The Scottish capital Edinburgh, is one of my favourite destinations that I’ve taken a day trip to. Only an hour bus from Glasgow and an hour’s plane journey from Dublin airport, Edinburgh is a destination in close proximity, at a cheap price that will take you to a brand new world. From the glorious architecture, to the strong, beaming Scottish culture in Edinburgh, this city should definitely be added to every European’s travel bucket list.

I headed to Edinburgh with my boyfriend who currently lives in Glasgow about a month ago, and the imagery of the city still remains very vividly in my mind. I loved the city and would love to return or possibly move there, I thought it was so beautiful. That won’t be happening any time soon, so I will settle for sharing a blog post with some recommendations of how to spend a day in Edinburgh. Be sure to let me know in the comments if you’ve been to Edinburgh and what you enjoyed seeing the most.

Edinburgh Castle

What Edinburgh is most definitely best known for is its castle over-looking the city. It may look like something from the outside, but as the saying goes, “it’s what’s on the inside that counts” which is why I would recommend paying the entry fee to enter the castle. It takes about two hours to go through the castle but there’s lots to see and do there, from chilling by the cannon balls to remembering all those who lost their lives in the war. The adult fee is about 15 pounds.

Arthur’s Seat

Unfortunately, when we were in Edinburgh we didn’t have the time that day to go up to Arthur’s Seat which is something I am meaning to do on my next visit. Arthur’s Seat is a bit of a trek from city centre but the views from it are supposedly amazing.

Grassmarket Street

Grassmarket Street is the location of ‘The Elephant House’ , the place where JK Rowling created the Harry Potter books. There are also a lot of pubs and restaurants on this street which is perfect if your stomach is growling.

The Royal Mile

Calton Hill

Calton Hill is a hill in the centre of Edinburgh which offers superb views of Scotland's capital. Just off Prince's Street, Calton Hill is a great alternative to Arthur's Seat if you don't have the time to spare to make the trek up to Arthur's Seat. 

Quirky Streets 

Sight seeing is the main activity you'll be doing on your trip to Edinburgh, and there's an abundance of different quirky streets to feast your eyes on and stroll down on your day in Edinburgh. My personal favourite was Victoria Street which was a curved street that went uphill and had a really interesting Harry Potter shop. Other streets you might consider exploring include Rose Street, George Street, Castle Street, and Prince's Street. Whatever street you walk down, you'll be sure to get a true taste of Edinburgh.  

By the time we were settled, there wasn’t time to do the most exciting things. But we did go for a wander and managed to do a bit of exploring. We headed to Union Square which at the time was lit with a crazy amount of Christmas lights. It was really pretty. It then began to get dark as the sun set. We headed to China town to check it out. A salesman was trying to bargain with me to get me to buy some ridiculously tacky ornaments. After some bargaining and checking out all there was to see in the China town area, we headed on a walk to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. Pier 39 is a very touristy area in San Francisco and doesn’t fail to offer a large range of shops by the seas. The shops ranged from clothing stores to tacky little stores selling seashells and sea themed souvenirs, to some hipster art stores which were pretty cool. We decided that we would head back on one of our last days to get some souvenirs.

Our first full day in San Francisco involved climbing the twin peaks and looking down at the stunning sight of San Francisco. Following this, we headed on a long walk. We first walked around Golden Gate Park for a little while. I remember seeing some people filming themselves skateboarding who we happened to see again in a restaurant we ate at. After exploring the park for a little, we went to Ocean Beach where the cutest dog ever followed me as I walked beside the Pacific Ocean. By this time, it was lunch time and we developed a bit of an appetite so mutually decided to go to a diner that was close to the beach and the Lands End trail walk we decided to go on that day. I was really craving fish and chips that day and I thoroughly enjoyed it whilst looking out at the ocean. The Lands End trail was a very picturesque walk which allowed us to capture some unique pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge. It took us awhile to complete the trail, but it eventually led us to another beach called Baker Beach. It was here that we watched the sun set again. That evening we went for dinner at a diner close to our hotel in the city and shared a banana split for dessert. This was the first one I’d had in years.

Our second full day in San Francisco was probably the most exciting as we finally were going to cross the famous Golden Gate Bridge. We got a bus out to the centre and were both eager to cross the bridge on bikes. Unfortunately, we had to go back to where we came from to get bikes, so decided to walk across instead. Before heading, we had to take a few mandatory touristy selfies with the bridge. It probably took us about 40 minutes to cross the bridge including the time we took to stop and take some photographs. Once we got across, we went up a hill to see the bridge from another angle and then decided to visit a town called Sausalito which was on the side of the bridge we were at. We got a taxi to the main area of Sausalito. Sausalito was a lovely town, not particularly entertaining to be honest, but it looked nice. We went strolling around for a bit, got some ice-cream (Adrian got the most delicious peppermint flavoured ice-cream) and then got a ferry back to downtown San Francisco. Sausalito completely reminded me of my holiday to Madeira last summer. We got off the ferry at the ferry building and explored the large market inside the building as well as the areas surrounding. That night when we got peckish, we found a place called “Hot Spud” which sold a variety of delicious baked potatoes with toppings of your choice. It was almost like a potato version of a burrito place. That evening we also walked down a street called Haight which offered a variety of cute vintage and hipster looking shops. I bought a very nice necklace with an E on it there.

Our final day in San Francisco was very bittersweet. We still had adventures to have but it was our last day of travel in the US before making our way back home for Christmas. Our morning started in a long queue to go on the famous cable car around San Francisco. San Francisco has very steep hills and there is just something extremely idyllic about riding a cable car around hilly San Francisco. We reluctantly got off at a stop somewhere close to Lombard Street as this was a sight we really wanted to see. Lombard Street is that zigzag street that is seen very frequently in movies and has a lot of attraction. Unfortunately, the lighting wasn’t on our side that day and we couldn’t manage to take a decent photo of it. After seeing Lombard Street, we went walking around for a bit and then headed to see the Palace of Fine Arts which was absolutely gorgeous. We also returned to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf for some last minute souvenir shopping and chilling by the sea before heading to the airport. We also tried some deep fried Oreos and explored Japan town before heading to the airport to depart.

Bye for now, 

Hi Lovelies,

Ever since I knew I was going to be spending a few months in the states, I was very keen on heading to the west coast. I originally wanted to head to Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, but realistically San Diego wasn’t going to fit into the small time frame we had. I travelled to California with my travel buddy Adrian and we had the most amazing three days there.

The number one rule in my mind when you’re heading to LA is that a car is absolutely necessary. I don’t have my full drivers license, but luckily Adrian did so we decided to rent a car for our few days in LA. We left a literal snowstorm in Chicago Illinois and were greeted by a glorious sunny paradise in LA.

The following day entailed walking the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The stars on this walk carry on for ages and ages, there are just so many names on it. Some of the main ones I remember seeing as Jimi Hendrix, Walt Disney, Britney Spears, Daniel Radcliffe and so much more. Following this, we drove around for a while and found a neighbourhood somewhere to get some cool pictures with the Hollywood sign. The mandatory pictures had been taken and we both had been craving some beach time. So we headed to Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach. On arrival, we sat in some beach chairs that were around and I got an expensive coconut as I really wanted to try the coconut water. Sadly, it wasn’t worth it but it was very refreshing on the beach. We enjoyed splashing around in the water as well as the Ferris wheel at Santa Monica. Santa Monica was very touristy but there were these beautiful wooden postcards that I couldn’t resist buying as a souvenir for myself. After having some fun in Santa Monica we drove down to Venice Beach where we watched the sun set for the second time in a row. That evening we headed to the popular “In-N-Out” chain restaurant. It is cheap and pretty good for what you get. Our main regret was not trying the animal fries though.

Early on the third day, we set off on a quick flight to San Francisco. I’ll be writing my next travel diary on San Francisco.

I absolutely loved LA, and it is a fun and bustling location for those full of life and energy. Would love to revisit and have more time to bask in the glorious sunshine. My only regret is that we didn’t have the time to visit downtown LA. Would love to see it sometime.

Have you ever been to the west coast?

What was your highlight?