Getting to Edinburgh + Our First Day (Harry Potter Walking Tour, Royal Mile, Calton Hill)

Let’s ignore the fact that I have almost a month of previous adventures waiting to be written about while I jump ahead to what’s happened most recently.

A mother/son trip to Scotland!

The first job was getting there. It’s… a long way from Cardiff.

We investigated various options—flying, train, and bus—but ultimately settled on taking the train. Tickets aren’t cheap, but I managed to get decent return fares by booking relatively early and buying a Friends and Family Railcard which quickly pays for itself in terms of discounts. (I booked through Great Western Railway.)

On the way there we transferred at Manchester Piccadilly which is the busiest train station in the United Kingdom, outside of London.

The minimum connection time is ten minutes and my tickets gave us twelve. (For the record, I had no say in the matter! Because of the ticket price point I was buying [the absolute cheapest; shocking, I know], I didn’t have much flexibility.)

I was feeling a bit nervous when we pulled into Manchester. Turns out, our arriving train got in early (yay!) and our departing train was delayed (yay… maybe?). All my stress was for naught.

We made the connection and headed off on our final stretch of travel to Edinburgh. The views were lovely.

The Wi-Fi, on the other hand, was deplorable. I got a bit of work done (including two Patreon posts!), read some of my book, and spent a chunk of time staring out the window watching the countryside roll by.

All told, it was about a seven-hour train ride and, of course, there was the transit time earlier in the day to get to Cardiff Central Station. Oh, and Indy woke up at 3 am not feeling great. We both got back to sleep, but he was sniffling for the entire train ride and, sadly, it turned into a full-blown head cold by the end of the day.

Needless to say, it was two very tired, bedraggled travellers who stepped off the train in Edinburgh.

Coree and her family were there to greet us (I had warned her about the sudden onset of Indy’s cold and she was still game to meet) and it was such a relief not to have to navigate on our own.

The main train station sits right in the heart of the city. You get off your train, climb a few stairs and—BAM!—welcome to Edinburgh. I loved it!

We walked for a few minutes to an outdoor cafe in front of the National Galleries of Scotland.

While the adults sipped tea/sparkling water, the two boys headed down the hill to explore. The fact that climbing a tree is literally the first activity Indy gravitated toward in Scotland feels very fitting.

Eventually we collected the boys (I think there may have been a sprinkle of rain at this point?) and hopped on a tram to Coree’s house. We were treated, in the words of her son, to a feast! I couldn’t agree more: homemade sushi, delicious noodles, prawn and veggie potstickers, and my first ever taste of mochi for dessert.

Their flat (they just moved in a little over a month ago!) was delightful: quirky wallpaper, soaring ceilings, and an adorable back garden where Indy and Coree’s son immediately retreated for some outdoor play.

Indy had been a trooper, but the long day and developing head cold had taken a toll. Once we finished eating, they walked us back to our waterfront hotel and said goodbye.

After checking in, the two of us collapsed in bed and headed straight to sleep.

DAY ONE IN EDINBURGH

We had a fairly relaxed start to our morning. A few days before we left for Edinburgh, I booked a Harry Potter walking tour. I figured it would be a good way to see some of the city highlights, and I suspected it might appeal to Indy more than a strictly historical tour.

I had paid extra to have the hotel breakfast included, so we started with that. I bravely sampled a tiny piece of black pudding. If you know the ingredient list, it sounds—how shall I put this nicely—LESS THAN APPETIZING. It ended up tasting fine, though I didn’t feel compelled to go back for seconds.

Our hotel location was incredibly picturesque, but it was a bit of a trek into the heart of the city. Once we had showered and were otherwise presentable, we hopped on a double-decker city bus that stopped outside our hotel door. We managed to snag the coveted top-floor front seats, always a hit with Indy.

The closest bus stop to our tour was the Scott Monument, known colloquially as The Gothic Rocket (it really stands out on the Edinburgh skyline).

This is a giant—literally, it’s just over 60 m/200 ft tall—nod to the famous Scottish writer, Sir Walter Scott. There are all sorts of intricate carvings of characters from his novels and other noteworthy elements from Scottish history.

Sunny skies, crisp morning air, and a gorgeous view of the National Galleries of Scotland. This is yet another place I would have loved to visit but time simply didn’t allow for it; there are several paintings by Van Gogh on permanent display.

Edinburgh requires a lot of climbing, though it was nothing like Monaco! Thankfully we were up for the challenge.

On our way to meet the tour guide, we passed The Elephant House, which proudly calls itself “the birthplace of Harry Potter.”

That’s… not entirely true. J.K. Rowling wrote in several cafes around Edinburgh before she became a regular there, but she did write significant portions of the early books in a back room overlooking Greyfriars Kirkyard (more on that in a minute) and Edinburgh Castle. The cafe was also frequented by Scottish writers Ian Rankin and Alexander McCall Smith, but their names don’t attract many tourists!

Unfortunately, the original cafe suffered major fire damage a few years ago and has only recently reopened. (There’s now a second Elephant House location on Victoria Street, though that one has no direct connection to Rowling.)

We met up with our tour guide and the rest of the walking group just beyond the statue of Greyfriars Bobby.

I remember my dad telling me Bobby’s story decades ago, and I’ve never forgotten it, so there was something special about finally seeing the statue in person.

Here’s a short version: in the mid-1800s, a night watchman named John Gray adopted a little Skye Terrier named Bobby to keep him company while patrolling the streets. When Gray died a few year later, he was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard. Bobby reportedly stayed by his owner’s grave for years (about 14!). Local residents were touched by his loyalty and fed and cared for him until he died.

Bobby is buried just outside the churchyard walls (dogs weren’t allowed to be buried inside the graveyard), but there’s a headstone dedicated to him inside the gates. This adorable rendering has been in place since the late 1800s. Like lots of famous statues, people say rubbing his nose brings good luck, but our guide pointed out that thousands of tourist hands are not exactly ideal for preserving bronze so we kept our hands to ourselves!!!

Let’s talk about the Potter Trail Harry Potter walking tour for a minute!

When Belle and John later asked for my review, I said I’d give the guide an A (we had Becky and she was both engaging and funny), the subject matter an A- (helped by the fact that I’ve read the Harry Potter books multiple times), and the route a B-. For a walking tour… there wasn’t that much walking. We stayed clustered in a few areas rather than roaming through the city.

Still, it was a great way to start the day.

We started just inside the gates of Greyfriars Kirkyard, one of Edinburgh’s oldest cemeteries.

Near the entrance was Bobby’s memorial stone, complete with a small collection of sticks, a chew toy… and, somewhat hilariously, a can of haggis!!!

Our first official Harry Potter stop was the memorial of Scottish poet William McGonagall who has the unfortunate (and unofficial) title of being the worst English-language poet. Rowling has confirmed she borrowed the surname McGonagall after seeing the name in Greyfriars.

I had to chuckle that the plaque says he’s “buried near this spot.” Apparently, when the memorial was erected, no one was entirely certain where he’d actually been buried. Oops.

Right beside McGonagall’s memorial stone are the entry gates to George Heriot’s School. The school’s towers and courtyards are often cited as inspiration for Hogwarts. The school dates back to the 1600s and has four “houses”—Lauriston, Greyfriars, Raeburn, and Castle—which certainly doesn’t hurt the comparison.

Next we visited the grave of Thomas Riddell, widely believed to have inspired the name Tom Riddle.

Greyfriars also offers stunning views of Edinburgh Castle, perched dramatically on Castle Rock.

The Flodden Wall marks the original boundary of the city. It was built after Scottish troops were defeated at the Battle of Flodden. Fearing English invasion, they quickly built a wall around the Old Town to improve their defensive position. The dreaded attack never came, the wall stayed in place, and one of the few remaining sections is inside Greyfriars Kirkyard!

We passed a bright red church door on our walk, so I asked our guide about it. It was originally called New North Free Church (that’s a mouthful), but it’s now been converted into Bedlam Theatre (associated with Edinburgh University). The name Bedlam comes from the fact there used to be a nearby mental asylum called Bedlam.

We finished the tour on Victoria Street, a curved cobblestone lane many people believe helped inspire Diagon Alley.

Lots of shops proudly claim connections to Harry Potter. There’s a bookstore that *may* have inspired Flourish and Blotts, and a former broom shop that’s now a go-to store for Harry Potter merchandise.

We skipped the giant queue (just beyond the frame of this photo) to go inside.

Indy was delighted to show off his new wand from the Warner Bros. Studio Tour. The tour guide had encouraged everyone to bring a wand or wand-like object. Indy came prepared. I, meanwhile, brought a pen. Ha!

There were a few times on the tour we did silly things with the wands and it was a fun little nod to the magic of Harry Potter.

One particularly memorable storefront used to be a joke shop (before that it was home to an optician), and locals say its oversized nose/eyes may have helped inspire the Weasley twins’ shop in the books. When the original owners retired, the new business kept the iconic exterior, even though it doesn’t exactly match the aesthetic one would expect from a shop selling cashmere and tweed!

Victoria Street really is gorgeous, though it’s also very crowded. It’s considered Scotland’s most photographed street.

A few minutes walk away from the base of Victoria Street we were treated to more dramatic views of Edinburgh Castle. (This was a recurring theme: the castle keeps reappearing like a very large game of peekaboo.)

Indy was determined to get one of those forced-perspective photos where it looks like he’s holding the castle up in his hands. This is not my photographic specialty, but we tried our best and declared it close enough to success.

These faux flowers were quite dramatic and lovely. It reminded me of something you might see trailing out the window of a Disney castle.

I snapped this picture of a Parisian restaurant since John and Belle were off on their own adventure in Paris while Indy and I were exploring Scotland.

I had read online about a great viewpoint for seeing the castle (Vennel Viewpoint). It was fine, but nothing to write home about, especially since with the leaves, part of the view is blocked.

At the base of the steps we popped into a cafe and Indy got what was perhaps the first milkshake in his life? He was a BIG fan.

Indy also wanted to do an anti-gravity lean. I’m realizing this boy has a lot of quirky photo requests. He was happy with the end result!

While we haven’t hopped on board the rubber ducky souvenir (yup, spelled it wrong the first time) trend, he spotted bagpiper ducks and fell in love. I had to admit they were cute! The first shop we visited was having issues with their card reader. Lucky for us, a few minutes later we found the same one for £1.50 cheaper at another shop.

Tollbooth Kirk is a giant church that’s now home to an arts venue, ticketing office, and cafe.

Based on the advice of multiple people, we didn’t go into Edinburgh Castle. I can confirm the line to enter was INSANELY long and stretched wayyyy down the street (on a random Monday in June, so definitely not the peak of high season). This was as close as we could get without a ticket, but it was fun to see it from this vantage point.

We saw/heard lots of bagpipers, especially on the Royal Mile.

We spent about an hour wandering along the Royal Mile which, as the name suggests, is a mile of connected streets that extends from Edinburgh Castle to Palace of Holyroodhouse

There were a lot of street performers and we stopped to watch a few shows.

After our big hotel breakfast, and with Indy not feeling 100% because of his head cold, we hadn’t been craving much for lunch. We ducked over to see The Writer’s Museum. It normally has free admission but, in a bit of unfortunate timing, it was unexpectedly closed that day. Oh well.

This little courtyard felt like something from a fairy tale, so the detour wasn’t wasted.

Nearby was a highly rated cafe. The interior was delightful. The food and drinks were… not. We ordered a hot drink and a few sweet treats and found everything underwhelming.

Win some, lose some.

The highlight was spending time together… and the toilets.

Indy came bounding out of the washrooms saying Mom, you HAVE to come see this. It’s the most efficient use of space I’ve ever seen!

Indeed, it was the first time I’d ever seen a sink built directly into the top of a toilet tank. Wash your hands and refill the tank simultaneously. Whoever designed it clearly had very strong feelings about efficiency!

After resting our feet and admiring innovative bathroom engineering, we headed back toward the Royal Mile and popped inside St Giles’ Cathedral.

I’ve been inside a lot of churches during this trip and St Giles’ still managed to stand out.

The architecture was stunning and the interior felt both grand and welcoming. Starting later this summer there will be a mandatory charge, but for now entry remains free. Great timing for us!

First we enjoyed exterior views, serenaded by bagpipe music.

I didn’t take many photographs because the angles weren’t cooperating with my phone camera, so the pictures I did take don’t really do the space justice. Later that evening there was a Beethoven concert scheduled and, for a brief moment, I considered trying to make it work. It would have been an incredible venue to hear his music.

The ceilings were striking!

After we left the cathedral, we watched a few minutes of some more street performance acts, enjoyed the sunshine, and eventually made our way toward Calton Hill.

Calton Hill is sometimes called the Acropolis of the North. It includes the unfinished National Monument, intended to resemble the Parthenon in Athens and built to memorialize Scottish soldiers who died in the Napoleonic Wars. Construction started in 1826, but funding ran out in 1829, leaving a single complete row of columns which Indy certainly enjoyed exploring.

A tourist asked if we’d like a picture in front of the Dugald Stewart Monument (dedicated to a Scottish philosopher but once again inspired by Grecian architecture).

At this point, we connected with Coree who had collected her son from school and come into the city to meet up with us!

Time for a tree pose on the aforementioned National Monument.

He was in his element with lots of fun things to climb and explore.

This view of Salisbury Crags and Arthur’s Seat (an ancient, dormant volcano) was breathtaking! In the moment—awed by the scenery—Indy and I made plans to climb at least one of them the following day. Unfortunately, a combination of questionable weather forecasts, poor sleep, and lingering sniffles meant those plans never materialized. Another time…

In the far left of the picture below you can see Palace of Holyroodhouse, where the King stays when he’s in Edinburgh. Perhaps more interestingly, Mary, Queen of Scots lived here and her secretary was brutally murdered at the behest of her husband. The Scottish Parliament Building is left of center.

Eventually we realized we needed to leave sooner than planned. Both boys desperately wanted to visit a particular fossil shop and when we checked the hours, discovered it closed in forty minutes. We were a twenty-minute walk away!

Off we marched with a destination of Mr Wood’s Fossils.

For a “famous” shop, I expected something much larger. It was surprisingly compact. What it lacked in square footage, it more than made up for in inventory.

The place was packed with fossils, crystals, and other geological treasures.

Coree’s son and Indy were enchanted.

There was much oohing, ahhing, comparing, debating, and agonizing over potential purchases. We ended up being the last customers in the shop. (I’m not entirely convinced the proprietor appreciated having two children making such thoughtful, time-consuming decisions right before closing.)

Indy walked away with a giant crystal and was immensely proud of his choice. He’s already begun planning where it will be displayed once we get home.

After the fossil shop, we took a scenic route toward our dinner destination.

Along the way, I ducked into the grounds of St Cuthbert’s Church. For mystery lovers, this church has an interesting claim to fame: it was here that Agatha Christie married her second husband in 1930. Jenny, I thought of you immediately when I read this little factoid on a plaque.

I also managed to spot my second famous dog statue of the day.

Apparently, the city of San Diego, California has a well-known canine folk hero named Bum (I’d never heard of him). At some point, the two cities exchanged statues, so Edinburgh has a statue of Bum and San Diego has a statue of Greyfriars Bobby.

I didn’t have much time to wander through the cemetery, but graveyards are one of those places where history suddenly becomes very personal.

Earlier in the day, at Greyfriars, I spotted a headstone that simply listed a man’s name and the word “Banker.” No dates or epitaph. Just his profession!!! It struck me as a bit sad and reminiscent of Ebenezer Scrooge (fun fact: Dickens got the name Ebenezer Scrooge from looking at headstones in a cemetery).

At St Cuthbert’s, I stopped at the grave of a young woman whose inscription noted that she had started working as a servant at sixteen years old.

That’s a year older than Belle. Little details like this have a way of making history feel real to me.

Just outside the church grounds there’s a fantastic playground. The boys happily disappeared to play while the adults enjoyed a chance to rest our feet and chat.

This photo is mostly here to demonstrate how close we were to Edinburgh Castle. No matter where you go in the city, it somehow manages to find its way into the background!

There was also an absolutely epic slide, though Indy informed me it was “a bit too bumpy.”

Eventually we rallied the kids and continued on our way. Our next stop was a few steps away from the park: Ross Fountain.

I LOVE this picture of the two of us <3

This fountain was manufactured in France in the 1860s and shipped to Edinburgh in hundreds of separate pieces (can you even imagine??) before being assembled in West Princes Street Gardens. It was gifted by a man named Ross, hence the name. It was recently dismantled and refurbished so we had good timing to see it in top-notch condition.

Not far away we came across a statue of Wojtek the Bear. I vaguely remembered hearing something about a bear (not Winnie-the-Pooh) and the Second World War, but didn’t know the full story.

Polish soldiers adopted him as a cub while serving in the Middle East during the war. He travelled with the army, was officially enlisted as a soldier (how crazy is that?), and famously helped carry ammunition crates during the Battle of Monte Cassino. After the war, he spent the remainder of his life at Edinburgh Zoo.

Yet another great vantage to admire Edinburgh Castle.

Next we passed another Edinburgh landmark: the world’s first floral clock.

Created in 1903, it’s replanted every year with thousands of flowers and contains a working clock mechanism hidden beneath the display. (I can barely keep a houseplant alive, so I remain deeply impressed by the people responsible for maintaining an entire functioning flower clock!!)

Will you look at that—another view of the Scott Monument. You can climb all 287 steps to the top, but we didn’t have enough time on this trip. Given how much walking we’d already done, I wasn’t particularly heartbroken about skipping it.

On the side lawn there was a group of university students playing a sport that had all of us completely baffled.

One of them noticed our confused expressions and came over to explain—in perhaps the thickest Irish accent I’ve ever encountered—that they were playing an Irish sport called hurley (I think) that’s like a hybrid of lacrosse and rugby.

Next we passed near the Balmoral Hotel. For Harry Potter fans, it’s famous because Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in one of its suites. Said suite can be rented for the princely sum of roughly £5,000 per night during peak season.

I think I’ll stick to writing at home and in cafes.

Our final destination for the evening was Edinburgh Street Food.

The concept is brilliant: a collection of food vendors offering a variety of cuisines, all under one roof, with a shared ordering system and communal seating. Something for everyone!

We grabbed a table outside and enjoyed a delicious meal while reflecting on a very full day.

One of my discoveries was Bon Accord soda. Apparently it’s a beloved Scottish brand. As someone who is an absolute sucker for anything rhubarb, I can confidently report that it was excellent.

Don’t let his enthusiasm for tree poses fool you, this boy was tired.

I briefly considered trying to squeeze in one final stop at Dean Village. The evening was beautiful and it’s one of Edinburgh’s most picturesque neighbourhoods. In the end, common sense prevailed and we headed back toward the hotel.

Once Indy was settled for the night, I slipped out for a short walk around Newhaven Harbour.

Just a short distance away is the Royal Yacht Britannia, the former floating residence of the Royal Family. During its forty-plus years’ service, Britannia travelled more than a million nautical miles (!!) before being retired and permanently moored in Edinburgh.

I didn’t have enough time to go exploring that far, but it’s a beloved tourist destination. Yet another thing that will have to wait until my next visit to Edinburgh!

And that’s a wrap on our first set of adventures in Edinburgh. Like I said, it felt oddly like home to me. Curiously enough, other people have written or commented to mention they felt the same way about the city! It really must be genetic!

Your turn.

• Tell me your most loyal pet story.
• Do you like to go on walking tours when you visit a new city?