Adventure to Edinburgh!

So yesterday I went on a day trip to Edinburgh. It was really cool, and really gorgeous! So here's what I did, and some advice for people thinking of doing the same.

First of all, if you get the right tickets, Megabus has tickets for the bus from Glasgow to Edinburgh for 1 pound, which is ridiculously amazing. And that's also why I didn't get back until like 10pm, but more on that later.

Anyways, what's nice about the Edinburgh Bus Station is that it's pretty close to everything in the city. A short walk gets you to the Princes St gardens, which is central for most things. The National Galleries are right next to it, and entry to their permanent collection is free! (Pro tip: you are required to wear backpacks on your front or at your side, so prepare to rock the front-backpack look.)

Then a little way on is the Edinburgh castle. Tickets are hella expensive, so I'd recommend playing the how-far-can-I-get-without-paying game. You just aren't allowed under the portcullis, so you can get pretty far. Plenty of opportunities for cool shots.

After that, the National Museum of Scotland isn't too far off. Entry is also free, and they have a ton of stuff inside. There's two sections: the international and the Scottish. Check out both, because they're both awesome. Be sure to check out the roof as well, you get a great view of the city.

The National Museum is also in a really nice area, with tons of little shops and St. Giles Cathedral since it's near the old part of town. I went into The Elephant House, its claim to fame being where J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books. It was nice, and surprisingly not that crowded. Greyfriar's Bobby is also just down the street, which is a little statue of a dog that guarded his owner's grave for 15 years. Pretty cute.

I then walked back to the Princes St gardens to look at the Scott memorial. You can walk up to the top if you pay, and I did, but I don't think I'd recommend that to others. You get just as nice of a view from the top of the museum, or the next place that I went to.

The final spot that I checked out was Calton Hill. I happened to just stumble across it, but I think it should be on every guide ever because it was pretty incredible. It's a hill with some monuments on it, and it gives you amazing views of the city and the hills around it as well. I managed to get there for sunset, and it was gorgeous! (Pro tip: the parks will close eventually but the hill doesn't, so hang out there if you have nowhere to go and just want to sit.)

Another piece of advice is that if you're like me and finish up the museums early and then have nothing to do for a few hours is to just wander around until you find something that looks cool. That's how I found Calton Hill, and the cemetery nearby which is where Hume is buried.

So yup, Edinburgh's gorgeous and a really fun place for a day trip!