A Chance Encounter with... Diagon Alley!

Apr 17, 2018

3 min read

Harry Potter has always had a special place in my heart, so being able to visit Edinburgh was essentially my Potter Pilgrimage. I almost hate just how nerdy that statement is... but only almost. Katie and I hopped on a plane to Scotland on Friday afternoon. We arrived with time to settle into our AirBnb, grab dinner, and do a bit of walking. The city is gorgeous. With great architecture that stood out in the nighttime, I was excited to see just how beautiful it would be in the day.

When we woke up on Saturday, we got ready to hike up Arthur's Seat. This high point of Edinburgh is a dormant volcano that now provides gorgeous views of the city. As someone who is absolutely NOT a hiker, I was a touch nervous about the climb we would be making. However, it was doable for even me. Sure, I was a bit out of breath by the time we reached the top, but I easily survived.

I think you can see that it was well worth the views, and if I ever return to Edinburgh, I would gladly do it again.

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We spent a good amount of time at the top before heading down and back into the city for a quick lunch. One of our friends who had traveled to the city a few weeks before recommended Oink! so we stopped by for a delicious barbecue sandwich before going on a Harry Potter Walking tour of the city. This colorful street was full of fun shops and restaurants and is one of the streets thought to have inspired Diagon Alley! I love bright and colorful spots, so I thought Victoria Street was the cutest.

This free walking tour is held at 3 pm each day in Edinburgh. Whether you are a Harry Potter fan or not, it is a great way to see the city. We walked through a graveyard that held the namesakes of Tom Riddle and Minerva McGonagall, saw the inspiration for Hogwarts, and went to the cafe where J.K. wrote books 2-4. They gave us wands to carry around throughout the tour, and needless to say I was beside myself the entire time.

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After finishing up our tour, we walked to the National Museum of Scotland. This was a great museum for what time we were able to spend there. Once it closed, we went over to the Holyrood House Palace. The weather was perfect so we walked around a good bit to see the beautiful views that the city had to offer.

We crossed the bridge to New Town to see the Scots Memorial, watched the sunset over the Edinburgh skyline, and finally went to grab some dinner.

We popped into Civierno's Pizza and it was delicious. If you are ever in Edinburgh, it is a must visit. The slices were legitimately about a half a pizza. It made for the perfect way to end the day!

The next day, we made our way to Edinburgh Castle. The city's mix of old and new makes it such an interesting city to visit. The castle was beautiful and gave great views of the city.

Afterwards, we walked the royal mile to Holyroodhouse Palace. This is where the queen now stays whenever she visits Edinburgh. It has the most beautiful chapel, Holyrood Abbey, on the back side of the property that is roofless due to damage done in war times.

Along the way, we stumbled on Dunbar's Close Garden. These little gardens are such a cool part of the city. I would love to be here later in the spring when flowers would be in bloom. We stayed here for about 30 minutes doing what Katie and I like to call our "Be Still and Know" time. These moments are some of our absolute favorites from our trips we've made so far, and this was the perfect spot to have one in Edinburgh.

For lunch, we had Civierno's again, (it was just that good!) and ended our time at the Elephant House before heading back to London!

Our journey back to London was quick but beautiful just like the trip itself. All in all, if you're ever in London, I'd highly recommend extending your trip a few days to make the hop over to Edinburgh. It is a beautiful city full of interesting history and sights that has all sorts of things to do.

Lots of love,

Shelly