Magical Edinburgh

We spent a wonderful week exploring Edinburgh and the surrounding area. We arrived on Wednesday, May 13th and had one more full day of school before our two-week break. Our last “official” day of homeschooling would be Friday, May 15th, and Olivia organised a fun field trip day, so our last day of sitting down and doing academic work was Thursday. Olivia had also found a free walking tour about Harry Potter and a few other things to do in Edinburgh for after school on Thursday, so we all walked over to the train station and headed into the city. Our townhouse was only a 5 minute walk from the station and then about a 25 minute train ride directly into the city center. It was very convenient!

As soon as we stepped out of the station, we were blown away by the beauty! I love the mix of modern and historical, all the color they use to brighten things up on endless grey days, and the street music you hear as you walk along the pedestrian zones. Enchanting! We walked along the Royal Mile towards the castle.

Then we turned at George IV Bridge and headed towards the spot where we would meet our tour, right next to the famous Greyfriars Bobby Statue, a life-size statue of a 19th-century Skye terrier said to have sat by his owner’s grave for 14 years. It reminded us of the story of Hachiko near Shibuya Scramble Crossing in Tokyo. Dogs are so loyal.

After a quick lunch (where we spotted this hilarious poster about packing light), we had some time before the tour started, so we headed to the National Library of Scotland. I thought we could spend some time perusing the books, but it turns out it is just a research library. BUT there was a one-room exhibition that showcases treasured items of the library’s collection and got to see one of the original copies of the Gutenberg Bible! That was very exciting for me, having learned a lot about it in high school. An unexpected treasure.

Then it was time for our tour. The guide was very good! Engaging and knowledgable and the pace was perfect. We wandered through the graveyard where many character names were inspired, saw the school that JK Rowling modelled Hogwarts after and wandered down Victoria Street (aka Diagon Alley). The shops definitely lean into the Harry Potter theme which is really fun for fans like us.

By then it was time to head back to the townhouse for dinner and bed, but we had one more stop right near the station: The Balmoral Hotel. This is where JK Rowling wrote the last three Harry Potter books because she could no longer write in peace at the cafe where she wrote the first serval books. The hotel is very fancy, so we just snapped a couple of photos in front. A great first day exploring Edinburgh!

The next day was our last day of school, so of course we needed our traditional “Last Day of School Photos”, this time in front of our townhouse. They have all learned and grown so much this year!

Then we went into the city to visit the National Museum of Scotland. On the way there, we stopped outside the Bank of Scotland, inspiration for the magical bank of Gringotts.

Then we spent a few hours exploring the museum. It was wonderful! A huge space with a very wide variety of exhibits and many hands-on activities that kept the girls interested and engaged. There were ancient artifacts, a huge area on science and technology complete with Dolly, the cloned sheep, and a large section on fashion. We could have spent a lot longer in there, but at some point we were all ready to eat lunch.

But before we left, we went to the rooftop terrace and enjoyed views of Edinburgh Castle and the city below.

We walked down to the Elephant House for some lunch. This cafe is known as the “Birthplace” of Harry Potter because she wrote several of the books here, though it is hard to get the exact story. I think everyone in town wants that claim to fame! But the views were wonderful and there was a lot of memorabilia to check out.

From there we followed Olivia’s lead through the city, stopping at Victoria Street, Edinburgh Castle and Princes Street Gardens on our way to the bowling alley. We thought it would be a fun way to end our school year!

We had one last wander through the city and ended up at Calton Hill, a viewpoint featuring monuments and offering fantastic panoramic views of the city and across the Firth of Forth waterway.

The next day was Saturday, and we were able to secure tickets to get into Edinburgh Castle for the afternoon. I looked online on Thursday evening to get tickets for Friday and noticed that they were sold out through Tuesday (our last day there) except for 3pm on Saturday. So I snatched those up. We got audio guides for everyone except Luisa (her request) and then found a scavenger hunt for kids at the entrance (two different ones actually, unbeknownst to us), so had three different activities to keep everyone occupied and engaged. I will admit that one or two would have been better (we were all pretty much over it by the end but Olivia was determined to finish every.single.thing), but it was a good way to learn a bit. And it is a beautiful spot above the city!