Edinburgh

Up and out with the commuters on Monday morning, our journey was not without drama as I had my first experience of pulling the passenger alarm on the District Line (fear not, all was well). We made our train from Kings Cross in good time, though, and made ourselves comfortable in our reserved seats.

'No toasters or hairdryers please!'

I decided that a playlist of Scottish bands was the only appropriate choice, and settled quickly into my new Morse with accompaniment from Frightened Rabbit and The Xcerts.

The train journey was relatively smooth, and offered some beautiful views across the sea as we neared the coast. Once into Edinburgh, we quickly found a taxi and made our way to Kingsford Residence where we were staying (would highly recommend if you, like us, are fancying self-catering for a change).

Practicalities out of the way (unpacking - check! Food shop - check!), fuelled by a cup of tea and armed with the city map, we were ready to venture out. As luck may have it, I actually have three friends who have spent time living in Edinburgh and they kindly offered an extensive list of recommendations which gave us a very comfortable starting point.

With only half a day to explore on our arrival, we opted for a walk along the Leith Water from where we were staying to Dean Village. We found that a small section of the footpath was actually closed, so a slight detour at the offset had us doubting just how much of the river we would actually see, but once we were back on track, we were blown away by just how pretty and magical everything looked.

Dean Village itself was like stepping back in time, or maybe out of this world, and into the world of Mildred Hubble, or Harry Potter. Early evening at this point, we were also struck by how quiet the area was. We were in the company of a handful of tourists, and the occasional local on a run or a dog walk, but otherwise it was almost eerie at times.

Glad to have stretched our legs after sitting for so long on our morning train journey, we were also grateful when we found The Huxley, a pub stop with a fine selection of Scottish beers. The first evening then became a short pub crawl, as we went on to Captain's Bar for some live music, and ended up at The Regent where we tried haggis for the first time (on Nachos. So I feel like it might be cheating?).

Wind battering us between each of our pub stops, we walked at quite a pace to keep warm. Didn't really get our bearings in the dark, but tomorrow brings a full day of exploring the city, so maybe we'll get our heads around it a bit more..

Our second day began with cheese & ham croissants, orange juice, and a playlist of Glasvegas, Belle & Sebastian and The Aliens.

With a full day to explore, we decided to start off with a climb up to Arthur's Seat. Strong winds, blazing sun, and neither of us exactly at peak fitness, we took a steady pace with plenty of stops to take a photo or remove another layer of clothing (or maybe, if we're honest, just to catch our breath). Up at the top, the experience of trying to take in the panoramic views without being blown over the edge to become a part of them was quite something.

Back at the bottom, we decided that we were in need of a seated break so headed for another recommendation, Spoon. Here we thoroughly enjoyed a tasty brunch and formulated some kind of plan for the rest of our day.

I guess we must have decided that we were feeling rejuvenated enough after some refreshment, as from Spoon we then made our way back into the city and up yet another hill. Admittedly not anywhere near as epic a climb as Arthur's Seat, the views from the top of Calton Hill were possibly even better as we looked across the city, out to sea, and back to where we'd begun our day.

We took a quick detour into the nearby Old Calton Burial Ground (I never can resist a gravestone) as we made our way back into the city in search of a pub for another rest stop. Just off Prince's Street, we stumbled upon The Guildford with a revolving door and a fantastic selection of beers bottled and on tap. Just in time for the tail end of their Autumn beer festival, I enjoyed a pumpkin ale and the choice of at least three stouts. We also found a new favourite bar snack (salami and chorizo cuts) that it turned out are actually made in Norwich!

When we eventually emerged, the sun was setting, which actually made for the perfect pretty lighting as we wandered through the Old Town and on to the Castle (yep, up another hill) where we admired an alternative view of Edinburgh from the courtyard.

The rest of the evening was spent aimlessly wandering along the scenic route to Checkpoint where we had an early dinner and enjoyed another beer or two. One more pub stop, then we were 'homeward' bound for an earlier night in preparation for our early start the next morning.

For our second full day, we'd decided to get out of the city and booked a Highlands tour with Rabbie's. Our tour was due to leave at 9am so we were up and out bright and early to make our way to the meeting point.

Our tour driver was Jim, and he kept us plenty entertained throughout the day with his guided commentary and accompanying playlist.

It was truly special driving along narrow, twisting roads between each stop, all lined with trees in every shade of green, yellow, brown, and red. Our first stop was for a wander through Dunkeld; strictly a city because of its having a cathedral, but probably in truth a small and quaint village on the River Tay.

Next we stopped at The Hermitage for a woodland walk leading to a waterfall. If the leaves had looked impressive from the road, they were even more marvellous to walk beneath. With the path following the river to our left, we were reminded of our forest walks in Exmoor but were glad that the Scottish weather was actually being kinder than we had expected!

Our next stop was for lunch in the town of Pitlochry, made famous by Queen Victoria who had apparently chosen to holiday there once upon a time. There wasn't much to be said for Pitlochry, but we did enjoy our second attempt at Haggis, this time with neeps (mashed turnip) and tatties (mashed potato), and a delicious whisky sauce. Jim had also suggested that we might like to try some genuine whisky ice cream for dessert, so full of haggis we wandered on to the sweet shop to give it a try.

Back on the bus, the post-food slump hit us hard but the views out of the window were getting better and better, so we resisted the urge to sleep. Our final stop was Dewar's Aberfeldy whisky distillery, but we took one extra stop en route at the Queen's View over Loch Tummel which was absolutely stunning.

On to the distillery, excitement was mounting. As we got off the bus, our senses were assaulted by the sweetness (and occasional dampness) emanating from the chimneys. We were given a tour of the premises before being given the opportunity to taste two different whiskies. Being the wimp that I am when it comes to spirits, and my throat still burning from the first dram, my second was tried as part of a whisky cocktail.

The journey back to Edinburgh was spent napping with intermittent singalongs to The Proclaimers and Scotland's many unofficial National Anthems. Once back in the city we headed back to our apartment for a night of oven-cooked pizza, beers and card games with sounds from Idlewild (who by some unimaginable miracle, we'd actually forgotten about until this point).

Our final morning arrived all too soon. Check-out was at half 10 and our train was at half 12 so having checked out and left our luggage, we took a fairly short circular walk to find a couple more points of interest before bidding farewell to the city.

Unashamed Instagram lover, I've seen endless photos of Circus Lane and have become a huge fan of mews since living in London, so obviously I had to go and find it. It looked gorgeous in the sunshine and was a beautifully peaceful spot.

From here we then made our way back to Prince's Street to investigate 'the toilet of Edinburgh' (one of Jim's many stories of the city) and for a different view of the castle before circling back to gather our bags and meet our taxi.

The train journey home ran even smoother than the outbound journey had done, and we sat on the other side so got a closer view of the sea and various stops through the window. It's been a treat to get away for a few days. Hoping we've breathed in enough Scottish air to last us at least a few days back in the Big Smoke..