Summer 2026 Graduation Celebration: Edinburgh, London, Disneyland Paris, Paris - Day 4 Edinburgh
We had a pretty chill morning. We slept in a bit and then grabbed an Uber to Swanston Farms because Emmaline wanted to see Highland cows and this was the closest place we could do that. (We saw one from a distance at a loch the previous day but it was very far.) There wasn’t a public transport option to get there, thus the Uber. We finished there and we had originally decided to have lunch in their cafe, but it was pretty early so we just had coffee and scones. Then we got another Uber (after a really long wait) and went to Holyrood Palace.
Like the castle the day before, we were given an audio guide that was actually really good. We all enjoyed the palace, its old abbey, and the beautiful gardens. (No photos allowed inside the palace.) We left there and went to have some lunch at a little cafe about halfway down the royal mile and I also made that purse strap swap out I mentioned in my entry about the bag making.
We walked the royal mile and Emmaline and I went inside St. Giles cathedral while Roger found a shady spot to hang out. We bought some fudge (which is some kind of big deal in the Scotland) and continued down the royal mile to the castle. We hadn’t actually been up to the castle and we were told we could get a nice view from the courtyard. Unfortunately we were unable to really get the view because they were setting up a whole bunch of bleachers for some kind of event.
After this, we went back to the hotel and relaxed, did a little packing and regrouped while we figured out how we wanted to handle dinner and the rest of the evening. We decided to head down to Princes Street Gardens because Emmaline had wanted to see them and also the fountain that is in the gardens. Then after that we would go have some Indian food for dinner. We took a bus to the main garden gate and walked through the gardens. I would call it more of a park, like Central Park, than a garden situation. I hear the botanical gardens are really amazing. Unfortunately we didn’t get to them this trip. The Princes Street Gardens are nice and well kept, but pretty basic. The fountain is quite garish with its paint scheme, but still cool and there’s a great view of the castle from that vantage point. When these gardens were a lake, you can really imagine how it looks like Hogwarts!
We went to try to have dinner, but the restaurant was closed - permanently it seemed! So we scrambled to find something else and found another Indian place not far away. After that we walked on to Dean Village which is a cute little area of houses nearby that has become Instagram famous. It was cute, but I think I was expecting a little more? Like shops and such? This was literally just a residential area and it felt a little strange being a tourist where someone lives. From there we took a nice walkway along the little creek (Water of Leith Walkway) to see a little monument called St. Bernard's Well before we went to try to get a bus home. We failed and ended up calling an Uber.
Back at the room we finished up some more packing to prepare for our departure the next morning.
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