Scotland is one of those locations that you will visit and be forever changed. Between the kindness of everyone around, the air, the water, the sheep, the untouched nature, literally everything will spoil you and make you want to come back time and time again. 

My husband and I had one week to explore and pack in as much as possible. Granted, we are roadtrippers at heart so for us, driving was not an issue. For others, tours or trains might be more of your speed! No matter how you explore Scotland, remember to stop and take it all in frequently. 

A few notes: It was just my husband and I. We did a two week trip in May 2024, one week to Scotland and one week to Ireland (if you’re interested in that, check out my blog on Ireland here). We experienced sunshine every single day and actually ended up having to buy shorts because of how warm it was. I did not have phone service, other than public WIFI, but my husband did. We did the one month offer through Verizon. We rented a car after two days in Edinburgh, this way we were completely rested before getting behind the wheel, and drove ourselves the entire week. We were on the move a lot and saw as much as we possibly could. I have heard fabulous things about Rabbies tours though, so if you are looking for something along those lines, I would recommend them.

The Itinerary

We flew from Indianapolis to Dublin with a two hour layover and then flew from Dublin to Edinburgh. Upon arrival, there is a Irn Bru vending machine immediately off the flight and I highly suggest you get one!

We arrived in Edinburgh at noon and hit the ground running. We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel (Point A – Window Room) and we were lucky enough that our room was already available so we dropped our luggage off. We did not take a nap, we immediately left the hotel and started exploring the city. Our hotel was about a 10 minute walk from the Royal Mile and Victoria Street. 

I have included everything we did plus what we originally had on our itinerary, but ended up running out of time for! At the end I also have our google maps with stops. 

Day 1

Hotel: Point A (window room) – great small room. The hotel wasn’t near a loud street and was a great walking distance from the Old and New Town. The rooms were small, but if you’re only in there for sleeping and changing it gets the job done. We did breakfast and it was great! 

We didn’t have a ton of extra time so we swung into MOR Bakehouse on the Royal Mile for a quick bakery item and some coffee.

Day 1

Real Mary King Close – I was indifferent to this experience while my husband really enjoyed it. We did it at about hour 25 of being up so running off fumes and adrenaline. It was a great way to learn about the city though! 

We had some time to kill before our food tour, so we stopped at Cold Town House for a drink and to people watch. This was was such a great location on a warm, spring day to enjoy their patio seating and soak up the sun and the atmosphere. The rooftop was full, so if that’s something you want to experience, make a reservation! We didn’t know how our schedule would lay out so I wasn’t able to make a reservation. If all else fails, there’s actually a line of pubs and patios in this area so If Cold Town House is full, there are multiple other locations to pick from. We then moved to a closer spot to where we were supposed to meet our tour guide for our food tour. We popped into The Oz Bar, since it was across the street from our meeting point, and it was a nice pub that had a great local energy. At this point, we were just taking everything in and loving everything.

Food Tour – We did a food tour through Eat Walk Tours and I genuinely can’t say enough great things about this! It was one of our favorites throughout the entire trip. The food was excellent and the experience was really educational. We have three large dishes, pork belly, cod, and haggis, a dessert, Sticky Toffee Pudding, and a Scotch Whisky. This is where my love for sticky toffee pudding came, it is so good! The walking, from Old Town to New Town, helped us become so comfortable with the city that by day two we really felt like we knew our way around. The guide was so nice and answered all our questions! They are also flexible and will work with you if you happen to make a scheduling mistake (at least they did with us!). I really think doing this set Edinburgh up to be so successful for us.

It was still a little early to go to bed, so on our walk home we stopped at Shakespeare’s for a drink.

Day 2

We woke up rested and ready to explore the city. Our hotel included a full breakfast and it was delicious. After we ate, we started our day. The hotel is a perfect, central location so we were only about a 10 minute walk from Edinburgh castle.

Edinburgh Castle – loved loved loved going through the castle EARLY in the morning! We did the self guided with a book and really enjoyed it at our own pace. Such fascinating history and gorgeous views. Note that you really should set around 2.5-3 hours to see and experience it all. We got there around 9 and when we left at noon it was INSANE. So start early and then get out! Also, make sure you catch a view of it at night. 

Edinburgh Castle Tea – this was unfortunately a disappointment. I was so excited for this and for the price it was what was going to work. Unfortunately the food was not very good and the whole experience was underwhelming. I was so disappointed as I’m an avid tea drinker so I was looking forward to having some great options with delicious tea sandwiches. This just didn’t cut it. If you want a good High Tea, pick a different location!

Dean Village/Circus Lane – LOVE. If you have nice weather and want to be outside, this is what I recommend from the bottom of my heart. My husband and I are people who are outside if we can be, so while we would have loved to experience the museums, the weather was just too nice that we couldn’t bring ourselves to be inside! Dean Village is just stunning. We then did the Water of Lieth Walkway up to Circus Lane. This was a beautiful, peaceful walk that allowed us to hear all the birds and see all the wildflowers. I really enjoyed this. 

Arthurs Seat – We were so sad to miss this. We just ran out of time so it’s on the top of our list for next time!

St. Andrew’s Square – by this point, my husband and I realized we had dressed too warm and we were SWEATING lol! We used this park to lay under a tree and cool off. This park was so nice and the Paddington Bear was an adorable little statue. This was such a special moment during our trip to really sit back and look around at where we were. The square was lush and full of so many wildflowers. I could have sat there all day just soaking everything in.

TKMaxx – During our flight, my sunglasses broke so I was in desperate need of a new pair since it was so sunny. After leaving the park, we saw a sign for a TKMaxx that looked very similar to the American TJMaxx so we stopped in and sure enough it was the same concept! I found a pair of sunglasses and was on my way. I just wanted to include this as it was still early in our trip and being unacquainted with the area it was something we were familiar with that provided what we needed in that moment. It wasn’t used for anything other than a quick stop for something I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on.

From here we walked back to our hotel to freshen up before the rest of the evening. The walk took us past Spirelike Victorian Memorial, in honor of the writer Sir Walter Scott, and the bridge along the National Galleries of Scotland and over the East Princes Street Gardens. We stood here for a while taking in the view of Old and New Town, one on each side of the gardens. There were street musicians playing and it was one of those *pinch me* moments.

Victoria Street – Either go first thing in the morning if you want to shop or after all the stores have closed if you just want to see the street. I didn’t feel the need to shop so we went around 7/8ish and it was much less crowded and the way the sun was hitting it made it all glow. It was enjoyable and not overwhelming at this time so if you’re just looking to see the street I would recommend doing it this way.

Jamie’s Print Shop – I am a huge Outlander fan so seeing this was fun! The Worlds End Pub is nearby too and it was great!! We went in for a pint and to escape the sun, but knowing it was featured in Outlander was a great plus.

We needed to eat some dinner, but didn’t have a ton of time before our reservation at The Department of Magic. We went to this small local spot called Piemakers. We love a pasty and this place was absolutely delicious! We also grabbed a donut from a few shops down.

The Department of Magic – I may get some heat for this but what a TOTAL let down. I was so excited for this and it was just not worth the money. The drinks were not good and the experience just felt gimmicky. However, it didn’t feel like a tourist trap just that they haven’t figured out the drink flavors or proportions yet. This was a pretty big bum and I unfortunately can’t recommend it. I don’t think it is worth the money or the time.

Pub crawl – this was not planned but ended up being so much fun. As we were meandering we stumbled upon this massive beer garden and it just spiraled into a pub crawl. Here were our stops in both Old and New Town

• The Three Sisters 
• Frankenstein & Bier Keller (SO fun. Sit upstairs for at least 30 minutes and wait for the surprise. If you’re there Friday or Saturday they have karaoke too! My husband did it and it was so much fun.)
• The Last Drop – live music was fun!
• Dirty Dicks – if you like golf, look up!
• Rose and Crown – fantastic live music
• Rose Street in New Town – you can’t go wrong! There’s lots of options here. 

That wraps up our time in Edinburgh! We fell so deeply in love with this city that we are planning a return trip in the fall of 2026. There is so much we still have to discover and I’m eager to get back to my favorite city in the world.