If you only had 1 day in Edinburgh...

...you should totally extend your holiday!

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, and a relatively short ride away from London. In fact, your journey starts from the time you board the sleeper train to Edinburgh. While it is a lot cheaper to take a normal train ticket, it is completely worth the money to book a second-class sleeping cabin.

A train ticket starts from 68 pounds, and includes a comfy bed (we managed to sleep really soundly throughout), and coffee/tea and some Walker shortbread for breakfast. Try booking earlier -- we paid almost 100 pounds for our tickets, although I personally still think it's worth the money. According to Seat61 (an awesome resource by the way!), there are also bargain berths starting from 19 pounds, so it's highly recommended that you book as far ahead as possible.

Edinburgh Station

Edinburgh is simply gorgeous, from the time you step off the train. The Caledonian Sleeper brings you to the heart of Edinburgh, so everything is just a walk away. Ok, maybe a long walk, but still, Edinburgh is perfectly walkable, and we didn't incur any additional transportation costs.

Perhaps because it was October (and almost Winter), attractions start pretty late (around 10am onwards), so since we were there at 8am, we took a stroll around the station, and ate Macdonalds (don't judge; we like trying all sorts of food to compare).

Quiet streets at 8am

The architecture in Edinburgh, as with most modern cities with long and rich histories, consist of a good mix of modern and gorgeous medieval buildings.

Scott Monument. 287 steps to the top!

We only had 1 day (8am to 6pm), so we only had time to visit a number of places. And that's why I say that we need more than 1 day!

Edinburgh Castle. Get ready to climb!

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle is definitely a must-visit in Edinburgh. Even if you don't have the time or budget to enter the Castle, do remember to make the walk/climb up the slopes, because you do get a gorgeous view of Edinburgh (that's free!).

Upon entering the Castle walls, you'll have good views of both the Old and New Towns, both gazetted as UNESCO World Heritage sites. We would have taken proper walks around the Old and New Towns, if only we had the time.

St. Giles Cathedral

Visiting any European country often means visits to the many cathedrals and churches. We weren't planning on visiting St. Giles though; we kind of stumbled upon it while roaming around.

Dungeon Walk

There are tons of walking trails in Edinburgh, and guided tours seem to be a very popular way of knowing Edinburgh better. Since he's fascinated by the underground, we chose an underground/dungeon walk. As it was rather early (around 10am) and on a weekday, we were the only 2. And it wasn't a full guided tour per se, since we were only given torchlights and a map, and left alone to explore the dungeons.

It wasn't a long tour, but it was fun. That is, until you meet the resident ghosts. I'm thankful we didn't, or you might have heard me scream from miles away. The staff shared that many of them have accidentally bumped into some of them, and most do not like going down to the dungeons unless they have to (e.g. to bring the guests down).

Arthur's Seat

This ranks number 1 of all Edinburgh attractions on Tripadvisor, and once again, it wasn't on our list; we saw it in the far distance, and having about an hour to go before our train departs, we made the steeeeep climb up. But it's totally worth the climb, and we can totally understand why this attraction is so popular.

Food

Other than Macdonalds (ahem), we had lunch over at the Dome. It is an interesting building, once owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland. It was converted into the restaurant that we know now, and has a really elegant interior. The food was slightly overpriced, but the ambiance made it worth the visit.

Would I visit Edinburgh again? Sure, and in fact, I think we'll attempt a trip just around Scotland. Scotland is such an amazing place to visit, and we did regret only making a day trip.

Next time, Scotland. For now, adieu...