I spent 4 months living in Edinburgh, from November 2011 to February 2012 as many will tell you these are not the nicest months to spend in Scotland weather wise, however I loved my time living there. Here’s why….
- Arthurs Seat – If you have read One Day you will know about this place even if you know nothing of Edinburgh. It is an extinct volcano and a great walk with a 360 degree of Edinburgh you can see for miles the sea to one side and the dry ski run to the other. I walked up here in my final week of being in Edinburgh, but before then I had taken several walks up to the crags, part of the area around Arthurs Seat. If nothing else I would recommend a walk up here!
- It does not feel like a city – like I have said many times I am not a city person but when I visited this city for a week I felt totally at home, it was beautiful a mixture of modern and old buildings and you are surrounded by the sea and an extinct volcano. With many parks and green areas that make you totally forget you are in a city. The whole area around Arthurs Seat makes you feel like you have left the centre of the city but you’re not more than 2 miles from the Castle. The whole city has this feel, and it’s not as if it is a small city.
- The Royal Mile – the most famous street in Edinburgh, it connects the Castle with the Queens building and Parliament. I love wandering this street as you meet all sorts of people, it is mostly made busy by tourists and in the summer becomes home to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Lined with tourist attractions, shops, incredibly beautiful buildings which if you stand and look at, you will see the stories go up in numbers because of the way the street slopes with many streets on different levels and some even buried these days. You also have great views of the castle and Arthurs seat from here.
- The Meadows – Edinburgh’s version of Hyde Park, a very popular student area and always busy with people playing sport no matter the weather. In the spring/summer I am told it is even more beautiful with the spring blossom, flowers and people picnicing and bbqing. You have incredible views from here of a place that looks like anything but a city.
- The beach – Living in Edinburgh I did not realise how close to the sea I am until after a few weeks of being there, but the sea literally is just there. You can get to it from many different points, I lived nearest Portobello Beach which was a lovely place for escaping to and taking a walk. I love living anywhere that has easy access to the beach.
- The night life, now I only got to experience this a handful of times, but one of those included Hogmanay the Scottish New Year celebrations, I have never seen anything like the effort that went in to arranging this and how many people came to the city just to see it. But that’s not the only great night out, Edinburgh has more pubs to people ratio than most cities and because of this you have the biggest choices of places. My favourite place was Brass Monkey a very student packed place, where the biggest choice of sitting options is sofas or ‘beds’.
My time in Edinburgh was cut short to 4 months due to an unexpected move to London, however the time I did spend there I loved. It really is one of the most beautiful cities and if you get a chance to spend a week or two there in August for the Fringe Festival, I would highly recommend it.
