I went to Edinburgh for the first time in October of 2025 and loved it. It’s one of those places that makes you ask yourself, “should I move here??” We spent three days here which I think is the perfect amount of time. Keep reading to find out what we got up to and of course, what I recommend!
Day 1: Arrival & Victoria Street
We started our trip out in London, so we took the LNER train from there to Edinburgh. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station before we left – there’s even a Harry Potter store where you can buy wands, clothes, all the things! The train was $98 per person and can be booked in advance, which I highly recommend. The train took about four hours and as we went north, the route started to hug the coast, so we had some incredible views.
Then we checked into our hotel, the Moxy Edinburgh Fountainbridge, which ran us about $250 per night. Although this hotel is about a 20-minute walk away from the main part of Edinburgh, we were very happy with it and could easily save time by taking the bus.
Our first stop was to find Tom Riddle’s grave in Greyfriar’s Cemetary (this one is for the Harry Potter fans). The grave is marked on Google Maps, but it’s marked on the wrong side of the wall. We decided we would try again the next day and headed over to Victoria Street, which is known for its colorful storefronts and was allegedly the inspiration for Diagon Alley (another HP reference). We stopped into the various stores before heading to dinner.
We chose a dinner spot right in the middle of Victoria Street for our first night. It only felt right to have fish and chips, so we ate at Bertie’s Fish and Chips. After a delicious dinner, we went to a spot called Whiski so my dad could do a Scotch tasting. They have a ton of different tastings you can do, or you can take a page out of my book and just order a local beer!
Day 2: Edinburgh Essentials
This morning we headed to an alleyway known as The Vennel – if you didn’t know it was there you would miss it, but this staircase offers one of the best views of Edinburgh Castle perched up on the hill. The view is so iconic that many people propose here – in fact, we saw a proposal just seconds after I told my parents how common it is!
Next, we went to see Greyfriars Bobby, a statue commemorating a dog named Bobby who reportedly never left his owner’s grave for 14 years. In addition to the statue (rub his nose for good luck!), he has his own gravestone just inside the cemetery where people leave sticks instead of flowers. We also took a second go at finding Tom Riddle’s grave and finally found it! There are always other people looking for the same thing, so you can work together to find it if you have trouble.
We were in the mood for a drink (we’re on vacation, after all), so we stopped into Common’s Club inside the Virgin Hotel. This bar is beautifully decorated and has the most incredible staff – they gave us a lesson on Scotch and let us try a few different kinds before we ordered. If you have a bigger budget to work with, I highly recommend staying at this hotel!
It’s not a trip to Edinburgh without a visit to two of the most iconic sights, St. Gile’s Cathedral and the Scott Monument. The Scott Monument is close to the edge of the Princes Street Gardens, so you can take a stroll through the gardens afterwards.
Inside the Princes Street Gardens you’ll find lush greenery, statues, and finally the Ross Fountain, another Edinburgh landmark. From the Ross Fountain you will get another incredible angle of the Edinburgh Castle up on the hill. We decided not to visit the castle on this trip, but you could add it to your itinerary if it interests you.
For dinner we ate at a very popular spot called Makars Mash. If you can snag a reservation in advance, do it. If not, you can go to Door #2 to wait for a walk-in spot (but you have to go pretty early to get a table before they’re full for the night – we got there around 6pm). The food here is unreal – it’s one of my favorite meals I’ve ever had! I highly recommend the beef.
We closed out the night with a visit to Dropkick Murphys. It’s a bit hard to find but just remember that you have to go down to the lower street to get to it. If you feel like you’re right on top of it but you still can’t find it, look for a staircase!
Day 3: Islander Workshop
We spent the morning visiting the National Museum of Scotland. Admission is free, and the exhibits take you through the history of Scotland (if you’re an Outlander fan like I am, you’ll already be familiar with some of the battles!)
By the way, while you are in this area (National Museum/Greyfriars Kirkyard), you have to check out a store called Baa Baa Sheep Shop. They make the cutest sheep magnets, keychains, etc. that make the perfect souvenir or decoration for your Islander bag (see below).
After a morning at the museum, we had coffee and a snack at Rocksalt Cafe before heading to the event mom and I were most excited for. We attended the Islander Workshop at their Canongate location – this is a DIY bag making class where you get to choose your own design and put it together yourself!
The staff give you about 15 minutes to choose your pieces before you sit down to make your bag for the rest of the time. It’s so hard to choose, but we were so happy with the final product and got to leave with a souvenir to remember the trip by! I would highly recommend this to anyone, it was so fun.
Click here to book the Islander workshop for yourself!
Since this was our final night in Scotland, we had to send ourselves off with one final Scotch tasting. We were pleasantly surprised to find Tipsy Midgie, a very unassuming spot that has thousands of bottles of Scotch. On Sundays, they do a $10 tasting where you get to try three samples of Scotch from that week’s featured distillery. The owner is super friendly and will teach you about each sample. If you’re looking for a cheap Scotch tasting and happen to be in Edinburgh on a Sunday, add this to your list!
Final Thoughts
I can see why Edinburgh has the reputation it does – it’s small enough to feel like you can really get a sense of the place, but it’s big enough to offer plenty of things to do, many more than I could include here. If we had a little more time to spare, I would have loved to walk to Dean Village – it’s supposed to look like something out of a storybook.
If you are interested in visiting Edinburgh, here are the most important things I would tell you:
- Make reservations in advance: The most popular restaurants fill up, so make your dinner reservations a few weeks ahead of time.
- Wear comfortable shoes: Although Edinburgh is a very walkable city, some of the sights are still fairly spread out. You’ll be much happier if you have some comfortable footwear.
- Explore more of Scotland, if you can: You can do day trips from Edinburgh to Loch Ness, Glenfinnan Viaduct (the train from Harry Potter!), and the Scottish Highlands. I can’t wait to go back to Scotland so I can see more of the country.
If you made it this far and are interested in booking a trip to Scotland for yourself, I would love to be your travel advisor! Shoot me an email at courtney.brooks@fora.travel to get started.