Travel stories | Edinburgh, Bath + top travel tips
Travel stories | Edinburgh, Scotland and Bath, UK + top travel tips!
Well a month has gone by and we are now back home. I feel like I have one foot in Europe and one foot here in Australia. I could easily go back and start our 3 and 1/2 month trip all over again! If you want to read more about my travels head to Stories for Germany, Amsterdam and Belgium. The August GOST news covers Austria and September news covers The Netherlands and a bit on Nuremberg and Cologne. A London story will be coming soon in December…I’m still catching up!
Where to stay | We choose accommodation with access to a kitchenette and in a neighbourhood a little further from the city. This helps us to a) save money and b) walk a lot more to stay fit and see hidden gems most people miss as they hit the tourist sites. I love photographing houses and gardens. For Edinburgh we chose Airbnb and pleased the place did fit its description (unlike Brussels).
Where to eat | oh! my! Edinburgh is spoilt for choices - you can’t go wrong wherever you go. Our top recommendations include McGonagalls Gin & Whiskey Emporium - besides serving very nice drinks, their meals were up there with best pub food. We dined at The Educated Flea a sweet little restaurant with a casual, relaxed approach to food and service. In Bath for our 15th Wedding Anniversary (and GOST’s 6th birthday) we had a very nice French meal at Chez Dominique. For a more relaxed experience head to Pintxo de Bath for Spanish share style meals.
What to do | Edinburgh Castle | Allow at least 1/2 a day to explore history, costumes, exhibitions and the interiors. We found it overwhelming and despite nearly a day there, did not see everything. The views of the city near the canons are fantastic - but hold onto your beanie. Yes! Even in late Summer we had to wear beanies, gloves and raincoats due to wild weather.
National Portrait Gallery | Did you know there are only 5 national portrait galleries in the world! I was kicking myself, as had I known there was one in London, I would have seen 3 of them! Next time! The one in Edinburgh has recently been refurbished and I have to say this was the highlight for me. A beautiful building with a stunning curated collection of portraits from Queen Victoria through to former footballer Rose Reilly.
Shopping and bars | There are boutique shops but again like Brussels, they take a bit of hunting to find them. Broughton Street includes Life Story - a lovely Scandi style homewares and interior shop and a little bar for a quiet drink includes Mathers Bar. The art galleries all have fantastic gift shops where you can do a one stop shop if you are having a short stay.
A hidden gem? Gosh! we didn’t know that Bath is a green city with so many gardens and parks to walk and explore. We were there for 1 and 1/2 days and could only fit in two small gardens - Sydney and Parade.
I hope you enjoyed this little story. As you can imagine I have so much more to say. But over to you to dream and visit one day. BTW if you want my top travel tips scroll past the photos and start packing!
Anne xx
Anne’s Top Travel tips
1. Buy a small to med size 2 wheelie bag. People struggled with 4 wheelies due to cobblestones, unsteady pavers and overall poor design, drivability and weight of bags. Roll your clothes from bottom to top. The last item will be your heaviest clothing - ie. Jeans laid flat. Lock your bags. We bought AirTags tracking our bags with confidence.
2. My rule is 2 things - your luggage, backpack and/or handbag. People only remember 2 and invariably you’ll leave something behind on a train, plane or get flustered trying to juggle extra bags/coats etc.
3. Cull your clothes I lay my clothes out a few weeks before travelling aiming for a lighter load. It took 3 culls for this 3 month trip. You can always buy - I found a 5 euros denim skirt in an op shop in Vienna!
4. New trains have less luggage storage to make more room for more seats. The overhead racks are smaller and narrower. This may not be the case every time but we travelled a lot and found this to be the most challenging part of our trip. It’s exhausting lifting and finding space for your bags.
5. Paper tickets vs contactless - most public transport is cashless with a swipe on / off using your mobile or eftpos card and a daily cap system. But check first as some places (Edinburgh) have different systems on their trams vs buses. In Vienna, we bought a monthly transport card but they offer day, 24hr, 48hr and weekly.
6. Mobiles - I bought a prepaid Drei SIM card in Europe. However, you’d be surprised as to how much your Australian number is tied to two factor authentications for banking, business (ie. my GOST website). So, next time I’ll look into my current provider’s plans and while I may pay a little more it’s way less of a headache.
7. Enjoy every moment. While our trip away this time was expensive it didn’t stop us from going out and soaking up experiences - you can balance paying for an expensive gallery ticket with a packed home made lunch as we did on many occasions.
PS - with all of the above tips they are only current as at time of publication.
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