Gretna & Edinburgh

We went to Scotland with my parents Sandra and Dave as part of my Christmas gift to them. Aida was happy as it was another country to tick off her list and it involved no additional visa!

We decided to travel by car as it would be much cheaper than getting 4 return rail tickets. There is no Megabus from Liverpool to Edinburgh either.

We set off on the 4 hour journey north early on the Monday morning (just after rush hour) and the weather was good so we were able to see the beautiful scenery once you hot Lancaster and then the Lake District. For those who don’t know, there are no border patrols for England and Scotland, just a sign saying Welcome to Scotland. 

We stopped off in Gretna, which is literally just over the border. The town is famous for weddings as here you didn’t need your parents permission under the age of 21 which you did in the UK so many English couples would sneak off here to be wed.

We spent less than an hour here as it is just a small village, but certainly a more romantic stop than the service station.

The road to Edinburgh once in Scotland is very scenic but takes twice as long as it would if a motorway.

Edinburgh

Arriving in Edinburgh around 2 o’clock we checked into our Hotel for the next 2 nights, Ibis Edinburgh Park. The hotel was about 6km / 12 mins from Edinburgh City Centre but the price was right (45GBP including breakfast) and there was a tram over the road which for only 1.50GBP took us direct to Princes Street. The added bonus was the hotel and rooms were clean and comfortable.

The Christmas Market was on in the City so we spent the first evening venturing around before settling for some haggis and chips for dinner.

The next day we set off after breakfast (which was worth the money) to Edinburgh Castle, which the previous evening my mum had set, looked just like a house!! It’s a very impressive Castle and taking the guided tour around was also very informative. The cost was 16GBP for Aida and myself and 12.50 for my parents.

An All You Can Eat Chinese Buffet was required after this as it was freezing up in the Castle. These aren’t Aida’s favourite places to eat but my dad loves them!!

A walk through the City soaking up the culture and Christmas shopping was how we spent the rest of the day before heading for Nando’s in the evening. However, we had all eaten too much Chinese buffet so none enjoyed as much as we possibly should have done.

WICKED

On the final day I had bough us all tickets to watch the musical “Wicked” at the Playhouse. It was a wonderful play, and a great way to end our time in Edinburgh. A 4 1/2 hour trip home followed where we were met enthusiastically by Bailey and Brandy, my parent’s dogs.