A little trip to Edinburgh...
Do you ever go somewhere and feel like you don't do it justice photography wise? Well that happened to me in my recent trip up to Edinburgh. I called this post a weekend in Edinburgh, but we actually went during the week... however, we only had two full days there, so it's basically the same right? Anyway, as I was saying, if you follow me on instagram you may have followed our little road trip up there and seen my stories on the whole palava. But to sum it up, I went to Edinburgh for three nights and had so many plans, only for them to all go down the plug hole when a certain toddler of mine decided to have a melt down for the majority of our time there! I think it was just a phase that came at the wrong time, in the wrong place, if I'm honest. We still had a fab time don't get me wrong, I just really struggled to do and see everything I wanted to whilst I was there as it was all just a bit overwhelming on my first overnight trip with him all by myself! City breaks for me, are about spending an entire day walking until my feet hurt and taking everything in - and why I thought I could do that on my own with a toddler in tow is beyond me. I clearly have big dreams. I've definitely learned my lesson and will plan it a bit better next time, but for now, I've put together a little post of what we did get up to whilst in Edinburgh. It was mostly just touristing the area trying to snap photos whilst pushing a pram and carrying a two year old in the other arm up the very steep hills that are everywhere (nightmare) but honestly, I loved taking in the views. Edinburgh is a beauty and I can't wait to go back and explore more.
This was the cute cobbled street where we stayed in our little Airbnb and it was super gorge! There's just something about all of the brickwork and cobbles in Edinburgh that have such historic character to them, I loved it so much.
We ventured down to Dean Village on the first morning there, which was just round the corner from our Airbnb. I think it was about a 5/10 minute walk so not far at all! We just passed through as I found it really hard to explore properly with Ru in his pram. One of the disadvantages to being alone, as there was loads of steps and things and it was just super awkward, I couldn't have carried the buggy down them by myself. I did plan on having a walk back up here with him and leaving the buggy at our Airbnb since it was just round the corner, but he was being a bit of a monkey so I thought I'd save myself the stress! I definitely don't do it justice on these snaps, the ones on Pinterest are always so lush. I'd love to come back during the summer when it's covered in all the greenery.
Edinburgh is one of the hilliest places ever so there's loads of areas where you can stand and get views like these, beaut! It was especially gorgeous early on a morning when the sky was so clear.
I couldn't miss out on a quick walk down Circus Lane... it's all you see pictures of on Pinterest! I would have loved a snap of me and Ru down here but you wouldn't even believe me when I say there wasn't a single person in sight. It's one of the most photographed tourist spots in Edinburgh and it wasn't even that early in the day, yet there was just nobody about bar a couple of workmen in and out of their vans. I wasn't sure I'd gone down the right street at first it was that dead! It really is so beautiful down this little lane though, definitely not as much greenery and florals as you see on instagram, but that's because we were there in February. I bet it's even more gorgeous there now that it's Spring.
There he is - the cheeky chap himself. You can tell he was being mischievous just from his cheeky face in these pictures can't you?! This was the point where he was refusing to hold my hand and just wanted to run wild haha... busy cities aren't really the kind of place you can let a toddler run loose so he wasn't very happy.
A lot of the photos I took weren't of anything in particular, just admiring the beauty of the gorgeous architecture on the streets of Edinburgh! It's so different to where we live so you appreciate the beauty in the little things so much more.
It was inevitable that we'd make our way to Victoria Street in the old town, it's absolutely gorgeous with it's curved bend and all the colourful shop fronts. Have you ever seen a street more instagram?
I love how much character Edinburgh has, you can just be walking through the old town and you come across these little alleyways and beautifully built buildings. It's an amazing location for all the photographers out there!
We were so lucky with the weather we got to say we went in February, it was blue skies for the two full days that we spent exploring and it was warm enough to not need a coat. Incredible for the end of February and in Scotland too!
The last place we went to on our last day there was Princes Street Gardens. I picked Ru up a new little green toy car in Tiger and he loved playing with it along the fountain wall, it was so cute. This was really the only safe place that I was able to let him run wild as there was no roads/cars and he was loving his life! We must have been here a good three hours.
There's a little park in Princes Street Gardens too so it's a fab little area to let little ones let off some steam. Ru happily played in this park for ages and he even made some friends. Adorable!
We went back to our Airbnb after this and drove home the next morning. We were originally going to spend our last day driving up to Loch Lomond for the day, but the good weather didn't last and it was raining and freezing... so instead we just decided to go home after a tiring couple of days.
Anyway I hope you enjoyed this little photo diary that I put together, if you're planning any city breaks this year, I highly recommend Edinburgh! Sometimes it's so refreshing that you can actually reach such beautiful places by car within a few hours without needing to hop on a plane to feel like you're on holiday. I'm hoping to go back for another visit maybe next Spring, a bit later in the year than when we went this year.
Have you been to Edinburgh?