After an earlyish and chilly start in Berlin, I flew to Edinburgh where I was reunited with my friends Chloe and Iona! We had a cracking few days together catching up after almost a year apart. Whether you’re visiting for a day or a weekend or longer, here’s what to do in Edinburgh…
The Palace of Holyroodhouse
Once home to Mary, Queen of Scots, the Palace of Holyroodhouse is still a working royal palace and royal residence in the heart of Edinburgh. As this is a working palace, we were unable to take photos inside, but we could take photos outside and around the ruins of the abbey. There is some restoration work going on to the ruins of Holyrood Abbey which is attached to the palace. The palace was an expansion of the rooms reserved for royalty by the monks of the Abbey. As it was Christmas, we were treated to all of the beautiful decorations and the most amazing Christmas tree. But beyond that, we wandered through some of the most incredibly decorated and fascinating rooms.
Here’s a few of my highlights from the palace;
The Great Gallery houses the portraits of every Scottish monarch – see if you can see the boot mark and sword slash on the portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots.
The red Throne Room which is where Her Majesty, the late Queen Elizabeth II, lay in state following her death at Balmoral in September 2022. This is also where they have the grand Christmas tree.
Mary, Queen of Scots rooms – you can go into what was once Queen Mary’s bedchamber, the supper room where her private secretary David Rizzio was murdered by Lord Darnley and the Scottish Lords and into the outer chamber where some of the most amazing artefacts, such as the stunning Darnley Jewel, are on display. While in the outer room, check out the spot where it is suggested that Rizzio’s body was left, there’s a red patch in the wooden floor that is assumed may be his blood, gruesome but morbidly fascinating.
You can expect to spend at least a couple of hours at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Entry costs £20 for adults if bought in advance online (£22 if purchased on the day). We would highly recommend you grab a free audio guide (available in many different languages) – it will give you so much information about artefacts, the history, and those that have lived there over the centuries.
World of Illusion and Camera Obscura
This was one of the coolest places I have been to. 5 floors and a rooftop observatory of fascinating exhibits – from mind-bending trickery, an electric room, the most crazy optical illusions and a light vortex which will make you feel drunk – this place has it all! Whether you visit during the day or night, the views from the rooftop observatory are amazing. During the day, you can see the camera obscura at work. At night, you can see how the camera obscura works in a little demonstration given by the staff. We spent nearly 2 hours here and had such a laugh! It costs £21 entry (for adults), well worth the money!
Edinburgh Christmas Market
Edinburgh’s Christmas markets had been hyped up for years – supposedly one of the best in Europe. Sadly, we were quite disappointed with them. The markets were confined to a relatively small area and access was limited to one entrance through a much larger lower park area (which had a light trail) and one exit. There were literally THOUSANDS of people queuing to get in and it was insane. There were a few fairground rides (ferris wheel, carousel and others) but it was mostly food and drink stalls with just a few gift stalls.
Tune into next week’s blog to find out about how you can take an AMAZING day trip to the Scottish Highlands…
I really enjoyed Edinburgh, it was so much fun and of course, it was so lovely to be reunited with Chloe and Iona after so long! I think Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities in the world and I can’t wait to visit again!
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