5 days between Edinburgh (e festival) e le Highlands scozzesi
24 ore su 24 rain and gray sky, temperatures below 10 gradi in estate, strong wind, Ghosts, mythological monsters, abandoned cemeteries and whiskey attract you? 🙂
In tal caso, you can not make a jump in the Land of Nessie, otherwise known as Scotland, in the extreme North of the UK (oh, judging from the posters that invited to participate in the referendum for secession, perhaps, the term “UK” will soon be wrong! 🙂 ).
The ideal time for your visit is definitely in the middle of summer, aligning the visit to Scotland with the conduct of’Edinburgh Festival, one of the most important events of street art in the world. Dozens and dozens of free events, for a fee, all’aperto (if time permits!), al chiuso, music, comedy, theater will involve you and, believe me, se capite well l’inglese, is an extraordinary experience!
Also, during the Festival, in Edinburgh Castle, takes place Tattoo Parade, musical event involving military regiments from all over the world (though, mainly, of countries belonging to the Commonwealth). Despite the cost of the ticket, rather high, if you are lucky enough to participate, you will agree with me: worth every penny!
Visitors come from all over the world, the places they go away soon, and the costs skyrocket, so I suggest you check out the official website, and buy tickets as soon as they are put up for sale (usually, in early spring).
British military small grow – Tattoo Parade – click to enlarge
To give you a vague idea of what the Tattoo Parade is, here is a video I shot in the first few minutes, during the Royal Scots Dragoon Guard performance with bagpipes.
In the city there moves easily with the public bus (Lothian Buses), also to the airport, should be opened and a short tram, that cleaves the airport and the city center even more rapidly. The buses are double-decker, in full British style, and some are equipped with WiFi.
The town is small, so I suggest you to pay (a few) singole corse, and avoid making subscriptions that you will not use.
Edinburgh is, you can decide whether to rent a car and move independently verso le Highlands (Stirling, Loch Lomond, Loch Ness, to mention some of the main places), or rely on organized tours.
It is true, I know that the tours are much “Chinese tourist”, but I swear I had a great experience with Heart of Scotland, of which I have the scelot Tour 2 (Stirling Castle, Loch Lomond and Whisky). Bus is not too large, driver / guide who speaks for hours and hours, revealing all the smallest details of Scottish history, punctuality… In short, I decided to trust them, for visit for a day in the Scottish Highlands.
The next time, I will certainly go to the North, perhaps avoiding the tourist trap par excellence: Loch Ness. 🙂
The photos of these 5 days between Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands, can be found in my gallery, to this address.
Let's go now to see the’route that I followed, with a lot of google map to bottom:
1 day (arrival in the afternoon) (pins rossi):
- St John’s episcopal Church
- Princes Street Gardens
- George Street
- Princes Street (the main shopping street)
- Scott Monument (rise in coma, costo 3£)
- Greyfriars Kirk (one of the oldest buildings outside the Old Town, dating back to the 1600)
- Grassmarket square (and their pub as "Beehive Inn" for the fish&chips)
2 day (Yellow pins):
- Edinburgh Castle (16£, the student purchase 3 days explorer pass a 28£) (Last entry to the 17. all 13 burst of cannon) - Follow the two itinerary morning / afternoon from 2.5 hours, found on the official website
- Royal Mile (Castlehill, the Lawnmarket, the High Street, the Canongate and Abbey Strand)
- Tartan Weaving Mill (Free museum tartan - 9:30 a.m. to 5pm)
- Cathedral of S. Egidio (St.Giles, main Scottish church presibetrana)
- Heart of Midlothian (place where the executions took place)
- National Museum of Scotland (free – 10am to 5pm)
- Chambers Street + University of Edinburgh
- 9PM Royal Tattoo parade (45min before arriving at the castle)
3 day (pins verdi):
- National Gallery of Scotland (free – 10am to 5pm)
- Calton Hill (beautiful view of the city, from the top)
- Dugald Stewart Monument – Nelson Monument (4£) – National Monument of Scotland (see landscape)
- Seat of Government - New Parliament House
- Canongate Tolbooth ('500 building that housed the prison, and is now a museum)
- Canongate Kirkyard (cemetery with the grave of Adam Smith)
- Scottish Parliament (bell'edificio modern)
- Holyrood Palace (Queen's official residence in Scotland £ -10 STUDENT ID - Claim as donation - 9:30am to 6pm)
- Holyrood Abbey (ruins 1100)
- Holyrood Park (scale the dormant volcano Arthur's Seat to get a good view)
4 day (tour delle Highlands):
- Heart of Scotland – Tour 2 – Stirling Castle, Loch Lomond and Whisky
The departure point for Tours 1-9 is Bus Stand ZE, Waterloo Place, Edinburgh (20 min walk to Princes St)
PLEASE ARRIVE 15 MINUTES BEFORE DEPARTURE.
Nel tour, a visit to Stirling Castle costs 14 £, or use the Scotland 3 days explorer pass.
5 day (pins blu):
- Georgian House (possible entry £ 6 - home of the wealthy residents of the New Town of 700)
- Scottish National Portrait Gallery (Free – 10am to 6pm)
- Yach reale Britannia (Ocean Terminal - Port) (visita 12£) (bus 22 Princes St to the terminus Ocean Terminal)
- Visit to the festivals of Edinburgh
then, in my case, dawn of the sixth day, I started to Glasgow and the North West of England (Liverpool, Manchester…), of which I will speak in the next post.
MAP ON THIS TOUR: link
Do you have other tips about Edinburgh? Impressions about the Isle of Skye, I would have liked to visit? Comments on the route that I followed? Please leave a comment, and I'll be happy to answer. 🙂