Postcards from Scotland, Part One — Edinburgh

My mom and I talked about going to Scotland for almost a decade, but life kept getting in the way. We’ve always traveled well together. Our first big adventure was an 18-day, five-country sprint through Europe right after I graduated from college. That trip kicked off my love of international travel, and of Europe, and it’s still one of my favorite memories. Since then, photography has become a shared obsession, and most of our trips have been photography road trips through California, the Southwest, and the Pacific Northwest.

Scotland felt like the natural next chapter. Two and a half weeks, our cameras, unpredictable autumn weather, and a country we’d both dreamed about for years. Getting off the plane in Edinburgh felt a little like stepping into a dream. I kept stopping whenever I heard people chatting in their Scottish brogue, grinning like an idiot because we finally made it.

Arrival in Grassmarket

After a long chain of flights (San Diego to Chicago to Frankfurt to Edinburgh), we landed on a Wednesday evening. The sun was sinking behind the rooftops as we rode into the city. Jet lag was hitting hard, but there was no way we were going straight to bed.

We checked into the Apex City of Edinburgh in Grassmarket. It’s a perfect location for first-time visitors to Edinburgh, and if you’re lucky with your room, you get a view of the Castle from your room.

Victoria Street pulled us uphill toward the castle. The lights were warm and inviting, and there were more people out than I expected; locals and tourists drifting along, laughing, taking photos, enjoying the evening. It wasn’t crowded, just alive in a way that made the whole street feel welcoming.

For dinner, we ducked into a nearby pub for fish and chips and a wee dram of scotch. Simple, cozy, exactly right for a travel-weary first night.

Day 1: The Royal Mile

We started the morning with smoked salmon and scrambled eggs in the hotel, simple, good fuel for the day. Then we made the climb to Edinburgh Castle. I’d seen it in photos forever, but standing inside the walls with the city spreading out below felt completely different. We stayed until early afternoon, taking our time with the views and the history.

From there, we followed the Royal Mile downhill. Stopping every few feet to snap more photos.

 St. Giles Cathedral caught my attention right away. The light inside was dim and dramatic, and the details took my breath away.

By the time we reached the Palace of Holyrood House, my feet were threatening mutiny. The café saved me: tea, a butternut squash quiche, and a blackberry almond cake. After the break, we toured the palace and gardens. The abbey ruins in late-day light were the highlight of the day. Soft, quiet, and incredibly photogenic.

We walked all the way back to Grassmarket (accidentally), grabbed a simple but excellent dinner at Mussel and Steak Bar, lentil soup, scallops, tallow fries, and two complimentary(!!) oysters, and called it a night.

Day 2: Outlander Day Trip (Full post coming later)

We spent day two exploring Outlander filming locations, Falkland, Doune Castle, Blackness Castle, and grabbed lunch near the Wallace Monument. Cold wind, light rain, fall colors, stone walls, moody skies. A perfect photographic playground. I’ll save the full story for its own post.

Day 3: Grassmarket → Vennel Viewpoint → New Town → Calton Hill

We let ourselves start slow. After breakfast, we wandered through the Grassmarket outdoor market, browsing the stalls and soaking up the weekend energy. From there, we walked up to The Vennel Viewpoint, which gives you that classic framed view of the castle between stone walls. We climbed up, enjoyed the view, then backtracked down through Grassmarket.

We circled behind the castle and continued on to Princes Street Gardens. The fall colors were rich, gold, orange, and red, and the castle loomed overhead like something out of a storybook.

From there, we crossed into New Town. Busy, modern, and a bit chaotic compared to Old Town, but still worth exploring. We wandered for a while, stopped for coffee at around one, wandered some more, and eventually admitted we needed real food late afternoon and found an amazing Thai restaurant on Thistle Street.

Recharged, we made the climb up Calton Hill for sunset. And so did hundreds of other people. We got there an hour early and still ended up shoulder to shoulder by the time the sun dipped. It was cold and very windy, but the view over the city was worth it. This is where I wished I hadn’t left the 70–200mm and a tripod in the hotel room, but after a day on foot, I didn’t have it in me to carry more gear all day.

We Ubered back to Grassmarket after dark and had dinner at Petit Paris, just a short walk from the hotel. Cozy, warm, great food, and exactly what we needed to wrap up our last night in Edinburgh.

Gear Notes for Edinburgh

I kept my gear simple in Edinburgh. I shot most of the city on my Canon R6 with the 24–105mm. I also made sure to grab shots with my iPhone 17 Pro, partly for quick sharing on the go, and partly because it gave me the super-wide field of view I didn’t have with the 24–105. Everything lived in my Peak Design Outdoor Backpack 25L. It held the camera, extra cards and batteries, my trusty Rick Steves Scotland guidebook, a water bottle, and the layers I kept putting on and taking off as the weather shifted. The bag carried well all day and felt secure in the crowds, which made it easy to focus on the city instead of worrying about my gear.

Most of the real processing happened at home. I traveled with only my iPad (the computer stayed home), which worked well for backing up files and previewing shots, but not for deeper edits. Most of my images are multi-exposure brackets that I combine in Lightroom Classic. From there, I fine-tune the files in Radiant Photo 2 and occasionally finish in Photoshop—usually to clean up edges after distortion correction or remove distractions like stray tourists.

Edinburgh was the perfect start to our Scotland adventure; full of history, good food, and lots of walking. Next up: our Outlander-themed day trip, where the castles, stories, and weather all lived up to their expectations.