Yes, you are mostly like to go to the Royal Mile (I am 98% sure) while in Edinburgh to shop at the tourist shops as well as see attractions such as The Real Mary King Close, The Scotch Whisky Experience or Edinburgh Castle at one end and Holyroodhouse Palace at the other end. There are also multiple museums of all types up and down the Royal Mile as well but what about the some of the other unusual or forgotten attractions.

One site to do other than The Real Mary King Close is the Vaults which are underneath Edinburgh as well. Just a bus ride or taxi away, you can go to see Rosslyn Chapel (45 min bus ride) from the DaVinci Code movie or visit the beautiful Dean’s Village which you can walk from Holyroodhouse Palace in 30 mins- if you want. Many people don’t think about visiting Craigmiller Castle or Arthur’s Seat (you can hike up the front side or take a taxi 2/3 way up the back side and walk the rest yourself). I loved taking the tour on the Royal Yacht Britannia which is actually connected to a mall or walking the Botanical Gardens. Don’t forget about Inchcolm Abbey on an island in the middle of Firth of Forth!

Another interesting place just a block off the Royal Mile is the Surgeon’s Hall but be prepared for some weird so in specimen jars so if you get squeamish, this is not for you! I mentioned in my last blog Greyfriar’s Bobby Bar but it is the Skye Terrier outside the pub you might want to rub for good luck after your lunch. Many of these attractions have website so just google and read away.

Next blog we start to move at Stirlingshire/Falkirk area then move towards Newtonmore and the Cairngorms National Park.

Gwen McNeill hesitates to call herself a “travel expert” but instead a “travel aficionado or enthusiast”!  Over the past 12 years, she has learned many travel tricks and tips but find cool items for packing or apps to make the travel experience even better.

After becoming a member of CMAA in 2005, Gwen experienced her first adventure to Scotland when she traveled to the 2006 Clan Gathering on Isle of Barra. She not only fell in love with Barra but also with Scotland and the UK as a whole.   She has since attended three more Gatherings on the Isle of Barra and also travels to Scotland every 12-18 months on a solo trip or with friends.  As often as she goes, can you believe she hasn’t seen all of Scotland?!  

Gwen has also created a travel guide that is available on the Clan Macneil Global Alliance website, www.clanmacneilglobal.org This includes all the tools she’s blogged about on the CMAA blog and much more information beyond that. She is happy to answer questions for anyone and can be reached via email: gwenmcn.cmaa@gmail.com, please put in the Subject line: CMAA – Going to UK.

We pick up with Paige's family in Edinburgh for 2 ½ days, where they can actually walk to most of the best attractions all off the Royal Mile such as The Real Mary King Close Tour, St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh Castle, The Scotch Whisky Experience Tour, Tartan Weaving Mill, walk to Arthur’s Seat and see a panoramic view of Old Edinburgh and more with all the shops to visit too. Another option is either taxi or take the bus near the Waverly Station/Royal Mile and see the The Royal Yacht, Britannia bus or the Botanical Gardens near there too or why not catch the bus near Waverly Station and take the 45 min to Rosslyn Chapel from the DaVinci movies. Even though they have been to the coast, Dean’s Village which is a 30 minute walk from the Royal Mile is a beautiful village to visit. If time allows, I also recommend going to see the Greyfriars Bobby, a skye terrier who guarded hits master grave for 14 years. Rubbing it is suppose to bring you luck, walk the cemetery just behind Greyfriars Café and then return to the café for the most wonderful skink soup. They can still use a Hop-On, Hop-Off bus from the Royal Mile or anywhere around that area with narrative of famous places as well. And, there are lots of walking tours such as the Ghostly Underground Vaults Tour or Ghost Tour Pub Crawls. I also enjoy an evening of music in one the pubs such as Sandy Bell's or The Royal Oak which are both just a few blocks off the Royal Mile.

One of Paige’s wish was to stay at a Castle so their last evening in Edinburgh, they will taxi to Melville Castle which is claimed to be haunted. Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, Sir Walter Scott as well as Queen Victoria on her visit to Scotland at the age of twenty-three. They will enjoy their last evening in the Castle and around the grounds before they head to the Edinburgh Airport the next morning for their trip home to the US. They allowed for a 3-hour layover in Heathrow to shop and get any duty-free items before the last track of their 8-hour flight home.

As you can see, they will experience a lot in just really 6 ½ days since ½ day is on the train to Oban but with beautiful country scenery along the way and the last day is all traveling – adding this up to 8 days total. Imagine what you can do and see if you did a 14-day trip to the UK.

Stayed tuned for my next few blogs where I will cover areas you can see with more time, to include those off-the-beaten attractions that you don’t hear about as much on the internet. One example is the The Clootie Well and its bits of cloth and clothing hanging off the trees and bushes. I hope this peaks your interest, so til next time! ~Gwen

My friend, Paige, has decided to take her family of four to England and Scotland in May 2019 (just the beginning of peak season) and they will fit the trip into just 8 days total. Using the the travel tools shared in my #VisitClanHomelandsSeries, I am assisting her in planning to see the sights that are important to them for this trip and will share that planning experience in this blog series.

The tricky thing for an 8-day trip is that it also includes travel time between destinations.  The family wants to see both England and Scotland and include at least one day on the Scottish coast. Their main two destinations will be London and Edinburgh, 2 ½ days each and 1-day in Oban, a beautiful city on the coast. This is where your research will pay off by checking train and flight schedules to utilize the best venue and time to travel between your destinations if you are not driving yourself.

In London, Paige’s family will maximize their sightseeing by using the train station near their B&B to get to Big Bus London Hop-On, Hop-Off Day Tour, Red Tour near one of its attractions such as the Tower of London. Once they start using the Big Bus, they can see other attractions such as Hyde Park, Chinatown, Trafalgar Square, London Dungeons, London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral and more the entire two days. If there is something off the route, then they just utilize a bus or taxi.

When it is time to head for Scotland, they will fly with Flybe.com from Heathrow to Edinburgh. The next stop is actually Oban so they will take the tram from the Airport to Princes Street, near the Scott Monument, walk about 2 blocks to the Waverly Station where they store their bags @ Luggage Point for the 5 hours they have til the train departs to Oban. This way, they can take just walk to the Royal Mile and enjoys shops or even take the tour at Palace of Holyroodhouse since it is only a few blocks from the station as well. Even this day is not a full day of travelling because they flew instead of using the train from London. The cost was actually less too! They arrive in Oban early evening, get settled in at their B&B and maybe walk around for dinner a wee bit. The next day, they are going to take use Staffa Tours and The Three Isle Tour to Mull, Iona and Staffa | West Coast Tours for the day where they get to enjoy actually being off the mainland. They may luck out and see Puffins on the Isle of Staffa and enjoy the Abbey on Iona too. They return that evening to enjoy some Scottish music maybe at the Royal Hotel with a lovely dinner and the next morning catch the train back to Edinburgh.