Discovering Edinburgh's Old town!

Edinburgh is a quaint little town and known to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world! It has a little for everyone.. some culture, modern amenities, whisky tasting, Harry Potter, Outlander, Castles and Hikes! Its a blend of the historic and modern! Over the 4 days we stayed there I fell in love with it! It is going to be hard to do it justice but I will try my best to bring to words and images the experience that is Edinburgh!

I don't intend to chronicle this in the order of my seeing the locations or the itinerary so maybe a long winded post unfortunately. But I will try and capture as much of the beauty and experience as I can here!

Royal Mile and Canon Gate

The Royal mile is a central street in the heart of Old town that stretches a little over a mile. At one end of the mile is the Edinburgh castle and at the other end is the Holyrood Palace. The Holyrood palace is the official residence of the Queen when she visits Scotland!

The Edinburgh Castle! Best view is at the end of Grass Market!	Thee Castle as viewed from Arthurs' Seat
Queens Gallery at the other end of the mile! This houses crown jewels and is right across from the Scottish Parliament	The Holyrood Palace
Holyrood Palace as seen from Arthurs' seat	The gates to Holyrood

The Royal Mile is quaint and just beautiful with its many alleyways (Close). There are about 80 closes. Some are drab and dingy while others have spectacular views and still others have hidden courtyards and gardens! I explored a few! Some featured here!

This was a close off CanonGate. One of the very first I saw! I believe this was Old Tolbooth Wynd

Warriston's close Stairs

Writers Close

Bakehouse Close an Outlander location

Inside Bakehouse Close

World's end close!

Another Outlander location

A boring looking close! There are these too!

Looks like a portal that will transport you in time

Inside Tweeddale Court

Tweeddale court, further in! Outlander vibes!

Advocate's close! History to be explored

Dunbars' close with the hidden garden

I believe this was in White Horse close!

Ladys' stairs close with the Writers' workshop - leading to lawn market

I believe this was the view of the mound (with the scottish national gallery) from the bridge over Waverley

The Royal Mile and Canon Gate (An area on the Royal Mile) is an infusion of culture, scents, sounds and experience! Lot of bagpipe players line this stretch so you are always hearing the musical notes of the bagpipes!

The street was full of life and energy! And ofcourse throngs of people! Here are some more visuals from the area!

The buzzling Royal Mile

Tron Kirk - Kirk means Church in Scot

The Hub, formerly The Assembly Hall and Talbooth Church, Castlehill. This is the junction of Lawn market, castle hill - So not the Royal Mile officially

St Giles Cathedral

Tolbooth Tavern of Outlander fame

Worlds' end Pub - Of Outlander fame. Ths pubs in the city stay open way past midnight unlike the stores that close at 8 PM

The Governor house on Calton Hill as seen from a close on Royal Mile

A moving statue! One of the many attractions/ distractions on the mile

Just keep walking and experiencing the mile!

Edinburgh city chambers on the mile. I believe that was a unicorn on the top

University of Edinburgh - Holyrood Campus. This was right on the mile in Canongate. Pic is taken from inside the campus facing the mile

The view inside the campus! See the amazing crags in the background!

The architecture and details in the buildings were simply astounding. These cantilevers remind me of the architecture in some of the temples in India! I was spell bound and captivated! This entire blog with all its pictures just spans the 1.1 mile that constitutes the Royal Mile! And I havent even made a scratch! As you can tell I had a lot of time on my hands to explore this beautiful city and the weather except for the first day was so cooperative! There is a lot more to explore in Edinburgh! The Royal Mile is also home to an Underground tour at Mary Kings close  and the Camera Obscura which is an interesting attraction! Its also home to a number of pubs and street cafes! Great vive and energy at the Mile! We stayed on the mile in the Canongate area! It certainly is expensive but well worth it to stay so close to all the action!