The Royal Mile, Edinburgh

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Today was our big walking tour of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. The Royal Mile was established as a royal burgh by King David I in the 12th century. This is definitely the main area to see in Edinburgh (unless you’re here to shop, in which case you’d probably be happiest on Princes Street).

After breakfast we walked from our hotel to Edinburgh Castle about a mile away. If you come to Edinburgh, prepare to spend about 3 hours at the castle. We didn’t even purchase the audio guide and it still took that long to see everything (I can’t even imagine how long it would have taken with the tour!). The castle dates back to the 11th century. In 1140 it was the first recorded meeting place of the Scottish Parliament, in 1566 it was the birthplace of the son of Mary Queen of Scots (James, who became King of both Scotland and England), and in 1745 it saw its first siege against Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobites. The castle was a royal residence until 1542, and begun to be used as an ordinance factory after that. There are still military barracks on the grounds today.

After our long tour of the castle, we walked the rest of the Royal Mile. On the way we saw…

1. Brodie’s Close- Deacon Brodie was a thief who escaped and fled to Holland after his capture but who was eventually brought back to Edinburgh and hung on gallows of his own design. We stopped and had scones at the Brodie’s Close Café, located inside.

2. St. Giles Cathedral- originally dating back to the 12th century, the cathedral was burned by the English when they overran the city in 1385. John Knox laid down his reforms here in the 1500s. On the street next to the church is a heart-shaped arrangement of cobbles, marking the site of the old tollbooth (where taxes were collected) and city prison. Rumor has it that spitting in the heart will bring you good luck (I was too embarrassed to try this as there were a LOT of people standing around).

3. John Knox House- an apparently genuine 16th-century house (even though it is thought that Knox probably lived in a church manse)

4. Canongate Tollbooth- the tower of the tollbooth dates back to the 1590s and there is a clock hanging out into the street that was added to the building in the 1880s.

5. Canongate Church- christened in 1691, this is the church that the royal family attends when they are staying at Holyrood Palace. The grave of philosopher Adam Smith is in the churchyard here.

6. Palace of Holyroodhouse- a residence for royalty, the palace was closed today because Queen Elizabeth is here hosting a garden party (which was actually taking place while we were walking around the outside of the building).

After making our way around the outside of Holyrood and snapping a few pictures from the outside, we walked back up the Royal Mile to Jeffrey Street and then cut across back to Princes Street to find somewhere to eat (and to buy a new hairdryer because the English outlets ate both of ours, even with travel convertere…Grrrr).

We ended up at a pub called Grosvenor House where I had cheesy pasta with garlic bread and a pint of Fosters beer for dinner.

Tomorrow we have an early start to walk back to the Royal Mile to meet up with our tour group for a day trip to Loch Ness, Inverness and the Highlands!

P.S. A travel tip…. If you’re planning on brining a hair dryer to the UK, consider instead buying one when you get here. Both of our hair dryers were eaten after the first few days we were in England (even with the proper travel converter). Yesterday I bought one at Superdrug (for 11 pounds but they have them as cheap as 8 pounds) and it was a great investment and I’ll have it for future trips or to share with anyone else I know who travels to the UK.

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