But, by some miracle, my friends and I actually did. We did a girl's holiday.
And what better place to go than Edinburgh in Scotland. We had decided on the location pretty early on - I think mid-October? - and, as if Faith herself intervened, Ryanair had one of their flash sales and seats to Edinburgh were €5 one-way. Within a week of deciding to go on the holiday we had flights booked. Booking early is one of the key bits of advice I can give anyone considering holidaying; flights are typically cheaper and once the holiday is actually booked, it incentivises you into saving for the trip.
Where We Stayed
For city breaks, Airbnb is your best friend. We stayed on the Royal Mile, a 10 minute walk from the station & 15 minute walk from Princes Street (the high street). I can honestly say the apartment was one of the highlights for me; it was incredibly modern, warm and secure place and the owner Greig even welcomed us with a bottle of Prosecco! Coming back after a long day exploring and late nights out on the town to one of the comfiest beds I've ever slept on was extra nice. To see the apartment listing on Airbnb view it here.
Price-wise it was €85 p/night which came to €255 which meant, because there was 6 of us, we paid just over €42 for the entire stay. I would recommend, if you do choose that particular apartment to have a max of 4 people. Fortunately, we're all very good friends and knew when to give each other space but for everyone to have an actual bed - and not a sofa pull-out, 4 is the ideal amount.
What We Did
We arrived in Edinburgh at 7.30am so once we got our bags and grabbed a coffee, we got the Airlink bus - which cost £4.20 one way to the city centre. We got off at the last stop which brings you to Edinburgh train station. If you go with Airbnb, typically your apartment wont be ready until the afternoon so if you want to get straight into exploring, head to the station and pop your luggage into their storage unit. Each bag, regardless of weight, is £6 for 3 hours or £12 for 24 hours. For breakfast we headed to the Element bistro bar on Rose Street and whether you're vegan or not, order the vegan fry-up. The vegan sausages were divine and I could stomach the vegan haggis.
We decided to spend our first day in Edinburgh doing some shopping, seeing as we had heard how big the Primark was. Princes Street has all your typical high street brands - Next, Primark, H&M. Their Urban Outfitters was unreal and we even crammed into the photobooth to get a quick photo:
One thing we learned very quickly was how most of the high street stores no longer accept the old £1 coin and £5 note. My advice would be to check your change every time you buy something and refuse any of the old money. This is what they look like...
Once we had our shopping done, we headed to the Edinburgh train station for some lunch. They have a huge food mall in the station that caters to all needs; from fast food chains to noodle bars and sandwich bars there's something to suit any group size. After getting our fill it was time to head to the apartment. The one thing I loved about the area we stayed in was how close everything was were able to walk to the apartment and saved a ton of taxi costs. Once we settled in the apartment we did head out, and you can hear about Edinburgh's night life down below 👇
Day two of our trip was the day we walked Arthur's Seat. Even if you're not into hillwalking, the trek to the very top is worth it for the view. Just make sure you bring water because it can get quite steep at some points.
We decided to have breakfast in Café Vivo which was great value for great food and get a chocolate muffin on the way out, they're delicious! After our exertion, and a sneaky gin & tonic in the Tolbooth Tavern, we headed over to the Museum of Edinburgh. It's free entry and the staff are incredibly welcoming and full of knowledge about Edinburgh. Another tip I would give you is to spend a couple of hours in the evening just walking the streets of Edinburgh. The architectural designs of the old buildings are incredibly beautiful and there's something to be said for walking the cobblestone alleyways with a hot chocolate and your best friends.
Our last full day of Edinburgh was spent doing the very touristy things like visiting the Edinburgh castle, exploring camera obscura (the optical illusions museum) and having lunch in the Elephant House; the café J.K Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series - FYI expect a long wait to be seated but it's worth it for the aesthetic and the veggie lasagne. Although we visited the National Musuem of Edinburgh for about an hour, if you really wanted to experience the place, give yourself a good 2 to 3 hours as it is massive.
Night life
The night life is strange in Edinburgh.
The pubs are the same thing you'll find back in Ireland but the nightclubs are wayyyy different. The ones that we visited can be summed up as follows;
Subway; alternative and trippy. You get the vibe that you should stay with your friends to be safe.
The Hive; more like The Dive. Questionable music, dancefloor looks a bit like a shed but drinks are cheap.
The Three Sister; a supposed Irish bar???? I didn't feel the Irish vibes but maybe we came the wrong time of year. They play bangers downstairs until 12/1am and then the dancefloor upstairs starts up, replaying the same 10 songs. Avoid the buckets unless you've a student card
Stramash; a converted church. One of my favourite places in Edinburgh not just for the setting but the bands. I found the band Supa & Da Kryptonites there as they played our last night. Unreal band, even if you aren't into Skan. Check them out for some catchy as hell music.
Alcoholic drinks are a lot cheaper than back home - such as £2 for a shot - but I swear the drinks are watered down. I mixed a couple types of drinks the first night which I know you shouldn't but I didn't get worse for wear at all.
Overall Cost
As I mentioned earlier, the apartment was €42 and travel to and from the airport in Ireland was €25. I also budgeted £100 a day for food, drink and transport so overall the entire trip came to just over €400 which is very reasonable for a city break. If I were to go again I would budget about €600 as there were so many more tours we could have done.
If you have questions about the trip comment below or find me on my socials @ohhheyitsaimee. And to get a better idea of what we got up to, here's a little video documenting the trip 👇
If you have questions about the trip comment below or find me on my socials @ohhheyitsaimee. And to get a better idea of what we got up to, here's a little video documenting the trip 👇
Until next time...
Aimee♥
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