Scotland Travel Tips – General & Lowlands

To Stay:

• AirBnB – Glasgow – Rupert’s Place
• Hotel du Vun – Edinburgh
• AirBnB – Edinburgh – Beautiful spot on the Royal Mile – super cool spiral staircase

To Eat and Drink:  Edinburgh:

• Deacon Brodie’s – nice pub on the Royal Mile
• Frankenstein’s – fun pub, good drinks (Bloody Mary Shelley!), and stay for the show!
• World’s End – cool location and story
• 20 Princes Street – amazing seafood platter, great Scotch
• Guildford Arms – perfect British pub, perfect steak pie
• Cullen Skink – a must-have dish from most pubs or restaurants
• Irn Bru – the best soda, made from Iron girders
• Fried Mars Bar
• Late Night Kebab

To See:

• National Museum in Edinburgh
• National Library in Edinburgh
• Greyfriar’s – especially the Tomb of the MacKenzie
• Calton Hill – easier walk than Arthur’s Seat, great views
• Arthur’s Seat
• Mary King’s Close – not as cheesy as suspected, great guides
• Edinburgh Castle – you can go up to it and through the gates without paying admission
• Tartan Weaving Mill – free, and cool to look around. Great shop

To Shop:

• Market in old church on the Royal Mile
• Miss Katie Cupcake shop
• Grassmarket – Armstrong and Sons vintage store

** You notice most of this is for Edinburgh.  Beware in Glasgow of the kindness of strangers. We met a couple in a bar who found out we were on our honeymoon and loved my husband’s beard… and we didn’t leave that pub for hours. We didn’t see much of the city because we were back home asleep by 8pm. Nicest people around! **

Miscellaneous :

Health care and travel insurance – my Mom the nurse always says to get travel insurance.  Travelocity includes it for a reasonable fee with their packages. That said, if a doctor chooses to treat you if you have an accident, say, then they will not bill you.  We offered to pay.give insurance information and the ambulance driver looked at us like we were stupid. More about that here. Gods bless the NHS.

More about Scotland here!