelessness!

This was the view from the hill near our hotel where we went with our tour group during our orientation walk.

We loved these colorful buildings we found in Old Town on a walk around the city.
History in the making
At our first dinner together, our guide Anne shared with us some of the considerations regarding the "elephant in the room," the decision the Scots were having to make as they voted on Scottish independence the next day. She explained how it was a struggle for them, because many of them wanted to retain the financial and political stability they have as a part of the United Kingdom, but at the same time the Scottish are very proud and nationalistic people and have a hard time not having independence. Given the history of the rivalry between the English and Scottish, the desire for independence seems natural. She said it was difficult as a Scottish person to admit that you don't hope for an independence vote, because you would feel like you were betraying your country. This explained why there was much more "yes" propaganda than "no," because the no camp tended to remain quiet. She encouraged us to visit local pubs to hear the local take on the issue. On our walk through town, we found an impromptu parade traveling down the Royal Mile to a "yes" rally. There was so much energy and excitement that we decided to follow! We attached a short video taken on a cell phone to give a quick glimpse of the proceedings. The people protesting felt that the BBC was giving a biased representation of the Scottish wishes and was failing to adequately cover the "yes" side, so they are singing "Where's your cameras, BBC?"
The Royal Mile
On the first full day of the tour, we started with a walking tour of the Royal Mile. This is where we learned the true benefit of an experienced guide - we had walked the same steps for 3 days before the tour had started and had noticed none of the things Anne was able to point out to us. We learned so much in just a few hours! We saw quaint courtyards and buildings with wonderful histories. We toured the graveyard made famous by the loyal dog featured in Greyfriar's Bobby. We saw the cafe where J.K. Rowling went to write the Harry Potter books, gravestones that inspired her characters' names, and the school where her kids attended. Later in the tour we saw the estate she owns in the countryside. For our tour of the Scottish National Museum, Anne pointed out the most important pieces. None of this would we ever have noticed on our own, and it enriched our experience so much! Since this was the day of the vote, there was so much excitement throughout the city. Everywhere we looked we saw news media interviewing people, Scottish people lining up outside polling locations to vote, and young people dressing up and carrying signs to champion their side. We were blown away by the peaceful exuberance of the people over the vote as a contrast to the lackluster interest in politics we see at home.

One of the cute little courtyards Anne pointed out that we never would have noticed on our own.

The amazing craftsmanship on the exterior of one of the buildings on the Royal Mile.

We saw many bagpipe players throughout Scotland.

One of the cute little courtyards Anne pointed out that we never would have noticed on our own.
Edinburgh Castle
The final feature of our guided tour for the day was Edinburgh Castle. Anne gave us a great overview of the history of the castle along with an orientation of how to get around, then released us to explore according to our interests. We loved this mix of guided and free time that we got throughout the tour. After the guided tour, we relaxed by having dinner on our own and taking a last stroll through town before returning to our hotel to rest and pack up for our first day on the road.



There was beautiful art and ornate woodwork throughout the castle.

Use this button to travel to our introduction page on our next stop of Aberfeldy before returning to day 3 of the tour.