Getting to and around Edinburgh

1. Getting to Edinburgh

As we are based in Manchester in the UK, getting to Edinburgh by train is just 2 to 3 hours away at a cost of £21 per trip. We caught the 6.20 am train ride from Piccadilly Train Station as early tickets tend to be cheaper. We had pre-booked the returned train tickets from ScotRail’s website 3 months ahead. 

The train ride to Edinburgh was pleasant as it was the first time I was taking a train to another city in the UK. I was excited to see what lies outside of Manchester like the serene greenery, grazing cows, and sporadic wind turbines that appeared along the journey.

However, our return journey was a little more unpleasant as we were ushered into a mini-bus mid-way with a handful (about 20 odd) of other passengers to help the railway company save some cost but added 2 hours more to our journey home. I am a proponent of cost and economic efficiencies and I laud the railway company’s commitment to eliminating resource allocation inefficiency. Nevertheless, the consumer in me can’t help feeling a little disgruntled to move my bum and put up with a longer ride home. In the grand scheme of things, if such inconveniences are what it takes to keep train tickets price low, I guess it’s something that I am happy to accept. 

2.  Getting around Edinburgh

As our main objective of this trip was to attend the 2022 annual Fringe Festival, we did not really spend much time touring the major attractions in Edinburgh. Most of our venues were within walking distance of the old town and the University of Edinburgh.

We only took the bus (priced at 1.8 pounds per ride) once or twice a day shuttling from our accommodation to and fro the city center. 

Accommodation in Edinburgh

The cost of accommodation is quite hefty in the month of August as author Rick Steves mentioned in his guidebook, Best of Scotland, that  “it’s a glorious time to be in Edinburgh…if you have (and can afford) a room.” 

However, we were lucky to have found an affordable accommodation on Airbnb which was half the price of a private room in a hotel or hostel in the city center. While there were aspects that could have been better, I am still grateful that it was a pretty good place for the price that we were paying.  

Airbnb Private room hosted by Claire in Edinburgh (£53 / S$88 for 2 pax)

Our accommodation was a 20 minutes bus ride from the city center. Bus no. 14 drops us right outside the doorstep and the frequency of the bus service is about 3 to 4 buses in an hour. The room was very clean. We had access to the kitchen which was well-equipped. This perk significantly reduced our eating out expenditures as we ate one-third of our meals at home. There are Lidl, Tesco Express, and Sainsbury supermarkets in the city center for you to do your groceries. You can check out our UK supermarket guide to see our recommendations for each supermarket. 

Nevertheless, there were 2 aspects that I think can be improved. The host was not willing to accommodate our request to leave our luggage before and after check-in, unlike a hotel or guesthouse. We had asked her several times and were rejected on all occasions. I am not sure if this is something unreasonable to expect because I had not encountered any host who had rejected such a request in the past. It would be nice if she could have stated upfront specifically that she is not able to store luggage in her Airbnb listing description to set the expectations of the guests. 

If you plan to stay here, you will have to factor in the cost of storing your luggage at the train station which is about £12-15 pounds per item. We stored one of our small luggage at Castle Rock Hostel which only charged us £5. This is comparatively reasonable as we were barred from bringing a suitcase into Edinburgh Castle. 

Another less-than-ideal experience we encountered during our stay was that the host had visibly kept a handful of personal belongings in our room such as her clothes, teddy bears, and boxes. If you do not like clutter, you may not like staying here. Also, it could have potentially caused a conflict if things went missing as it might be hard for the host to track down who took her things. Thankfully, we had not been accused of snooping around her things. 

Attractions 

1. Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival 2022

After a 2 years hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival is back in 2022. The scale of the festival blew my mind. The mood was exuberant. There were parents with kids in toll to catch all the magic shows they could, students going all out to promote the shows, laughter and applause erupting in the air, and performers playing all sorts of musical instruments like drums, guitar, saxophone, and Bagpipes, the National instrument of Scotland. 

This was the first time I had ever attended an art festival of such scale and the experience was jolting, if not mind-blowing. If you are in Europe in August, I will highly recommend you to check out this festival at least once in your lifetime. You can find out more about my experience at Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival 2022 in the next post. 

2. Edinburgh Castle

Another highlight of the trip for me was the visit to Edinburgh Castle. I am impressed by all the details in the audio guide as well as the various museums in the castle. One could have easily spent half a day learning about the history of Scotland here. The war museum is a painful reminder of the damages that conflicts and bloodshed wars inflict on people. 

3. The Royal Mile

I love window shopping along the streets of the royal mile. This is my favourite shop, MYSA.

Food

As you may have already noticed, food is not really my priority when I travel and I often prefer to cook as much as possible. My recommendations below are largely based on affordability and the value received with respect to the price paid.

Recommended

1. Pie Maker (£2 to £5 per meal)

If you are looking for hot snacks that are below £3, I will certainly recommend this shop. They have ample vegan, vegetarian, and meat options. I had the Moroccan bake (£2.8), Vegan Haggis Pie (£2.8), and Lentil Soup (£2.5) on separate occasions. My favorite was the Vegan Haggis Pie. Do note that most of the vegan pies get sold out by 7 pm. As with most food in the UK, the food here was a little under-salted for me. However, I still love them because they are all served piping hot! I would much rather eat here than have cold salad and sandwiches from the supermarket. 

2. Domino Pizza (£3 to £6 per meal)

Another place I would recommend to have a hot meal is Domino pizza. For just £6, you can enjoy a freshly baked medium-sized pizza with 2 toppings of your choice. If you have a small appetite, this pizza can be shared by 2 people. 

3. The Original Mosque Kitchen & Cafe (£4 to £6.5 per meal)

This is an eatery run by Pakistanis serving Indian food. It is quite popular among the locals as it is always crowded when we dine here. This shop is tucked in a small alley and there’s another shop that is right in front of the main road but is supposedly an imitation of this cafe. I will recommend eating the one in the back ally as it is cheaper by £1 to £2.  We usually order a set of 3 curries with rice priced at £6.5. The portion is pretty huge and can be shared by 2 people. The people running the shop are really hospitable and once they even offered free traditional Indian sweets to us. 

Not Recommended

1. The Haggis Box (£8.5 per meal)

I have zoomed in on this cafe after watching some YouTube videos. However, I felt that the food was very pricey and not that great. The vegetarian haggis costs £8.5 and we had to pay an extra £1.5 if we wanted the sauce. The taste was not flavourful and I think I can make it better. I could have eaten 3 Haggis pies at the Pie Maker over 3 meals. I will certainly not recommend eating here despite the raving reviews they had gathered on Google and YouTube. It’s NOT WORTH the hype. 

Total Expenditure for 3 Days 2 nights in Edinburgh in August 2022