Ireland, the luscious Emerald Isle, and Edinburgh, the “Athens of the North”, make for two wonderful destinations on any trip. The beauty of the Irish coast and countryside, combined the with charm of Edinburgh offers everything you could possibly want in a single vacation.
While there is plenty to see in each country, we spent 12 fantastic days road tripping through Ireland and enjoying Edinburgh. This was a fantastic trip that we loved every second of. Edinburgh turned out to be one of our favorite cities we’ve visited, while the best parts of Ireland were found away from their cities along the coast or deep in the countryside.
We recommend spending at least 4 days in Edinburgh, with the rest of the time spent venturing through Ireland. That won’t be enough time to see all of Ireland, but you can see major things either in the north or south!
Here are some of our tips and recommendations for Ireland and Scotland:
- Renting a car in Ireland is a must! Don’t let driving on the left side intimidate you. You get the hang of it quickly! A car is super important for seeing the best parts of Ireland – that is the parts away from the cities!
- We didn’t personally like the cities in Ireland. Most are fine, but there isn’t much to do outside of pub hopping. We recommend seeing as much natural beauty as you can.
- The weather in Ireland changes rapidly, so try to build some flexibility into your itinerary. Multiple times we changed our plans on the fly to see things when the weather was clear.
- Don’t rush Edinburgh! It is a beautiful city with so much to see and do. We loved Scotland and can’t wait to spend more time in this gorgeous country.
Without further ado, keep reading to see our 12 day Ireland and Scotland!
Table of Contents
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Day 1 – Arrive in Dublin
We landed in Dublin at 7:15am after our overnight flight and picked up our rental car. Ordinarily the drive from the airport should be just about 20 minutes, but we landed in the middle of rush hour so it took closer to an hour. We finally arrived at our hotel, the Hampton Inn in Dublin City Center Land. This was a great hotel and it included breakfast in the price!
We met up with Matt’s parents who arrived the day before and used their room to freshen up and store our luggage before heading out to explore the city around 9:30.
Our first stop was at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the surrounding park which was lovely. St. Patrick’s Cathedral was established in the late 12th Century and is a national icon for Ireland. We only saw the outside of St. Patrick’s Cathedral as you have to pay $13 per person to enter, so we decided to save money. We would suggest buying your tickets online prior to going to secure your place!
We then made our way to St. Stephen’s Green, where unfortunately it started to rain (not uncommon at all for Ireland!). St. Stephen’s Green is beautiful and would make for a lovely afternoon in the city!
Just next door to St. Stephen’s Green is Grafton Street (yes Ed Sheeran fans, Grafton Street is actually in Dublin despite the wildly famous song “Galway Girl”), a world famous street known for a mix of high end shopping along with boutiques and pubs. We explored some of the shops in the area before popping into Powerscourt Centre.
Powerscourt Centre is a beautiful indoor shopping center with some restaurants and the Matcha Bar on the third floor. The ambiance in the center is fantastic and there are several cute boutiques worth exploring. At the Matcha Bar we got a matcha latte for a little extra caffeine kick as we were pretty tired from the overnight flight. As expected it was delicious!
By this point we were getting pretty hungry so we stopped at Cafe en Seine for a quick bite to eat. This restaurant was absolutely fantastic! The inside is beautiful, but the terrace is where we recommend sitting! We split a French dip sandwich since we had a walking food tour scheduled for the early afternoon, but it was so good we wish we each would have gotten our own. We can’t recommend this restaurant enough!
After lunch we had some time to kill before the walking food tour so we walked over to Dublin Castle, the seat of the British government in Ireland for hundreds of years until 1922. We just saw the free part of it as we didn’t want to pay to go inside.
One thing we didn’t do that we wish we did was going to the Guinness Storehouse, but unfortunately we ended up not having time because it is a bit out of the way. You have to buy tickets to enter which are $25 per person and come with a glass of Guinness at the end. It’s open 10am-5pm and they recommend 90 minutes for your visit so you have to plan accordingly. We will make sure to hit it on our next trip to Dublin!
Instead we just did a bit of sourvenir shopping before our walking food tour at 2:30.
Our walking food tour started at 2:30 just outside of Trinity College. The tour was about 3 hours long and cost $117 per person, though all the food adds up to a full meal and we learned so much on the tour! We highly recommend this particular walking food tour.
The first stop on the tour was at Vice Coffee Inc for the famous Irish Coffee. While Matt doesn’t like coffee, Emily and Matt’s parents thought the coffee with hazelnut and orange on top was absolutely delicious! Our guide gave us a bunch of great information about Dublin on our way to the second stop, 8 Essex St, for warm sausage rolls wrapped in a flaky pastry.
Next we went to 5 Cow’s Lane for a sampling of Irish cheese, before going to The Seafood Cafe for a sample of oysters – our favorite! We easily could have eaten way more oysters but unfortunately the tour only included one!
Our last major stop was in the Temple Bar area where the tour had a table reserved at a local restaurant. Here we were able to try either the creamy fish soup or beef stew (each with a glass of wine), along with homemade soda bread. This was all so good! We also got to try black and white pudding- a very popular Irish dish. However we weren’t big fans!
The last stop of the tour was at Murphy’s for some delicious Irish ice cream. Overall the tour was fantastic and we highly recommend it when you stay in Dublin!
After the walking food tour we made our way to Trinity College, a beautiful campus founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1592 – so naturally it is beautiful and has a ton of great history! We explored the campus and walked to the back fields of the school where we saw a cricket game being played, so we sat on one of the many benches and watched for a bit.
We did not buy the tickets to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College – a 9th Century manuscript of the Four Gospels – this time as the library is under restoration and is currently empty. Next time we visit Dublin once the restoration is finished we’ll be sure to visit!
After exploring Trinity College we made our way back to the Temple Bar. We didn’t even try to go inside because it was packed! In the evening light it is a beautiful building as the exterior is covered in lights. Just know – if you are trying to get a picture you’ll need to be patient as there are so many people trying to get the same shot!
At this point we wanted to grab a beer (of course, we are in Ireland after all!) and a light meal to end our evening so we went to O’Donoghues. Emily got their turkey club toastie to split and it was delicious. Highly recommend!
Here are some items we did not get to in Dublin:
- Book of Kells Experience $28 per person. Self-guided. It contains the four gospels of the New Testament, complete with illustrations. It gets crowded. Book admission tickets ahead online.
- View the Book of Kells, Long Room, and Gaia in the Old Library and embark on an immersive journey in the new digital exhibition. The Experience takes place in two buildings: the Old Library and Red Pavilion.
Restaurant ideas in Dublin:
- Loose Canon
- Pub- The Glen of Aherlow
- Temple Bar
- O’Donoghues
- Bambino
- Gravediggers
- Grano- Italian
- Bar 1661- for cocktails
- Seafood Cafe
- Whelans and Jazz at O’Regan’s
- Vintage Cocktail Club
- The Matcha Bar
- Cafe en Seine
Day 2 – Limerick and the Cliffs of Moher
We began day 2 of the trip with breakfast at the hotel before getting on the road by 9:30. From Dublin the drive to Limerick is about 2 hours.
We arrived in Limerick and checked into our hotel – the George Boutique Limerick Hotel. The hotel actually ended up upgrading us from the 4 star hotel we booked to their 5 star sister hotel, The Savoy, because they had overbooked rooms. We certainly didn’t complain and we enjoyed staying here as the rooms are large and they have a very nice dining room and bar!
We initially walked around Limerick for a bit. We wanted to check out the Milk Market as it is only open Friday-Sunday. However, when we got there everything was pretty much closed. We think in the off season they may only really be open on Saturdays and Sundays.
Instead we made our way to The Curragower for lunch. We loved this restaurant! A must try when you’re in Limerick. They have a terrace with a gorgeous view overlooking the River Shannon. We ordered their fish and chips, fish tacos, and slow roasted pork/beef over fires along with Aperol Spritzes of course. It was delicious and a lovely atmosphere.
On the fly we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go to the Cliffs of Moher. We initially planned to go the next day, but we quickly learned that you have to be flexible with your plans when in Ireland thanks to unpredictable weather.
We drove 1 hour from Limerick to the Cliffs and we were so happy we decided to go this day! We ended up having great visibility, while the next day was very windy and rainy. There also wasn’t a ton to do in Limerick other than go visit the castle so we didn’t feel like we missed much in the city. We were really just basing ourselves there as it was a close town to the Cliffs.
When we arrived we paid $20 per person to park and then walked over to the Cliffs area. Unfortunately their walking trails are currently closed (currently planned to fully reopen in 2028) due to erosion, however the visitor center and viewing platforms are still open. The view of the Cliffs is truly magnificent. It is VERY windy by the Cliffs of Moher at all times to be prepared!
After finishing our visit we drove back to Limerick for the night. We were planning to go to the Locke Bar for the Big Limerick Seisiun Irish River Dancing and traditional live music. However, we decided to buy tickets to see a professional Irish Dancing show in Galway so we skipped this performance. Locke Bar has two shows a day from 5-7 or 9-11 and you only need a reservation for 8 or more people if you do end up going.
Instead we went to the restaurant in the Savoy Hotel and it was delicious! Matt got a ribeye with green beans and Emily got the creamy seafood pasta. Their cocktails were very good, as was the creme brulee to end the evening.
Restaurants and cafes to try in Limerick:
- The White House
- Tom Collins
- Angel dust Patisserie
- Rift Coffee
- The Curragower- right on the Shannon River
- JJ Bowles Pub on the water
- Mother Mac pub- Irish coffee tasting
- Tea at M. Cahill & Son
- Visit Adare and eat at The Carriage House Restaurant
Day 3: Doolin, Sheepdogs, Galway
We started our day with breakfast at the Savoy for $20 per person. This was a very nice seated breakfast, so you do have to tell the front desk a time you want breakfast the evening before for them to better accommodate you.
After breakfast we drove about an hour and ten minutes to the town of Doolin, a cute town just 4 miles from the Cliffs of Moher. Ordinarily we would have gotten lunch here but we were still full from the large breakfast so instead we just enjoyed the shops. We also went down to the harbor which, on a clear day offers a great view of the Cliffs of Moher – today was not that day unfortunately! Before leaving Doolin we stopped for a coffee and snack at Russel’s.
Great pubs to eat at in Doolin:
- McDermott’s Pub
- McGann’s Pub- has an outdoor area
- Russell’s Seafood
We then made our way 30 minutes down the road to Caherconnel Fort for a sheepdog demonstration at 2:10 pm. This was an excellent sheepdog demonstration which lasted for about 45 minutes. There is a covered area to watch from which will shelter you from wind and rain.
The shepherd teaches you how they train the dogs to respond to a very specific whistle for each dog – truly incredible! After the show you get to meet, pet, and even take pictures with the adorable dogs. There is also a gift shop and cafe. We did not but you can also explore the fort itself.
We continued along our journey to Galway for the next two nights. In Galway we stayed at The Victoria Hotel, a nice hotel in a perfect location just next to Eyre Square. The only downsides to the hotel are that the breakfast was pretty basic for $15 a person, and there is no air conditioning. However, the lack of A/C really isn’t a big deal for Ireland’s climate and cracking the window was very comfortable at night.
After dropping our bags off and parking the car in a car park just up the street we began to explore the shops along Shop Street (excellently named) and walked over to the Galway Cathedral. You can cross the bridge and enter inside the cathedral for free. We then walked down to the Latin Quarter. This is the iconic area Galway is famous for with the hanging flags and colorful restaurants and shops. It is named after the Spanish Arch that sits at the edge of the area.
For dinner we looked at a bunch of restaurants in the Latin Quarter but settled on Trattoria Magnetti. It was excellent! We walked in 10 minutes before 6:00pm without a reservation and there were only 2 other people in the restaurant. We were seated right away. By 6:30 the restaurant was almost entirely full and you then needed to have a reservation. Lesson learned again – if you don’t have a reservation make sure to go early! Reservations for anything after 6:30 in Galway are recommended.
We really enjoyed the atmosphere and the food was excellent. Emily got a margarita pizza with added sausage and Matt got the Lamb ragu pasta. We shared mussels and a side salad as our appetizer and then got the tiramisu for dessert, each of which was delicious. We highly recommend Trattoria Magnetti if you are looking for good quality Italian in Galway!
We ended the night at the Kasbah Wine Bar. It is on the second floor and we sat at a cute little window seat that looked out over the street providing the perfect perch for people watching. We shared a small carafe of Malbec there. If you aren’t looking for beer at one of the pubs this is a great option and a really nice way to end the evening.
Here are some food ideas in Galway:
- McDonagh’s- casual- fish and chips and oysters
- Tigh Neachtain Pub – cute area to sit outside
- Lignum Restaurant
- Dough Bros Pizza – highly rated pizza- walk ins only- they don’t do reservations
- Kali Coffee Bar
- Handsome Burger
- Gino’s Gelato
- IL Vicolo Dominick St. Lower
- Ard Bia Nimmos for coffee
- An Puncan pub
- M.Fitzgerald Bar
- Barna- 12 minute drive from Galway- Donnelley’s pub and Suil Eile Space for coffee
- Seans Bar Co. Westmeath- oldest pub in Ireland (from 900AD!) – 1 hour inland from Galway.
Day 4 – Galway, Kylemore Abbey, River Dancing
We started the morning with breakfast at Esquires Coffee. We shared the eggs breakfast with sausage, beans and bread and the French toast with berries. Emily got a cappuccino and Matt got Earl Gray tea. It was all delicious but the french toast was especially tasty.
We then meandered the streets of Galway. We popped into Thomas Dillon Claddagh Gold– famous for being the original makers of the Claddagh ring, the traditional Irish ring. It is a cute little shop and nice to check out but we did not buy a ring. We were able to get all of our souvenir shopping done at various shops in town! At this point it was raining pretty hard so we decided to drive 40 miles (1 hour and 20 minutes) out to Kylemore Abbey. Surprisingly it was nice and sunny there – another lesson that weather in Ireland is unpredictable.
On the way to Kylemore Abbey we drove through Connemara National Park. The views along the entire drive are gorgeous, just be sure to pay attention! There are free roaming sheep along the sides of the road and sometimes they wander into the road. We saw multiple sheep that were barely off the road, so be extra alert on this drive!
Once we arrived at Kylemore we only had about 2 hours to explore before we had to start heading back to Galway so we would have enough time to get dinner and the Irish River Dancing Show at 8:30pm. This was a good amount of time there but we do wish we would have had 1 additional hour. This would have allowed us to explore the walled gardens as it is a 1.2 mile walk from the entrance just to get there, though there is a golf cart shuttle too.
Kylemore Abbey is gorgeous! The abbey was initially Kylemore Castle, though it was purchased in 1920 by Benedictine nuns who had fled Belgium during WWI. For almost 100 years a school operated on the grounds, though this was forced to close in 2010. Today the grounds still operate as a monastery, and a beautiful one at that. We walked to the main building (formerly the castle) and over to the gothic cathedral along the lake which was very picturesque and peaceful.
We stopped in the gift shop on our way out and bought some local chocolate, jam, and honey made on the property. We can’t recommend the chocolate enough, it was some of the best we’ve had! They also have a cafe that is open until 4:45pm so we quickly stopped in to get a light bite as we were getting pretty hungry. We shared the turkey sandwich with Brie, lettuce, and tomato along with a bag of salt and vinegar chips and an orange Fanta.
We then made our way back to Galway, parked in the designated hotel parking garage, then walked to the Latin Quarter for dinner at The Quays. This restaurant features a large music hall with live music upstairs, and downstairs has The Galway Girl restaurant where we actually ate. This was a great restaurant – the ambiance is excellent and the food was delicious. We shared oysters, Guinness beef soup, and fish and chips – each of which was fantastic.
After dinner we Ubered 10 minutes over to Trad on the Prom for our traditional Irish River Dancing show. We are not exaggerating when we say the show was amazing! It is truly incredible entertainment, with traditional Irish music and award winning male and female tap dancers, making a truly fantastic and fun night. The show lasts about 2.5 hours with a 15 minute intermission, and you can even meet the performers at the end!
After the show we quickly Ubered back to the Latin Quarter as Gino’s Gelato closes at 11:00 and we were craving some gelato to end the night. Luckily we made it, and we are so thankful we did because the gelato was super good!
Here are some other fun things to do in Galway:
- Check out the University of Galway
- Hike Diamond Hill- moderate. Well marked and plenty of parking
- Dogs Bay Beach- beautiful bright blue water- very highly recommended
Day 5 – Strandhill Beach, Donegal
In the morning we drove 2 hours directly to Strandhill Beach. Originally Matt and his dad were supposed to surf, but extremely poor weather (big storm and massive rip currents) cancelled those plans. Strandhill is known for surfing, so we’ll just have to go back again one day! The drive along the coast is lovely and the town itself is very cute, though it is small. In peak season there are several surf shops as well.
For lunch we ate at The Strand Bar. This restaurant had a super cozy ambiance, with a nice real fire to give it a very homely feel. The food was really good and the pub atmosphere was very fun! The Strand Bar is one of only a few restaurants in town, but luckily it is very good.
After lunch we drove 15 minutes down the road to the town of Sligo. We only drove around, but it actually looked very charming. We think it would be a great way to spend an afternoon if you have enough time on your trip.
We then continued on the 1 hour drive north to Donegal where we checked into Lough Eske Castle. While not a castle in the traditional sense, Lough Eske Castle is a marvelous estate that will make you feel like royalty. It is on the pricey side, but we think it is well worth it!
We first explored around the hotel’s many elegant rooms (which were all amazing!) and then decided to check out downtown Donegal so we drove 10 minutes into town and found free side street parking. We saw Donegal Castle ruins, the Donegal Town Church, and walked around the center to see all the little shops and restaurants. The shops do close a bit early around 6:00pm, so if you want to explore make sure you go early in the evening.
Donegal is not an especially large town so you don’t need a ton of time there, but it does make for a nice afternoon and we do recommend visiting!
For dinner we went to the Olde Castle Bar and it was so, so good! This is a very popular restaurant in town and they do not take reservations so go early. They were so busy they stopped taking people for seating for food at 7:15pm! We saw them turn away every person that arrived after that time, and they close fairly early at 9pm.
We arrived at 6:10pm and it was already packed. We waited about 15 minutes to be seated. We ordered the carrot and veggie soup, mussels, salad, fish and chips and Matt got their seafood pasta. The fish and chips are absolutely gigantic! They give two enormous pieces of fish so if you aren’t super hungry, definitely split the fish and chips. Everything was truly excellent!
After dinner we drove back to Lough Eske Castle and got cocktails at one of their bars. It has a really fun ambience and lots of good cocktail options.
Food to try in (and around) Donegal:
- The Forge Pub
- Harbour Bar
- O’Connors
- Goose & Gander or the Rusty Oven for pizza
- Shack Coffee on Marble Hill- can the watch Marble Hill Beach
- Rusty Mackerel
- Restaurant at Harvey’s Point
- Venture out to Gelnites for Roddy’s Bar
- McBrews for coffee
- Olde Castle Bar
- Market House Restaurant
- Blueberry tea room for lunch or tea
Day 6 – Lough Eske, Slieve League Cliffs, Harvey Point
We started the morning with breakfast at Lough Eske Castle. Their breakfast is amazing. They have freshly made scones with chantilly cream and jam (both delicious) along with pancakes, eggs, an omelet station, beans, sausage, yogurt, fruit, pastries, and more. They also make you fresh cappuccinos and tea. It is a lovely way to start the morning!
We decided to drive 1 hour to Slieve League View Walk to see some of the tallest cliffs in Europe (nearly 2000 feet!) and are so happy we did. It is beautiful and there wouldn’t be enough to do in town or at the hotel all day long, despite the charm. We highly recommend venturing out into the countryside for the day and then coming back to the towns in the evenings for light shopping and dinner.
The cliffs have a small parking lot that you pay $7 to park and then it’s a 30 minute walk to the cliffs. The walk is gorgeous with views of the coast and rolling green hills along the way. There is a shuttle you can take to the cliffs (for a price) if you don’t want to do the 30 minute walk although we highly recommend the walk. There is one short steep hill on the way up and then the rest is very easy.
Along the walk we saw sheep crossing the road as we came back from the cliffs. We stopped by the Visitor Center on the way out, where there is a nice cafe and shop. They have cool souvenirs and the cafeteria was packed with people from the tour buses.
The Rusty Mackerel is a restaurant only 10 minutes from the cliffs that was very highly recommended for lunch. We weren’t very hungry from our large breakfast and knew we were having a nice large dinner so we skipped lunch. We did pass the restaurant on the way and it looked nice!
For dinner we went to the Restaurant at Harvey’s Point. The restaurant is located in the Harvey Point Hotel (itself an extremely nice hotel!) and features a beautiful view of the lake. You can make reservations for the bar and terrace area for a more casual and inexpensive dining experience or at their restaurant for a formal course dinner.
We decided to do the formal dinner as it had excellent reviews and we thought it was a great price for everything you get. You pick a starter, a sorbet, main course, and desert for $75 per person. Emily got the scallops and fish and Matt had the steak for his main – each were amazing. Our waitress Geraline was outstanding so if you go and can request her we would highly recommend it. She made our evening so wonderful and explained all of the dishes to us when we had questions.
Day 7 – Northern Ireland – Giant’s Causeway, Portrush, Dark Hedges
We started the morning with the excellent breakfast at the Castle before starting our drive up north to explore Northern Ireland. Our first stop was at Royal Portrush, 2 hours away from Lough Eske. Matt and his dad were super excited to see where the storied golf course where the 153rd Open was held. We explored the club shop and bought a couple of fantastic souvenirs.
Unfortunately it was raining so we didn’t spend too much time exploring. On a nice day we’d recommend walking around the coastal town as it is very cute and has nice beaches. You can also walk around the golf course – we learned that golf courses are considered public parks as long as you don’t interfere with the game.
We then drove about 5 minutes up the road and pulled off at a scenic view area to take pictures of the coastal cliffs. We could see Dunluce Castle remains from this spot so we didn’t go to the actual castle ruins as you have to pay to tour them.
By this point we were getting hungry so we stopped for lunch in Portballintrae. This is a small, adorable town also right on the coast. We ate at Porthole Bar & Restaurant that had a gorgeous view right out to the ocean. Emily got the steak sandwich and Matt got a steak Asian dish. It was a lovely lunch!
We continued our drive through Northern Ireland to Bushmills, another cute, quaint town. If we would have had more time we would have walked around to explore more too.
We drove 10 minutes further to the Giants Causeway. The parking lot closes at 4:00pm but you can pay £10 to park at the Causeway Hotel right next to it that still gives you access to the Giants Causeway. It says it closes at 5:00pm but we were there later than that so we think it’s just for the parking lot and potentially the shuttles.
We took the Blue Trail to the Causeway. The blue trail is a wide, asphalt road that is also used by a shuttle bus. This is the quickest and easiest way to get to the causeway by foot. It is a ½ mile downhill walk from the car park to the causeway, so we would allow 15 minutes walking time one way – maybe 20 minutes on the way back as it is uphill.
From the Giant’s Causeway it is a 13 minute drive to Carrick-a-Rede Bridge. We wanted to walk this bridge that connects two cliffs, however we did not realize this is something you have to book a ticket in advance to do in addition opening and closing times. So unfortunately we weren’t able to do it, but maybe next time we come to Northern Ireland!
Since we couldn’t go across the bridge we drove along the northern coast to see the cute small town of Ballycastle. We really liked this little town but the shops were pretty much all closed by the time we got there as things close early. We stopped by a nice park on the water with another beautiful view.
The last thing we wanted to see on our tour of the north was The Dark Hedges. If you are familiar with Game of Thrones then this should look familiar as The Dark Hedges was the famous King’s Road in the series. It was located about 20 minutes from Ballycastle. We parked in the designated parking lot as you cannot drive through the trees. The parking was £5. There is a walking path that gets you over there as you pass the Gracehill House along the way. We thought this was cool but not necessarily something you have to see.
After seeing the Dark Hedges we drove a further hour south to Belfast for the evening. In Belfast we stayed at the Leonardo Hotel Belfast for about $200 a night. After checking in we went to Amelia Hall right around the corner for dinner. This is an Italian restaurant, so we shared prosciutto pizza and a caesar salad along with Emily’s favorite dessert – tiramisu.
One unfortunate note on Belfast – we didn’t feel comfortable at all walking around Belfast at night. There were a ton of homeless people and people on drugs walking around, or people just obscenely drunk. There were needles on the ground in certain places too. We would not recommend walking around the Cathedral Quarter at night. We’ve been to a ton of cities and rarely have we ever felt more uncomfortable.
Here are some restaurant recommendations in Belfast:
- Bittles
- Kelly’s Cellar
- Maddens
- The Garrick
- Mourne Seafood Bar
- Duke of York
- The John Hewitt
- Neighborhood Cafe- coffee
Day 8 – Belfast to Edinburgh
We started the morning with breakfast at the hotel, which actually was very good. Then we headed out to explore Belfast before our evening flight to Edinburgh.
We walked by Belfast City Hall on our way to Queen’s University Belfast. We explored the beautiful campus that was initially founded by Queen Victoria in 1845. Within the campus is a free museum which highlights the Troubles, a period of widespread unrest and violence in Northern Ireland during the 20th Century and the continuing impact to this day. We also passed by the Botanic Gardens but didn’t go in as it was hot and humid inside for the plants.
We walked back to our hotel, checked out, grabbed our luggage, and loaded up the car to drive to Belfast Castle so we could just go straight from the castle to the airport for our flight later that night. We also didn’t feel like we needed any more time in Belfast.
We then drove 20 minutes to Belfast Castle which has free admission. In truth there isn’t much to see inside, but the outside and gardens are beautiful and there is a gorgeous view. We ended up getting lunch there at the castle restaurant and it was very good.
After lunch we enjoyed the grounds by exploring a small walking trail around the castle. There are multiple trails through the woods and even a large playground that looked so fun!
Before going to the airport we drove to see some of the Peace Walls built during the times of the Troubles as barricades to separate Catholic and Protestant communities. This period of intense sectarian violence in Northern Ireland was driven by conflict between Catholic Nationalists who wanted to unify with the Republic of Ireland and Protestant Unionists who wished to remain in the UK.
The walls were built to try to prevent violence and protect communities. It was really cool to see this part of their dark history as many areas remain deeply segregated along religious lines.
Some things in Belfast to do that we did not get to:
- St. Georges Market open Friday, Saturday and Sunday
- Get a drink under the umbrellas at Commercial Court at Duke of York
- Stop in Glenarm on the way to Belfast
We returned our rental car at Belfast City Airport, getting there 2 hours before our 6:50pm flight. Belfast City Airport (the smaller of the two airports – make sure you go to the right one!) is less crowded and and will not take very long to get through!
We landed in Edinburgh at 7:45, then Ubered 20 minutes to our apartment. After getting through security and picking up our bags we arrived at 8:45. We stayed at The Shandwick Place Residence #2, a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment in a wonderful location at the end of Princes Street in the West End. If you are traveling with a need for 2 bedrooms we highly recommend this apartment!
After checking in we walked 7 minutes to the Palmerston for a late dinner. Matt’s parents weren’t very hungry and they just wanted to grab some pizza. The Palmerston is absolutely fantastic and one of the best meals we’ve ever had!
They start with fresh bread and butter. We got a small plate of the bruschetta (amazing) and split the slow roasted pork with green beans and marinated tomatoes on top along with a side salad. It was all absolutely incredible. By far the best pork dish we both have ever had. We ordered glasses of their Bordeaux blend that paired perfectly with the meal.
We loved the atmosphere of the Palmerston. We ended up sitting at the bar since it was just the two of us, and we had a wonderful time interacting with the bartender. We loved this restaurant so much we decided to go back with Matt’s parents two nights later. One note though – it is closed on Mondays!
Day 9 – Calton Hill, Old Town, Walking Food Tour
We started our first day in Edinburgh with breakfast at 9:30am at Cafe Calton. We made reservations and we highly recommend you do the same! This restaurant has a gorgeous view over Old Town and the food and drinks are excellent. We ordered the eggs benny with ham, avocado pesto toast, raspberry and matcha chia seed pudding, cappuccino, and matcha latte. It is very popular so we recommend making a reservation a week or more in advance. The restaurant was filled by 10:15am. You can also do lunch or evening cocktails here.
After breakfast we decided to explore Old Town until our walking food tour at 12:30pm. We first explored the Royal Mile, a series of 5 streets stretching a “Scot’s Mile” (roughly 1.1 miles) and connecting two royal residences – Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace. We stopped by some souvenir shops along the way as well. Many will sell similar items, especiall along the Royal Mile.
At 12:30 we met our guide, Skye, for our Traditional Edinburgh Walking Food Tour. The tour lasted for about 4 hours and was absolutely amazing! Our tour guide was fantastic, full of knowledge about both the food and Scotland. He gave us so many great and helpful recommendations too! While the food was amazing (more on that below), he really made the tour one of a kind!
We started with coffee at The Milkman on Cockburn Street – naturally it was amazing. Emily tried their mocha which she normally doesn’t like because people put syrups in it that make it too sweet, but The Milkman just put a small piece of dark chocolate at the bottom of the latte and it was a delicious subtle sweetness.
Our next stop was for a scone with cream and jam at Mimi’s Bakehouse. These scones are served hot and are enormous. Incredibly delicious but Emily definitely couldn’t finish hers as she wanted to save room for the rest of the stops (Matt didn’t have that problem and finished all of his!).
We were then off for a Scotch tasting at Jeffry Street. Emily does not like Scotch at all, but it was still a really fun experience! Skye showed us how to properly smell and taste the Scottish whiskey, which removes the alcoholic burn and allows you to really taste the flavor. Matt really enjoyed it! Afterwards we stopped into a fudge shop on the Royal Mile and got to see a demonstration on how they make fresh fudge, including 2 tastings!
We had a bit more of a walk to the restaurant for our main entree for the evening and Skye pointed out many restaurants along the way that came highly recommended. This is how we found out about the Sunday Roast at the Hawksmoor. We were sold so we called later that day and made reservations for on Sunday. It was incredible! (We’ll have more on that below).
Our main entree was served at The Magnum. We were served cullen skink soup (creamy fish soup) and haggis with neeps and tatties. It was all delicious. You could order a beer here to accompany your food at an additional cost.
Next we walked to Thamel, a Nepalese restaurant. We are not usually big fans of Nepalese food but it was excellent. We got fresh hot Naan and a small skillet of chicken tikka masala that was so flavorful and delicious. By this point we were all very full. This restaurant also has a hidden speakeasy cocktail bar behind a bookshelf that we got to see. They make very unique cocktails that looked very good!
Our last stop for dessert was at The St. James Quarter (aka, in the words of locals, the “turd building”) for ice cream at Joelato. We were able to try 6 different flavors, each of which was creamy and very good.
After the walking food tour we ventured to colorful Victoria Street. This is a beautiful, quintessentially Edinburgh street with vibrant facades and lovely architecture stretching above the lower level. The Elephant House is also on this street, famously known as where the first Harry Potter books were written. The Harry Potter lore doesn’t stop there, however, as fans claim that this street is the true inspiration for Diagon Alley.
From Victoria Street we continued to Greyfriars Kirkyard, a graveyard that J.K. Rowling is said to have gotten the inspiration for names in her books. While Rowling has stated she did not take inspiration from the gravestones, some of the resemblances are uncanny! For example, graves for Thomas Riddell (Tom Riddle), Robert Potter (Harry Potter), and William McGonagall (Professor McGonagall) may have subconsciously provided inspiration. We searched for and found Thomas Riddell’s headstone!
After exploring the graveyard we walked up the Royal Mile to see the outside of Edinburgh Castle – it had closed by this point but we wanted to get an idea where we’d need to go for our castle visit. From the castle we walked down many steps to the Grassmarket, a lively area with tons of restaurants and pubs. In a somewhat gruesome claim to fame, Grassmarket was the site of public executions in Edinburgh’s past.
While down in the Grassmarket area we made our way to the Vennel Steps – probably the most famous viewpoint of Edinburgh Castle in the city. It’s a postcard worthy view and is easily accessible, so make sure you include it on your tour of the city! From the Vennel Steps we walked back to our apartment and stopped at Umi for a light ramen dinner. It was very good!
Day 10 – St. Andrews
We started our day very early to get to St. Andrews. We took the train 1 hour from the Haymarket train station to Leuchars, the closest train station to St. Andrews (there is no station in town). There was a line of taxis waiting when we arrived, so took one 10 minutes from the train station to downtown St. Andrews.
Matt and his dad, Rick, have always dreamed of golfing Saint Andrew’s – known as the “home of golf”, the Old Course is from the 15th Century and is the first golf course in the world. Unfortunately, you can’t play the Old Course without a registered handicap so we wanted to play the second oldest course called the New Course (still over 100 years old). You can try to book many months in advance to get a spot but they save 50% of tee times for walk ons. Matt tried to book online 3 months out but all the reserved times were already booked. We heard some guys there say they booked 5-6 months in advance, so plan ahead!
When Matt emailed them they told us the best chance to get a tee time day of is to get there between 7:30am and 8:30am. We got to the club house around 7:40am, Matt talked to the starter, and we were luckily able to get a tee time for 10:24am! We were ECSTATIC as we were nervous we wouldn’t be able to get a slot for the day but luckily it all worked out. They save the early morning tee times for members so the earliest time you can get is after 9:15am.
We rented our clubs, shoes, and a push cart for Matt’s dad and were able to store it all in the locker room until our tee time. We walked into town to get breakfast before we started the round. Unfortunately with it being pretty early on a Saturday morning most cafes didn’t open until 9:30am. We went to Pret A Manger as they were the only ones open that early for breakfast. We got a cappuccino, acai bowl, and sausage sandwich. It was good, but nothing special since it is a chain.
Luckily the golf courses in Ireland and Scotland are considered public parks so you are free to walk them anytime even if you are not playing so long as you do not interfere with the game. Matt’s Mom, Stephanie, and Emily walked the first 5 holes with Matt and his dad as they played with the two gentlemen they were paired with – Andy and Desmond who were both so nice! There are no golf carts so you have to walk the entire thing. Emily and Stephanie decided they were done after 5 holes, so they walked back to get some lunch and relax.
They went to the Clubhouse to eat at the Tom Morris Bar & Grill. It was fantastic! It is surrounded by windows so you have views out onto the courses. The food and service is excellent. Emily got the cullen skink soup, haggis, neeps, and tatties and a large glass of white wine. Just lovely.
After lunch Emily and Stephanie walked into town to explore the Town Centre. St. Andrews features very cute cobblestone walkways with beautiful architecture and shops lined with hanging flower pots.
We then all met up as Matt and Rick finished hole 18. The 18th hole is right next to the clubhouse and the first tee, so Emily and Stephanie joined for the putts on 18. This was truly an incredible experience and something that Matt will never forget. The opportunity to golf at St. Andrews with his dad was the experience of a lifetime.
After we grabbed a bit of food at the Tom Morris Bar & Grill, we all visited the oldest vintage golf shop St. Andrews Golf, Tom Morris Shop, and St. Andrews Links – naturally we did a lot of souvenir shopping. Matt bought two polos, two quarter zip sweatshirts, a flag from the 18th hole, a picture of the 18th hole, and a ball marker for him and Emily’s dad.
After shopping we visited St. Andrews University, famous as the place where Prince William went to college and met Kate Middleton. It is a beautiful campus and we were jealous of all the students there. We saw St. Salvator’s Chapel and then walked over to the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral and Castle.
Things we didn’t get to in St. Andrews:
- Browse for a kilt at Kirk Wynd Highland House
- Putt at the women’s putting club – Himalaya’s
- Get a drink at Dune if you have time as we heard they have amazing cocktails
- Take a walk on St. Andrews Beach
- Must get The Cheesy Toast Shack on the beach- open 9:00am – 4:00pm
Food ideas in St. Andrews:
- Roast lunch or drinks at 18- views of the 18th hole
- The Seafood Ristorante- on the water
- The Bridge at the Rusacks Hotel- has a view of the iconic bridge of the Old Course, expensive
- Ondine Oyster & Grill Bar
- The Jigger Inn- patio view of the course
- Dune- cocktails
- Spoiled life or Taste for coffee/matcha
- The Cheesy Toast Shack on the beach- highly recommended
- Ice cream at Jannetta’s Gelateria- across from the Castle
We were so bummed we did not have enough time after Matt and Rick’s round to get over to the Cheesy Toast Shack before they closed, but we will definitely make sure to hit it next time. We took the 7pm train back to Edinburgh, so we arrived at 8pm.
For dinner we went back to The Palmerston because it was close to our apartment and it was so, so good! We learned that they do change their menu quite often, so unfortunately they did not have the incredible pork dish from just 2 nights prior. However, this gave us an excuse to try the lamb and it was also delicious. We added a small plate of green beans and burrata, a Greek salad, and ended with chocolate cake and different sorbets. It was all outstanding as expected!
Day 11 – Edinburgh Castle and Old Town
We started the day with a quick coffee and cinnamon roll at The Milkman. Emily got the mocha again and it was just as good the second time! We love The Milkman. It is definitely a must get for coffee at least once while in Edinburgh. There are actually two on the same street, so if one is busy just walk a bit further to the other one and it might be a shorter line!
We then made our way to Edinburgh Castle at the top of the Royal Mile. We had booked a tea time experience in the tea rooms at the castle at 11am, and the ticket included entry to the castle. You have to book a specific entrance time and the castle gets very crowded by noon, so we booked the earliest entrance time at 9:30am. We were in line by 9:15 and it was already filling up!
Includes a pot of tea or coffee, finger sandwiches
We were so glad we went at opening as it was so much more enjoyable seeing things before it really got busy. We also enjoyed doing tea time up there as it breaks up your time exploring the castle. The tea time includes a pot of tea or coffee and different finger sandwiches and desserts. The food was all lovely and it was a really fun experience!
We all agreed that 12:00 may have been a better tea time so we could have finished exploring the castle first. We hadn’t seen all of the castle before our tea time so after we had a bit more to explore. It was definitely getting crowded by this point, which is fine, just something to note for your trip. We wrapped up our tour of the castle around 1pm.
After touring the castle we walked over to the Scott Monument. The Scott Monument is dedicated to Sir Walter Scott and is the second largest monument to a writer in the world. It is also one of the most famous landmarks in Edinburgh and a must see. We continued along Princes Street Garden and saw the Ross Fountain, a cultural gem in the Victorian style with a great view of Edinburgh Castle.
After exploring these monuments we made our way to the main event – Sunday Roast at The Hawksmoor. This Sunday Roast was phenomenal. The roast is 27 pounds per person and there is a ton of food, so we recommend coming very hungry! They do only guarantee the roast until 4:30 on Sundays, then they serve it until they run out. It’s very popular so we recommend reservations. Even if you don’t do the roast we still think this is a great restaurant to go to!
After dinner we walked back to our apartment to relax for a bit before our 9pm reservation at Panda & Sons on Queen Street, a really fun speakeasy. You definitely need reservations as they were turning walk ins away, but we only booked two days in advance with no problem. The atmosphere was fun and the cocktails were good, so if you are looking for a nice nightcap look no further than Panda & Sons.
Day 12 – Dean’s Village, Stockbridge, Royal Mile
Our last day in Edinburgh was dedicated to exploring some things we hadn’t seen yet. We wanted so badly to start the morning at Lannan Bakery for apricot sausage rolls and other famous pastries, but unfortunately they are closed on Mondays which we didn’t realize in advance. If you are exploring the New Town area, definitely make it a priority to check this out!
Instead, we started our day at Cairngorm Coffee , a nice coffee shop close to our apartment and on the way to Dean’s Village. We got a cappuccino, their almond croissant, and an iced lemon cake. It was all very good, though we felt we needed some more protein for our long day of walking so we stopped by next door to Early & Fresh Cafe. Here we ordered their eggs benedict that came with a small salad. It was amazing! The Hollandaise sauce in Scotland was much lighter and fluffier and though we shared we easily could have each had our own.
After breakfast we continued our trek to Dean’s Village to explore the quintessentially Edinburgh architecture. This is a much quieter area of Edinburgh, mostly a residential neighborhood though also a major tourist destination. The first settlement in this village is traced all the way to the 12th Century when it was a major hub for milling thanks to the Leith River. Today Dean’s Village is recognized and admired as a tranquil oasis within the busy city.
From Dean’s Village we walked along the Water of Leith river walk. This idyllic path is certainly a highlight of the area! It is a serene walk surrounded by lush trees and the peaceful river. Along the walk we also saw the beautiful St. Bernard’s Well. This is a lovely stroll and definitely something you need to do on your trip to Edinburgh!
We then strolled a bit further to Stockbridge, another idyllic area named for an old timber bridge (“Stocc bryg”) that has since been replaced by a stone bridge that spans the river. We stopped at a wine shop called VINO and bought 3 bottles of Bordeaux wine. This was the first wine shop we saw with good prices, and we always have to bring wine home from Europe!
We had one more major thing to see in this area – Circus Lane. Initially a back road full of stables and carriage houses for the more affluent areas, Circus Lane is now an adorable cobble street that is one of the most picturesque parts of Edinburgh. At the end of the street we saw St. Vincent’s Chapel, then happened upon another very nice wine shop called Cockburns of Leith. This wine shop offered a great selection and even had tastings. We were able to try an Armenian white wine that we ended up buying!
After dropping the wines off at our apartment we walked back to Old Town to get lunch at Angels with Bagpipes right across from St. Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile. Our tour guide Skye told us this is the only restaurant worth eating at on the Royal Mile, and he was not wrong. The food was absolutely delicious! They have a small outdoor area if you would like just a drink or you can eat in their lovely indoor atmosphere. We started with the roasted beets, Emily got the sea trout, and Matt got the peppercorn steak with fries. We shared a chocolate mouse dessert at the end topped with a hard chocolate and raspberries. So good!
After lunch we walked to Tron Kirk Market. This is a local artists market they host inside an old church which makes for a very unique setting. It is beautiful on the exterior and interior. There are lots of vendors inside selling art and other fun souvenirs. We actually bought a painting of Circus Lane and the artist even signed it for us!
Up until this point we had not walked the entire Royal Mile, so we decided to walk to the end opposite from Edinburgh Castle. At the bottom of the Royal Mile sits Holyrood Palace, the king’s official residence in Scotland. If you tour you can see Mary Queen of Scots’ historic chambers and the throne room. Unfortunately we arrived to late and it was already closed for the day, but with more time in Edinburgh this is definitely something we would have done as well.
By this point we were tired and the day was winding down, so we did our final souvenir shopping and then ended the night with some Italian food. We actually don’t recommend it as it was just very average, but we weren’t super hungry thanks to our big late lunch. We also thought of going to another cocktail bar to end the night, but we decided to turn in early since we were flying out the next morning.
Food ideas in Old Town Edinburgh:
- Get coffee and a pastry at the Milkman
- Castle Rock Cafe
- Rocksalt Cafe
- La Barantine- French cafe – has matcha lattes
- The City Restaurant and Fish Market for great fish and chips
- The Pipers Rest – nice pub – steak pastry pie
- Cafe Calton- view over old town – breakfast and lunch – no dinner
- Edinburgh Larder- for full English breakfast
- Devils Advocate
- Cold Town House- view of the castle
- The Outsider- view of the Castle
- Le Bistrot- French
- Petit Paris- French
- Monteiths- dinner and cocktails
- Veeno Wine Bar- Italian food
- Gleneagles Townhouse – get a pot of tea and a biscuit for $4 or The Spence for dinner
- Five Dumplings- down Leith Walk
- Mariachi for Mexican
- Ting Thai Caravan
- Mary’s Milk Bar for gelato
- The World’s End – pub on the Royal Mile
- Sandy Bells for live traditional music
- Hey Palu- Italian cocktail bar- highly rated
- Chix for chicken burger
- Tattu for fancy Asian
- Hawksmoor for the best Sunday Roast
- Angels & Bagpipes – on the Royal Mile and was incredible
- The Doric
- The Cellar Door
Food ideas in New Town Edinburgh:
- Cairngorm Coffee
- Lowdown Coffee – highly recommended and looks very good
- Roseleaf
- Toast – cafe and wine bar on the water in Leith
- Panda & Sons- speakeasy for cocktails
- Dusit Thai
- Scran & Scallie in Stockbridge- gastro pub menu with traditional Scottish food
- Lannan Bakery – apricot sausage roll – closed Monday
- Cafe Gallo
- Soderberg Stockbridge – cafe
- The Pantry – brunch
- The Palmerston – so, so good
- Smith & Gertrude – wine tastings, local Scottish cheese closed Mondays and Tuesdays
- Fazenda – Brazilian steakhouse
- Rollo – Italian
Here are so things in Edinburgh we did not get to:
- Mary King’s Close – book your tour ahead!
- National Museum of Scotland – free
- The Writers Museum and Dunbars Close Garden.
- Visit University of Edinburgh Medical School- Anatomical Museum- skeleton of William Burke- infamous serial killer. Has a great view of the Hub.
- Hike up Arthur’s Seat – an extinct volcano that offers panoramic views of Edinburgh. Stop along the hike at St. Anthony’s Chapel ruins for a photo. The full hike takes about 1 hour and is great for sunset.
Day 13 – Fly Home
On the morning we were due to leave we got up early to visit The Milkman to grab one more coffee and cinnamon roll before flying out. It was just too good! We also stopped at Blank Street Coffee so Matt could get a matcha latte since he doesn’t like coffee. It is well known for the different matcha lattes they offer and the one he got did not disappoint!
We took the tram to the airport. It was super easy and we highly recommend it if staying anywhere along the line. All you have to do is download the ET App and buy the one way ticket to the airport for $8 per person no matter where you get on. It’s very simple, cheaper than an Uber or Taxi, and doesn’t take any longer either. They will have someone check your ticket on board so make sure you have one!
That’s our 12 day trip to Ireland and Scotland! We covered a ton of ground seeing the two countries but it was so worth it. Edinburgh is one of our favorite cities we’ve ever been to and we are already looking forward to our next trip back. We hope this itinerary helps you plan your perfect Irish and/or Scottish adventure! Check out our list of the 26 best things to do in Edinburgh for more inspiration!