Edinburgh in 3 days
 

Arriving at London earlier than our actual scheduled date (decided to fly in on a Saturday instead of a Monday), we manage to squeeze in a short 3 day trip to Edinburgh. I'm posting for those looking for itinerary suggestions, hotel and meal tips for a quick trip that still included a 1 day Highlands Tour. Hope this helps those planning a short side trip from London.

Itinerary
Day 1: Train arrival at almost midnight from London.
Day 2: Timberbush West Highland Lochs, Mountains & Castles
Day 3: Edinburgh Castle in the morning, waited for the 1pm canon then walked down the Royal Mile, visited St. Giles Cathedral and took the 5pm train back to London

Notes:
Day 1: We left London at around 7pm and it took 4 and 40 minutes to reach Edinburgh.
Day 2: Originally wanted to book Rabbies but they were sold out on the day that I wanted the tour and was not willing to book another day tour with them for the day (I really wanted the itinerary of the West Highland tour). Timberbush had the same tour so I booked with them. I did see the Rabbies tour bus during lunch and towards the end of our trip so I assume we visited the same places. Was pleasantly happy with the tour guide, the bus and the trip itself. Too bad it rained, it would have been so much nicer if the sun was out and shining. But as the guide told us, blue skies are always present in Edinburgh, its just hidden by the clouds.
Day 3: Could have squeeze in The Real Mary King's Close tour as we finish lunch and the Royal Mile walk at around 230 pm. But DH had an emergency (Toilet required) and we were stuck in the hotel for an hour. By then it was cutting it close to do the tour and we opted to head to the train station and wait for our train.

Lodging
Travelodge Edinburgh Central Princes Street

Notes: I was able to book this hotel for 2 nights at £100 (no breakfast) which was a great deal considering the size of the room and the proximity to the train station. I chose this hotel because I wanted to be close to the train station as we would arrive at midnight and did not want to take a cab or walk very far and uphill to reach our hotel. It was an excellent choice. We were able to leave our luggage free of charge and DH was able to use their toilet after checking out.

Food
We only had 5 meals in Edinburgh, Jolly Judge which is a pub famous for different type of whiskey and ales, McDonalds, some shop at our visit of Hamish the highland cow for coffee, some shop in Inveraray during our lunch stop at the tour and Marks & Spencer sandwiches. Tour breakfast/coffee stop consisted of Lentil soup (yummy) and sandwich for about £7and lunch stop was a ham sandwich and chips and coleslow which cost about £9. Then we had chicken salad, nuggets meal and a barbeque hamburger at McDonalds for dinner as this was just across the street from the hotel at about £15. We didn't finish the barbeque hamburger and this became breakfast, half each for me and DH. Jolly Judge was during our Royal Mile walk, stumbled upon it by accident although I forgot that I researched and was suppose to have lunch at the St. Giles Cafe. Lunch was very light consisting of soup and toasties for me and dish of the day (salmon crostini like) for DH totaling about £10 with 1 cola. For our trip back to London, sandwiches and juices bought from Marks & Spencer just before boarding the train at about £8. Not bad, meal cost would fit into a backpacker's budget.

Transportation
We took the taxi twice, once to the Royal Mile to join the tour and the second to Edinburgh Castle. But both places are very walkable, about 15 min walk uphill. We just didn't want to be late in joining our tour and we preserve are walking strength on the day we went to Edinburgh castle. Both taxi ride costs about £5. I think money well spent.

You don't waste any time, do you?
Sounds like you had a great time.
But McDonalds?
Oh, dear :-)

Was the tram finished?

>> We didn't finish the barbeque hamburger and this became breakfast, half each for me and DH<<

You ate left-over junk food for your breakfast, in a city where there are many places to get a good and inexpensive breakfast?

>>Was the tram finished?<<

It all starts next Saturday:-
http://edinburghtrams.com/news/tram-...date-announced

@Ackislander the intention was really to fill as much as we can in 3 days including transfers.
I know we could do better than Mcdonalds but it was food we couldnt finish and its such a waste to throw it away. Also I didnt see any pub along princes street. Just a chinese restaurant offering buffet which was really not of interest to us. So it came down to Kfc or Mcdonalds for dinner without having to walk more than 5 min

>> Also I didnt see any pub along princes street. <<

half a block off Princes Street and running the whole length of it is Rose Street that is nothing but pubs/restaurants

What a shame you didn't walk down Rose Street. We stayed at the Premier Inn at the other end of Princes Street (very highly recommended, btw, absolutely stunning view of the castle from our room) and ate in different places in Rose Street every night. It runs behind Princes Street the full length of it. It's a bit party central at weekends, but quieter on weeknights.

"different type of whiskey and ales,"

Whiskey=Ireland, whisky=Scotland.

Shouldn't it read "Royal Mile in 8 hours"?

<i>Also I didnt see any pub along princes street.</i>

Try doing some research next time. You missed around 50 places within 5 minutes walk on Rose & George Street as well as the connecting streets - there are also several hotel restaurants on Princes Street as well as the The Scottish Cafe and Restaurant at the Scottish National Gallery.

@dotheboyshall - Admittedly, I didn't do much research on the food area, just on the sights. Edinburgh was sort of a last minute detour on our plans with 2 weeks to plan. I acknowledge that part of the trip/vacation is the food experience and we failed in this aspect for this short trip. I will take that into consideration in my next plan/next trip. Although your suggestions are valuable to those still planning their trip. At first I didn't catch on why "Royal Mile in 8 hours" but it is actually a suitable title for the post. But we did join a highland tour so perhaps a revised title of "Royal Mile in 8 hours and a day trip to the Highlands" =)

Thanks for sharing! Sounds like you saw a lot. We are headed over soon and I have filed away the replies about Rose and George street for lunches!:)