The national dish of Scotland! There are a bunch of restaurants there that have it. I remember having a decent dish at The Doric, but The Haggis Box seems to get stellar reviews and has vegan/vegetarian options.
Aside from that, I would suggest walking around as much as you can. Edinburgh is the most beautiful city I've ever been to. Walking tours are a fun way to see the sights and learn some of the history, but just wandering through the "closes" near the Royal Mile was fascinating. The Real Mary King's Close tour was the most touristy thing I did, but that was fun too.
There are a bunch of parks - Calton Hill is an easy one to get to and has a great view of the old part of the city. Great for bringing some food/bev and just enjoying the day if it's sunny.
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I agree with madchen about Sneakys and Ventoux. The Jazz Bar for live jazz, Sorra Lella does amazing italian plant based food, Central Mosque Kitchen is cheap and delicious. Edi is the only city in Scotland u can legally drink on the street so if the weather is nice head to The Meadows. Wandering about the city is good but its so easy/ cheap to get out to some more rural green spaces, Rosslyn Chapel and woodland etc or Pentlands if ur into hikes.
Jorum studio is niche perfumers in Stockbridge, Armstrongs is famous chain of vintage shops (expect a search for something good), charity shops in Stockbridge and South Bridge are better priced and more variety imo, 5th season vintage does more curated /90s european designer vintage if thats ur thing
There's also a cast iron fountain on Castle Hill dedicated to victims of the witch hunt which I always take people to see
Apr 2, 2024
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I canât provide much for the other cities but for Edinburgh have a look through the list below. Feel free to let me know what sort of things youâre looking for and I can be a bit more specific!
Things to do:
- National museum of Scotland: the building alone makes this worth a visit, plus its free and the range of exhibits is huge!
- National Portrait Gallery: same as above the building is to die for and the portraits arenât bad either.
- Climb Carlton Hill: Arthurâs seats little brother Carlton is just off the end of Princes Street cracking views at sunrise/sunset out over New Town, the castle and the Fife.
- Head down to Leith: often missed, rarely regretted Class end of town with loads of fun pubs and places to eat.
- A day out in Stockbridge: worth walking down from Deans village along the water of leith (small river) into Stockbridge, really nice part of town with great bookshops (Golden Hare is a must), pubs/bars (Smith and Gertude if your into your wine, the St Bernard and the St Vincent aka the Vinny for beers.. If your coming soon find a pub for the rugby itâs the 6 nations at the moment (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy, France) games every weekend for the next few weeks. If not the market on Saturdays is a nice stop.
- Roam the bookshops: cowgate, grassmarket area, full of them just donât take food in face the wrath of the owners
Places to Eat:
- Albys: big hot sandwiches whatâs not to love?
- Outsider: nice views, not too spenny
- Lanan: sells out early but man those pastries.
- Sandy Bells: not known for food but the guy who makes pies for them is elite. Live folk music most days and evenings of the week, bar staff are good chat. Ask them about the steady drip (the in pub newsletter they do and youâll likely make some good mates) good place to try some whisky if that takes your fancy.
Bars:
- The Vinny (see above)
- St Bernard (see above)
- Brass Monkey: the one on Dundas Street has a load of daybeds in the back and shows films in the afternoons if youâre tired from sightseeing
- Kayâs: tiny tiny tiny pub
- Dreadnought: good pub down in Leith great rotating beers
- Paradise Palms: bonkers interior, great menu and cocktail list, plenty of events on worth a look to see on the dates your in town.
- The Oracle: sister bar to Paradise Palms
- Doghouse: busy, has good open mic nights.
- Starbar: Mad staff, jukebox, good vibes
- Hey Palu: Italian vibes, great vermouths
- Bramble: 17 Hanover Street down the stairs, great vinyl sets on Friday/Saturday nights. Recommend the Mint 500 if itâs on.
Clubs/Gigs
- Sneaky Peteâs: a tiny little 100 person sweat box of a club. My favourite in town, great mix of nights that cater to each and everyone just have a look whatâs on when your in town for both gigs and club nights.
- Bongos: heavier music, huge, outstanding smoking area.
- Lost in Leith: out the way but worth it if something good is on.
- Stramash: a folk club.. yeah you read that right.. time to ceilidh baby
Hope above helps as I said feel free to share some ideas of things your interested in and Iâll see what I can do! Hope you have a class time in town.
One last word of advice.. remember Scots are from Scotland, Scotch is a drink! Nah I joke youâll be grand, just if someone says âIs that right, ayeâ they think your chatting utter shite!
Feb 10, 2024
I know itâs for bad reasons but London museums bang.
You have to do a drunk pub night with homies and experience how excited people get over football there. Itâs like the super bowl happens 1-3 times a week.
In Edinburgh, def go see that cute statue/grave site that royalty made for their little dog. Very cute.
Just walk everywhere, you will stumble on places and people and get an organic experience. For me that meant getting back from Arthurâs Seat hike and turning and seeing a big ass sign for Red Dead Redemption 2 and that being how I found out that Rockstar Games is in Scotland.
I just woke up and hope any of this makes sense.
Oh yeah go see Edinburgh Castle.
Apr 2, 2024
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The perfect lil snack for when you donât want a big snack
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We're long overdue in thrusting "What do you do?" into the sea forever. It's time we collectively get down to what people are interested in instead of minimizing their vibrant existence by asking how they make money.
Mar 22, 2024