How to budget-solo travel: 14 days Ediburgh, Scotland
The mesmerising Victoria Street, Edinburgh
The first thing you need to know is that Edinburgh is very solo-traveler friendly and there are many options for those traveling on a shoe-string budget too.
Secondly, it fully supports cashless payment and I’m proud to say that I never had to deal with any cash withdrawals for the entire trip.
With a little research, anyone can put together an itinerary. In this post, I will share the details of my 2-week escapade.
Code Pod - The Court - Edinburgh
Located right behind St. Giles Cathedral, be rest assured that you are right smack in the middle of The Royal Mile. It is central and very touristy (which can be a good or bad thing, depending on your preference) and convenient when you want to explore the Old Town as well as New Town.
And by the way, this building used to be a courthouse. I stayed in The Courtroom dorm category, in a very comfortable pod for almost 2 weeks at around SGD33 per night. Hostel facilities you can use includes a full-spec kitchen and a laundry room. This hostel also has an elevator (which is rare in an Old Town building) which sealed the deal for me.
The staff are very helpful and friendly. Staying at Code Pod has got to be one of the best decisions I made on this trip.
Must Visit
These places listed below are all walking distance from Code Pod. However do bear in mind that the Old & New Towns are rather hilly, so always have comfortable walking shoes.
Edinburgh Castle
Victoria Street
Grassmarket
St. Giles Cathedral
Princes Street
Princes Street Gardens
Dean Village
National Museum of Scotland
These attractions are further down the Royal Mile and I took the Sightseeing Bus to reach them:
Arthur’s Seat
Palace of Holyroodhouse
Scottish Highlands
The trip to Scotland will not be complete without seeing the Highlands and Isle of Skye. For this I had signed up for a 3-day tour with MacBackpackers which included 2-night’s accommodation on Isle of Skye. Highly recommended!!!
I easily got acquainted with the 9 other backpackers on the trip and even though it was brief, we got to know a little bit about each other and exchanged IG handles.
Cheers from Glencoe. 3-day Isle of Skye trip with MacBackpackers tour.
Extras
I went on a couple of tours and would recommend these:
Mercat Ghost Tours (their meeting point is right in front of Code Pod)
And if you fancy a movie night, you’ve got to check out The Scotsman Picturehouse. The movie theatre is a destination in itself.
I certainly had fun in Edinburgh and would be returning the next chance I get. Let me know what you love about Edinburgh and if you have other spots to recommend.
xo, Ira