A trip to Edinburgh for Fringe

I recently visited Edinburgh for the first time and while I can't deny that my slight Outlander obsession made me extra keen to go there, it certainly didn't disappoint! I timed the visit for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which is well worth a visit. Edinburgh was buzzing with people and shows! I visited with my parents and boyfriend so we decided to stay in an apartment - the Old Town Brewery Apartment, located in Edinburgh's Old Town (as the name suggests). This was a great location to stay - easy to walk everywhere we needed to go in Edinburgh but also tucked away in a quiet street. We didn't need to get on public transport or take a taxi anywhere the entire time we were in Edinburgh.

Having not been to Edinburgh before, we did a lot of sight-seeing as well as seeing a few Fringe shows. We decided to take the train from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh instead of flying. While it did take around five hours, I personally enjoy the comfort of trains and the opportunity to see the countryside. We got a nice view of Newcastle and areas of Yorkshire on our way towards Scotland. We arrived in Edinburgh at lunchtime on Friday and after dropping off our luggage, walked to La Garrigue for lunch, a delicious French bistro in the Old Town.

After lunch, we made our way to Holyrood House. I don't know if it's because we had audio guides at Holyrood House and not at Edinburgh Castle, but I much preferred Holyrood House. You can see a fairly large chunk of the interior, which is dark and mysterious like many old royal homes - I can't say I'd want to spend the night there. The audio guide tour covers a lot of history on Queen Mary of the Scots, which I found quite interesting. Plenty happened in this house, including the murder of Queen Mary's secretary, David Rizzio!

On Friday night we saw our first Fringe show, Kevin Quantum: And for My Next Trick. Kevin's magic/comedy show was great - he successfully combined jokes and tricks while doing a great job of involving the audience (and not just the front row). We all left wanting to the secrets behind his tricks!

On Saturday, we joined the Edinburgh Free Tour for two hours. I definitely recommend this tour on your first visit to Edinburgh. The guide provided so much information that we never would have discovered on our own. Highlights included the history of Grassmarket, including the unsuccessful hanging of Half-hangit Maggie and the story of Greyfriars Bobby.

After the walking tour, we tried the delicious Scottish soup, Cullen Skink, for lunch. Don't judge this soup by its unusual name - it really is delicious! We then visited Edinburgh Castle. We joined one of free tours around the castle, which helped give it some context, and also visited the Crown Jewels and the tiny chapel.

We only pre-booked one show for Edinburgh Fringe, which turned out to be a good strategy. It was easy enough to book shows through the app while we were in Edinburgh. On Saturday night, we saw Paul Currie: Hot Donkey. This is definitely a show for people with a quirky Monty Python-esque sense of humour! Paul Currie was a lot of fun and super silly!

I really wanted to take the opportunity to visit the Highlands while I was in Edinburgh. We booked the West Highlands Lochs, Mountains and Castles tour with Timberbush Tours. The tour guide was fantastic - he kept us entertained for the whole ten hours as we traversed west of Edinburgh into the Highlands and past lochs and historic buildings. The tour made plenty of stops. We spent half an hour at Castle Doune - the filming location of Monty Python's Holy Grail and Castle Leoch in Outlander. While the history of the old castle was very interesting, the highlight was probably re-enacting the knights with coconuts scene from The Holy Grail.

We spent one and a half hours at Inverary Castle, a beautiful castle still owned by the family, Clan Campbell. If you love historic buildings, you should definitely check out Inverary Castle. The interior and garden are just how I imagine a regal home to look! As you can see from the photo below, the dining room was beyond impressive. This castle definitely had the sort of interiors that I like to see in a castle - not dark and gloomy like Holyrood House.

We also made a few short stops, including a quick photo stop at Rest and Be Thankful, a picturesque viewpoint on the A83, and Luss on the edge of Loch Lomond. The view from Rest and Be Thankful was incredible, the photos really don't do it justice. I would love to go back to some of these areas to go hiking. After a long day on the road around Scotland, we headed into the New Town for Dinner at The Wee Restaurant. The food and service were both amazing - this is a great spot for a 'fancy' two-course meal without spending an obscene amount.

Monday was our final day in Edinburgh. We had a slightly slower pace after a busy few days. Before breakfast, we walked up Calton Hill. It was a very rainy day so we didn't get much of a view, but it was still well worth the walk. After chilling out in a cafe, we explored the shops along the historic Victoria Street (and seriously considered buying some Scottish garb) before heading to our final comedy show. We saw Men with Coconuts, a free improv show. This was quite possibly my favourite of the three shows that we saw during Edinburgh Fringe. I'm absolutely amazed by what these three guys managed to do on the spot! They really involved the audience by getting people to suggest words and themes for each act. After the show, we had a quick look at the beautiful Edinburgh Museum before making our way back to London.

We all absolutely loved Edinburgh and I hope to get back again - maybe for Fringe in 2019!