Scotland Trip 2026
A page documenting my family trip to Scotland in May of 2026!
May 8 - Arrival in Edinburgh
The first day in Edinburgh! Arriving at a bright and early 10am after a pleasant nap on my flight I was ready to start exploring the city. First order of business was getting to the city from the airport outside of town. There were options for a bus and tram but elected to take the bus as it was easier to get to form my gate. The Airlink 100 Bus took me from the airport along glasgow road/st johns, into haymarket, and eventually along princess street all the way to Waverly station in the heart of the city. I was absolutely stunned by how desnely packed it was as I got closer and closer to the city center. After hopping off the bus at Waverly, I started off along south bridge into old town to my hostel, where i checked in and dropped off my luggage. After chatting with some of the folks at the hostel and asking for advice on what to see first, I elected to make my way down south bridge rd for lunch and checking out the shops.
The first shop I stopped at was a charming bookstore called Blackwells. Two stories, the first being spacious and more typical of a large american chain bookstore, with the second being charmingly cramped with books piled high to the ceiling. Here I picked up a copy of Voltaire's Candide, and then a very yummy flat white at Black Medicine coffee while I read the first few chapters of my new book. Next stop was Armstrongs down the street, a small local chain carrying secondhand clothing and used goods. There I met some funny locals and had a chat while browsing the store. They recommended I stop by Alby's Sub shop down the road, and gave very bad instructions based entirely on hard to see street level landmarks. After corssing the street I scanned the wall for the specified graffiti, turned left at the large ivy plant, and made my way through the two open iron gates. I knew I was on the right path when I passed the gnome garden on my left. After a few more very oddly specific landmarks I arrived at the very charming little yellow shop. Inside I was greeted by a australian woman, Kat. After ruminating for a bit a uni student recommended I have the pork belly sandwich, and not being one to challenge the knowledge of a regular I followed her advice. One absolutely killer Pork belly sandwich later I was very glad I did. Fueled by my meal and another great conversation with kat, who ended up being the owner, I began hiking up towards the Salisbury Crags & Arthur's seat.Making my way towards the crag was about as simple as one could imagine. A large imposing cliff sits in the center(ish) of town, and is visible from almost everywhere, so one must simply walk towards it. After stopping to chat with a nice young woman who was sketching some flowers, I began my hike up the crag as I entered Hollyrood park. (the large green space where both Arthur's seat and the crags are located)