My first interactions with Edinburgh were not encouraging. Since parking seems to range from £40 to £50 per day in central Edinburgh I parked at a suburban Park and Ride charging just 50 p a day and caught the bus into the city on Sunday. However, the pay and display machines at the parking lot only issued tickets for one day and the parking app didn’t accept my usual US credit card. Thankfully, it did accept the third card I added and I was then able to pay £1.50 for 3 days parking. I had no plan B so was anxious for a while. After checking in to my hotel I chose a pub to eat dinner only to find it was fully booked all evening after walking over a mile to get there. I stopped at a convenience store and bought snacks for dinner. Bearing in mind that misadventure, I reserved a place for breakfast on Monday morning but, when I requested an Uber to get there no drivers were available for 25 minutes and I missed my reservation. However, that was the end of my frustrations and I have had a great time in Edinburgh.

Monday, July 13 2026

You can tell you’re in a special city when you can walk for miles and something unusual, intriguing or beautiful is always around the corner. Edinburgh is one of these cities. It is elegant, historical, cultural and filled with people enjoying themselves speaking many languages but it has a flinty, sturdy character befitting it’s northern location and native population.

I spent most of the day walking it’s most famous areas with just one tourist attraction visit and am going to include just a few of the 167 photos I took that, to me, represent the city. Apologies to those who have visited previously and probably have a similar collection of shots.

The spectacular beauty of the city is all around.

My tourist visit was further east along the Royal Mile. This area is known as Old Town and, in the 16th and 17th centuries, most of the population lived in narrow streets, called closes, which run perpendicular to the wider main street.

My visit was to Mary Kings Close which, at 10 feet (3 m) wide, was the second widest street in the city in the 17th century and was hemmed in by walls about 5 stories high and supported a thriving market.. However, in 1753 the city council decided to partially demolish these buildings in order to create a new Royal Exchange building to hold the market. Since the crosses slope, as seen in the photo above, the new building was built on top of the ground floor of Mary Kings cross and created underground segments of that and three other crosses. The guided tour of the underground Mary Kings Cross is considered one of the top tourist attractions with well researched descriptions of life in the crosses before and after its burial. Unfortunately, as seems to be the case in Scotland, no photography is allowed. It was, however, educational, interesting and entertaining as life in the crosses up until the late 1960s was described.

Tuesday, July 14 2026

Today I visited two of the most recommended tourist attractions, Edinburgh Castle, which has been voted the number one UK heritage attraction in the British Travel Awards four times, and the Royal Yacht Britannia which is TripAdvisor’s number one UK attraction for 2026.

When I went online to book tickets for the castle on Sunday I was horrified to find that Monday and Tuesday timed entry tickets were sold out but was lucky in that flexible tickets that can be used any time of day were still available for Tuesday. One thing I have learned about Edinburgh is to book everything in advance.

The location of the castle is known to have been used as a stronghold since the 7th century but it was in the 11th century it became a royal residence. During the Wars of Independence (13th and 14th centuries) it changed hands between the Scottish and English many times and was destroyed and rebuilt at least twice. There was an amusing animation on display running through the years 1286 to 1356 showing these changes using fighting dragons. At one point, after the castle’s destruction, it said “Sheep hold the castle”. Here is a brief clip showing the turnover from the end to the beginning.

The oldest part of the current castle dates back to 1130 but much of it is much newer with major additions in the 1500s and early 1800s.

The walk up to the castle, after a full Scottish cooked breakfast, was not as strenuous as I had imagined it would be but the crowds of visitors certainly lived up to expectations.

The castle is much bigger that it appeared to me yesterday and is larger than some of the villages I have been staying in on this trip.

There are some great views from the castle wall although this morning’s weather was not as perfect as yesterday.

There were only a few indoor spaces (apart from the tea rooms and gift shops). The Great Hall, which was used for banquets and balls, had displays of armor through the ages.

There was also a guarded room containing the Honours of Scotland or Scotland’s crown jewels. The display consisted of a crown dating from 1540 and two sceptres. These are the oldest royal regalia in the British Isles and, of course, no photographs are allowed.

The magnificent structure below crowned the castle and contains the Scottish National War Memorial. Visitors are allowed but no photography.

The Royal Yacht Britannia served as a floating palace for Queen Elizabeth II between 1954 and 1997 when it was decommissioned after the British government determined it was too expensive to refurbish or replace. It is now owned by a charitable trust and is moored in the Edinburgh suburb of Leith on the Firth of Forth. The visit starts with a small exhibition of it’s history and travels.

I will be heading back to England tomorrow after a great two days in the Scottish capital.