{"id":4974,"date":"2026-07-14T17:19:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T21:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/relativerest.com\/?p=4974"},"modified":"2026-07-14T17:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T21:19:14","slug":"edinburgh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/relativerest.com\/?p=4974","title":{"rendered":"Edinburgh"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My first interactions with Edinburgh were not encouraging. Since parking seems to range from \u00a340 to \u00a350 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 \u00a31.50 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday, July 13 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This bike, on Princes Street, was the first unusual site I came across. It is the memorial for a young Asian student who died when her bike wheels got caught in the tramlines seen in the photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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At the moment those tramlines are not in use as a serious fire at an historical department store building has closed a section of Princes Street and buses and trams are all diverted. Elegant cities try to save their history and you can read the local reaction in this Edinburgh Inquirer article<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The spectacular beauty of the city is all around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The famous Sir Walter Scott monument took 4 years to build, starting in 1841. It is just a little further along Princes Street in gardens that run alongside the street.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Also in Princes Gardens you can see this view of the topography of the city. Edinburgh Castle is built on the top of a volcanic plug while the Ross fountain and Princes Gardens are in a valley formed by glacial erosion. They combine here to provide an impressive view and a very popular photo spot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Edinburgh has many festivals every year. I checked the schedule and none were listed for the dates of my visit but, this afternoon, I discovered this Nepali festival in full swing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My tourist visit was further east along the Royal Mile<\/em>. This area is known as Old Town<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is a typical close – Fleshmarket Close. The children offer a sense of scale.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My visit was to Mary Kings Close<\/em> 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<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday, July 14 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n