Every since I was a child, I’ve wanted to visit Scotland. My father’s family is from the Isle of Lewis, an island on Scotland’s west coast, and I often dreamed of visiting our homeland. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Edinburgh for a few days as part of a larger trip to Europe, and I was not disappointed.

We started our trip by checking in to our hotel, The Balmoral, a luxury hotel in the heart of the city known as the place where J.K. Rowling stayed while she finished the final Harry Potter novel. We were greeted by friendly staff in the cozy lobby, and provided a tour of the common areas on the main floor.

The hotel included a restaurant and small whiskey bar, as well as The Palm Court, a beautiful oval room where they served afternoon tea. Our room was spacious and comfortable, and included a lovely bathroom with lots of marble, a huge bathtub, and cool photos of a young Sean Connery on the beach. 

After checking in, we decided to walk up the steep incline to Calton Hill, which afforded us a great view of Edinburgh, including both Old Town, the medieval part of the city, and New Town, featuring structures from the Georgian Era. Both are certified UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

From there , we proceeded to walk down the Royal Mile, the main road that connects Holyrood Palace, the Queen’s official residence in Scotland, with Edinburgh Castle, a medieval castle sitting atop a volcanic rock. 

Afterward, we decided to check out several locations that connected to the Harry Potter novels. We started with a tour of the National Museum of Scotland, where we viewed the Lewis Chessman, a beautiful set of ancient ivory chess pieces found on the Isle of Lewis. These iconic figurines served as the model for the chess set that Ron and Harry use to play wizards’ chess in the second Harry Potter film.

We also walked through Greyfriar’s Kirk Cemetery, where J.K. Rowling got ideas for character names. From there, we could see the school that inspired her idea of Hogwarts. We finished by visiting The Elephant House, the cafe where she started the novels. On the way back to our room, we saw bagpipers on the Royal Mile, and stopped to tour the beautiful St. Giles Cathedral. 

That evening, we enjoyed cocktails at The Dome, a gorgeous space located at a lovely hotel in New Town, followed by one of the best meals of our trip at The Printing Press. The mushroom lasagna was amazing. After dinner, we sampled a flight of whiskey at the whiskey bar in our hotel.

The next morning we set out in a light, drizzling rain to enjoy the highlight of our trip: a visit to Edinburgh Castle. The grounds include multiple buildings dating from the 12^thcentury, including a great hall, a chapel, prisons and more.

The medieval architecture was incredibly beautiful, even in the rain. My husband loved touring the dungeons, which were both creepy and interesting. Due to the castle’s setting high above the city, the view from the courtyard was even better than the one we enjoyed on Calton Hill. 

After our visit to the castle, we toured the National Gallery of Scotland before returning to our hotel to get ready for afternoon tea in The Palm Court. Our service included savories, traditional tea sandwiches, scones, pastries and our choice of teas. The setting was beautiful and the service was excellent. I highly recommend it.

The next morning, after breakfast at our hotel, we walked through Princes Street Gardens, a lovely green space located on the divide between Old Town and New Town. We then strolled through the charming mews at Silvermills on the way to see the Water of Leith, which was really cool. On the way back to our hotel, we walked through New Town, stopping to shop at luxury department store Harvey Nichols. 

Before catching the train to London for the next leg of our journey, we visited a lovely antiquarian print shop on the Royal Mile, where I purchased some vintage prints of Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace to commemorate our trip.

Three days in Edinburgh was just enough time to see the highlights. If I returned, I would definitely add day trips to visit the beautiful ruins and castles throughout the nearby countryside. Have you visited Scotland? Do you have any recommendations?

Until next time!

Stephanie