It should go without mention by now that I am a sucker for royal residences. Not only do I yield for them, I seek them, and sometimes they find me.
Edinburgh, Scotland has two very different royal residences (well, one used to be a residence) and they are only a Scotsman's mile from each other.
For someone like myself, it was some kind of wonderful to have two royal houses within 12 minutes walking distance from each other. No need for picking and choosing. I chose to see both!
PALACE of HOLYROODHOUSE
I hit up Holyrood Palace first. Just like many other palaces we've visited, pictures aren't allowed within the interior rooms, but this one has good reason: This is a working palace, which was kind of neato when I got to thinking about it.
Until our Holyrood visit, I had never stepped foot in a working royal residence! I missed visiting Windsor in London, so...next time around, for sure.
A queen still spends time in Holyrood Palace, along with her duke of a husband. You may have heard of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh? Yeah, Prince William's grandparents. Those folks.
Because it is a working palace where royalty still visits from time to time, it was the cleanest palace I have seen in all of my travels. Not a speck of dust to be found, not a curtain out of order. Otherwise, it contained many decorative features we've seen before: Ornate chandeliers, bas-relief ceilings, a grand staircase, etc,.
We eventually found ourselves in the Great Gallery where a woman dressed in Elizabethan garb was hanging out, claiming to be Mary (Stewart), Queen of Scots. She put on a half hour show which was geared more toward children about how to greet royalty properly, manners in her time, and even taught a little dance of the court. My kids loved it. She was a pretty little thing and funny, too, so us grown-ups were quite amused through the entirety of her performance.
After meeting Her Grace, we climbed steep and narrow stairs to see Mary, Queen of Scots' apartments, or chambers. It was pretty impressive, yet small for a queen. Just sayin'.
It's often assumed that Queen Mary lived at Edinburgh Castle throughout her reign, but she spent quite some time at Holyrood.
This is where her second marriage to Lord Darnley (her first cousin, just so you know) took place, and if you've studied enough of her history, you'll also know about the brutal murder of her secretary, Rizzio, that she witnessed while very pregnant in this very palace. Yikes.
In fact, she floated from residence to residence through Scotland. She never stayed anywhere for too long; she was at Holyrood throughout her pregnancy, but later gave birth at Edinburgh Castle...which I'll get into later.
After the interior tour, we paid a visit to the adjoining Holyrood abbey ruin, which is beautifully eerie. Not only can you make out what used to be a chapel, there are also royals buried here, too.
Oh, and another tidbit: Holyrood means "Holy Cross". Well, "rood" meant "cross" back in ye ol' days. So why is a palace named "Holyrood"? Because this place originated as a monastery in 1128 ad!
EDINBURGH CASTLE
From just about anywhere within the city, you can see Edinburgh Castle perched high up on Castle Rock. It's kind of funny that it looks like a treacherous walk up to her grounds when you are in the city below, but really, you just walk up Royal Mile and you have arrived.
Edinburgh Castle was all too familiar. It reminded me of the Konigstein Fortress near Dresden, Germany, although the German version being far more impressive.
Edinburgh Castle is lovely in it's own right, no doubt, but it is definitely more of a fortress or citadel than a castle; by castle standards. There is a huge difference!
Edinburgh Castle is a complex: It has various buildings that stand alone within it's grounds. Kind of like Prague Castle.
It's almost a small city within a large city= Citadel.
This complex contains the oldest building in all of Edinburgh city: St. Margaret's Chapel. There isn't much to it, but it's neat to say you have touched it! Unfortunately, I missed a pic of it. Believe it or not, I don't always take a gazillion photos of each and every thing I see!
My favorite part of the castle has to be the Hall of Honour: The Scottish National War Memorial. No photos were allowed inside, but it was a neat great hall that pays tribute to those lost in war throughout the past hundreds of years.
We also visited the National War Museum, Mary, Queen of Scots birthing chamber where she gave birth to James VI, the Great Hall, the Jewel House, the Royal Apartments, and the Prisoner of War exhibition.
Covered the grounds within about 2.5-3hrs hours time. Not shabby.
Edinburgh, Scotland has two very different royal residences (well, one used to be a residence) and they are only a Scotsman's mile from each other.
For someone like myself, it was some kind of wonderful to have two royal houses within 12 minutes walking distance from each other. No need for picking and choosing. I chose to see both!
PALACE of HOLYROODHOUSE
I hit up Holyrood Palace first. Just like many other palaces we've visited, pictures aren't allowed within the interior rooms, but this one has good reason: This is a working palace, which was kind of neato when I got to thinking about it.
Until our Holyrood visit, I had never stepped foot in a working royal residence! I missed visiting Windsor in London, so...next time around, for sure.
A queen still spends time in Holyrood Palace, along with her duke of a husband. You may have heard of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh? Yeah, Prince William's grandparents. Those folks.
Because it is a working palace where royalty still visits from time to time, it was the cleanest palace I have seen in all of my travels. Not a speck of dust to be found, not a curtain out of order. Otherwise, it contained many decorative features we've seen before: Ornate chandeliers, bas-relief ceilings, a grand staircase, etc,.
 |
| Middle courtyard: Beyond here, no photos were permitted. |
We eventually found ourselves in the Great Gallery where a woman dressed in Elizabethan garb was hanging out, claiming to be Mary (Stewart), Queen of Scots. She put on a half hour show which was geared more toward children about how to greet royalty properly, manners in her time, and even taught a little dance of the court. My kids loved it. She was a pretty little thing and funny, too, so us grown-ups were quite amused through the entirety of her performance.
After meeting Her Grace, we climbed steep and narrow stairs to see Mary, Queen of Scots' apartments, or chambers. It was pretty impressive, yet small for a queen. Just sayin'.
It's often assumed that Queen Mary lived at Edinburgh Castle throughout her reign, but she spent quite some time at Holyrood.
This is where her second marriage to Lord Darnley (her first cousin, just so you know) took place, and if you've studied enough of her history, you'll also know about the brutal murder of her secretary, Rizzio, that she witnessed while very pregnant in this very palace. Yikes.
In fact, she floated from residence to residence through Scotland. She never stayed anywhere for too long; she was at Holyrood throughout her pregnancy, but later gave birth at Edinburgh Castle...which I'll get into later.
After the interior tour, we paid a visit to the adjoining Holyrood abbey ruin, which is beautifully eerie. Not only can you make out what used to be a chapel, there are also royals buried here, too.
Oh, and another tidbit: Holyrood means "Holy Cross". Well, "rood" meant "cross" back in ye ol' days. So why is a palace named "Holyrood"? Because this place originated as a monastery in 1128 ad!
I would have wandered the gardens, but with it being winter, not many flowers and such were in bloom.
Holyrood was my #1 must see in Edinburgh. It's the history monster within me and a large part of my Stewart Trail.
It didn't disappoint, although I will admit that the admission fees are too expensive for what you get to see.
For our family, the total in USD was about $78.
This palace unfortunately was NOT listed on our Historic Scotland Explorer Passes, so it had to be paid for separately. I'm not angry, though. I had to see it regardless.
**I'll explain the Explorer Pass and the Royal Edinburgh Tickets at the end of this post for all of my readers who may care to know.
From just about anywhere within the city, you can see Edinburgh Castle perched high up on Castle Rock. It's kind of funny that it looks like a treacherous walk up to her grounds when you are in the city below, but really, you just walk up Royal Mile and you have arrived.
 |
| This was shot from the Camera Obscura rooftop; if you wondered. |
Edinburgh Castle was all too familiar. It reminded me of the Konigstein Fortress near Dresden, Germany, although the German version being far more impressive.
Edinburgh Castle is lovely in it's own right, no doubt, but it is definitely more of a fortress or citadel than a castle; by castle standards. There is a huge difference!
Edinburgh Castle is a complex: It has various buildings that stand alone within it's grounds. Kind of like Prague Castle.
It's almost a small city within a large city= Citadel.
 |
| This photo is a 'ha ha': We found the REAL Dragoons in Scotland. If you understand, you're laughing now... |
This complex contains the oldest building in all of Edinburgh city: St. Margaret's Chapel. There isn't much to it, but it's neat to say you have touched it! Unfortunately, I missed a pic of it. Believe it or not, I don't always take a gazillion photos of each and every thing I see!
My favorite part of the castle has to be the Hall of Honour: The Scottish National War Memorial. No photos were allowed inside, but it was a neat great hall that pays tribute to those lost in war throughout the past hundreds of years.
We also visited the National War Museum, Mary, Queen of Scots birthing chamber where she gave birth to James VI, the Great Hall, the Jewel House, the Royal Apartments, and the Prisoner of War exhibition.
Covered the grounds within about 2.5-3hrs hours time. Not shabby.
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| Hall of Honour entrance |
Oh, and the views from the Edinburgh Castle are amazing.
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| View of Arthur's Seat from the Edinburgh Castle grounds. |
I promised I would talk about city passes.
If you don't plan to visit this wonderful land, skip to the next photo.
Usually, city passes are a waste of money. I have done the math for many; London, Paris, Bavarian Castles, blah blah blah. Generally speaking, they are rubbish unless you plan to pack A LOT in within the time allotted on your pass, which is sometimes impossible and the historical sites know this.
*And in anywhere else but the UK, they are absolute garbage for children.
Children get into almost every castle, palace, museum, etc, for free in Central Europe!
I knew we'd be spending time out of Edinburgh, and the Edinburgh Royal Attraction Pass only offered two things we had on our Edinburgh itinerary: Holyrood Palace and Edinburgh Castle.
Edinburgh Royal Attraction Pass:
Valid for 48 hours; validation time begins when you visit your first attraction
£49.50 {$73.14} per adult
£27.00 {$39.89} per child ages 5-15
Four attractions: Edinburgh Castle, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Royal Yacht Britannia, and Hopon/off bus tours that are unlimited during the duration of your ticket.
and
Historic Scotland Explorer Pass:
Valid for 3 days within 5 days time
or
Valid for 7 days within 14 days time
£30.00 { per adult
£18.00 { per child
£60.00 for family with 2 adults and up to six children
This pass includes entry to 77 attractions all over Scotland.
It got us into Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle and Linlitgow Palace for only £45.00 total.
Lucky us, the family pass was 25% off at the time of our purchase (because of the winter off peak season).
Even if it were £60 for our family of six, it still would have saved us money. Had we been able to squeeze in Inchcolm Abbey as planned, it would have saved us more!
I loved that we didn't have to use the pass in consecutive days like most major cities require. It also gets you into the priority queue so you can bypass everyone else for entry.
The Math:
Attractions we visited with the pass AND what the admissions would have been:
Edinburgh Castle admission: 2 adults, 4 children = £72.60 ($107.00 USD)
Stirling Castle admission: 2 adults, 4 children = £63.80 ($94.00 USD)
Linlithgow Place admission: 2 adults, 4 children =£24.20 ($36 USD)
Yeah, I'd say paying for the family Scotland Explorer Pass was worth it for £45!
Yes, I still had to pay for Holyroodhouse separately at £52.80 for our six person family, but had I bought the Edinburgh Pass, I would have spent a bit over £200 GPB total (for all six of us) on those passes for entry into ONLY two of the places on my itinerary.
How I spent:
Explorer Pass= £45
Holyrood Admission = £52.80
For a total of £97.80 I got us into ALL four of the major places on my list by using the Scotland Explorer Pass.
I'm telling you, it pays to do the math when visiting any major city.
I will say, if you do not plan to leave Edinburgh,
the Scotland Explorer Pass may not be for you.
But if you have a gang of children and buy a family explorer pass at normal price of £60, you WILL save £££ on visiting the Edinburgh Castle alone!
ROYAL BOTANICAL GARDEN EDINBURGH
Okay, this place isn't necessarily "royal", but because of the name, I found it fitting enough to be in this post!
Nestled north of Edinburgh's hustle and bustle is this beautiful piece of land with curious plants, trees out of storybooks, and amazing greenhouse wonders galore.
My lovely cousin took a trip to Edinburgh earlier in 2015 (or late 2014?), and although I marveled at many of her travel photos from Edinburgh, the Botanical Garden is what stood out the most.
I knew if I ever found myself in the city, I would have to make my way to it.
I am guilty of not having visited Munich's highly regarded Botanical Garden, so this was my first in Europe. I do plan to visit Munich's come late spring, though. Scout's honor.
For a mere £10 (£5 per adult, kids free) we were in the greenhouses, exploring the jungles within. Pictures don't do this place any justice.
Shout out to the elderly gentleman at the desk. He was the kindest, sweetest, and most charming person I encountered in Edinburgh, although all of this city's people are wonderful!
This large greenhouse glasshouse is just the beginning. It is the most aesthetically pleasing from the outside, and it's where you enter to see all of the others.
There are 10 in total, and all attached. The other nine aren't so pretty from the exterior, but once you are inside of them, you forget what the outside world is like.
I should mention that the inside of this place smells amazing! Probably the cleanest air we've breathed in all of Europe, thus far.
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| Bananas!!! |
Because of the season, we didn't explore much of the park settings and trails outside. Boo. But what we got to see was certainly worth our time.
I have visited a few greenhouses in the U.S. before, so I came prepared:
If you like snapping photos, do bring a few lens wipes. You will need them because the moisture in the greenhouses will fog up your lens like a mofo. Seriously, zero visibility. The same is true for underground tourist attractions elsewhere.
HINT:
A gross trick to curb lens moisture, which I only recommend if you use a filter on your lens: Put a hint of spit, yes, saliva (preferably your own) on to your lens and then use a lens cloth to gently wipe it around. Then wipe off. An old foggy goggles snorkeling trick I learned long ago. It will keep the fog at bay longer, but is not a cure all.
I'm excited to share more of our adventures in Scotland, but I'm trying not to be overbearing with posts.
Look out for more castles, attractions, museums, and some spooky things in the next week or so.
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