Getting to and around 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.
前往爱丁堡及其周边地区
(一)前往爱丁堡
由于我们目前住在英国曼彻斯特,乘坐火车前往爱丁堡只需两到三个小时的车程,单程火车票的费用为二十一英镑。我们从Piccadilly火车站搭乘了早上六点二十分的火车,因为越早的火车票往往比较便宜。我们提前三个月从 ScotRail 的网站预订了返程火车票。
前往爱丁堡的旅途顺畅愉快,因为这是我第一次乘搭火车探访英国的另一个城市。我很兴奋能欣赏曼彻斯特郊外的风景,如绿油油的风光美景、放牧的奶牛和沿途偶尔会冒出的风力涡轮机。
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.
相比之下,回程的旅途比较不放便,因为火车公司为了节省开销,中途安排了一辆小巴,把廖廖无几的乘客送到目的地。可这安排却把大家的旅程延误了两个小时,对于那些得赶搭飞机的乘客可能会造成更大的不便。我本身倡导经济效率的概念,赞扬火车公司致力于充分分配资源,提高营业成本效率。尽管如此,从消费者的角度,我还是对这个安排有点耿耿于怀。可是,从总体上看,如果这样的不便能确保火车票的价钱能维持在大众化的水平,我想这是我能接受的安排。
(二)游览爱丁堡
由于我们这次旅行的主要目的是参加 2022 年的艺穗节,所以我们并没有花太多时间游览爱丁堡的主要景点。我们观赏演出的大部分场地都在老城区和爱丁堡大学步行距离之内。
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)
我们每天只乘坐一或两趟的公共汽车,每次乘坐价格为 1.8 英镑。爱丁堡的住宿
住宿
在八月份,爱丁堡的住宿费用相当高昂,正如作者 Rick Steves 在他的旅游指南《苏格兰之最》中提到的那样,“如果你有(并且负担得起)一个房间,那将是在爱丁堡度过的美好时光。”
然而,我们很幸运在 Airbnb 上找到了价格实惠的住宿,价格仅为市中心酒店或旅馆私人房间价格的一半。虽然有些方面有待进步,但总体来说,我觉得是个不错的住宿。
爱丁堡克莱尔主持的 Airbnb 私人房间(两人 每晚 53 英镑/88 新元)
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.
不过,我认为这个住宿有两个方面可以改进。首先,与酒店或宾馆不同,主人不愿意满足我们在入住前后留下行李的要求。我们问了她好几次,都被拒绝了。我不确定这是否是不合理的要求,因为我过去没有遇到任何拒绝过此类请求的状况。如果她能在 Airbnb 网页里的描述中,提前明确说明她无法存放客人的行李,会对客人比较公平。
如果您打算住在这里,您可以把行李寄放在火车站的一些店里,每件物品约为 12-15 英镑。我们在 Castle Rock Hostel 寄存了一件小行李因为我们被禁止将手提箱带入爱丁堡城堡。Castle Rock Hostel 只收了我们 5 英镑,这是比较合理的价钱。
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.
其次,我们在入住期间遇到的另一个不太理想的体验是,主人在我们的房间里明显地存放了不少个人物品,比如她的衣服、泰迪熊和大件箱子。如果你不喜欢杂乱的环境,你可能不会喜欢住在这里。此外,如果东西丢失,可能会引起冲突,因为主人可能很难追查是谁拿走了她的东西。谢天谢地,我们没有被指控窥探她的东西。
景点
(一)2022 年爱丁堡艺穗节
由于冠状病毒的蔓延,爱丁堡一年一度举办的艺穗节被迫取消两年,2022 年再度从返。这个节日的规模非常盛大,令我大开眼界。节日的气氛非常喜悦,吸引了大批的游客前来参加。街上挤满了一家大小的游客围观魔术表演,全力以赴宣传表演的学生们,热烈的笑声和掌声在空中悬挂着,以及来自世界各地的表演者演奏各种乐器,如鼓、吉他、萨克斯和风笛,苏格兰的国家乐器。
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.
这是我第一次参加如此规模的艺术节,这种体验令人震撼。如果你八月份刚巧在欧洲,我强烈推荐你一生中至少来体验一次这个节日。您可以从本文章中了解更多关于我在 2022 年爱丁堡艺穗节上的经历。
(二)爱丁堡城堡
这次旅行的另一个亮点是参观爱丁堡城堡。语音导览中的所有细节以及城堡中的各个博物馆都给我留下了深刻的印象。在这里可以轻松地花半天时间了解苏格兰的历史。战争博物馆痛苦地提醒人们冲突和流血战争对人们造成的损害。
3. The Royal Mile
I love window shopping along the streets of the royal mile. This is my favourite shop, MYSA.
(三)皇家大道
我喜欢在皇家大道的街道上逛街。这是我最喜欢的商店,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.
食物
以下是我推荐的一些廉价用餐的地方。
推荐的食物
(一)Pie Maker(每餐 2 至 5 英镑)
如果您在寻找低于 3 英镑的热小吃,我一定会推荐这家店。他们有充足的素食、素食和肉类选择。我吃了摩洛哥烤面包(2.8 英镑)、素食羊杂馅饼(2.8 英镑)和扁豆汤(2.5 英镑)。我最喜欢的是素食羊杂馅饼。请注意,大多数素食派在晚上 7 点前售罄。和英国的大多数食物一样,这里的食物对我来说有点淡。然而,我仍然喜欢它们,因为它们都是滚烫的!我宁愿在这里用餐也不愿从超市吃冷沙拉和三明治。
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.
(二)Domino Pizza(每餐 3 至 6 英镑)
在英国,我推荐的另一个廉价的用餐地方是 Domino Pizza Chain. 只需 6 英镑,您就可以享用新鲜出炉的中号披萨,配上 2 种配料。如果你胃口不大,这个披萨可以2人分享。
(三)The Original Mosque Kitchen & Cafe(每餐 4 至 6.5 英镑)
这是一家巴基斯坦人经营的餐厅,供应印度美食。它在当地人中很受欢迎,因为我们在这里用餐时总是很拥挤。这家商店藏在一条小巷子里,主干道前还有另一家商店,据说是模仿这家店。我建议吃后面的这家,因为它便宜一到两英镑。我们通常会点一份三样咖喱饭,价格为 6.5 英镑。这分量非常大,可以由两人共享。经营这家商店的人真的很热情好客,又一次,他们请我们吃传统印度糖果。
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.
不推荐的食物
Haggis Box(每餐 8.5 英镑)
在观看了一些 YouTube 视频后,我锁定了这家咖啡馆。然而,我觉得食物很贵而且不是很好吃。素食羊杂碎要 8.5 英镑,如果我们想要酱汁,我们必须额外支付 1.5 英镑。味道不是很好,我想我可以做得更好。以这个价钱,我本可以在 Pie Maker 吃三个羊杂馅饼。尽管他们在谷歌和 YouTube 上收集了热烈的评论,但我不会推荐在这里用餐,不值得大肆宣传。
Total Expenditure for 3 Days 2 nights in Edinburgh in August 2022
Expenditure Category | Per Person | % of Total Cost |
Return Train Tickets | S$ 69 | 22% |
City Bus Rides | S$ 9 | 3% |
Accommodations (for 2 nights) | S$ 88 | 28% |
Food | S$ 70 | 22% |
Attractions Entrance Tickets | S$ 77 | 25% |
Total | S$ 313 | 100% |