Scottish Travel: Exploring the Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh

Rainy Days in Edinburgh

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After revealing what we really do on family vacation, how do you even follow that up? I had planned to do so with some gorgeous aerial shots from atop Arthur’s Seat, but alas that (in)famous Edinburgh weather didn’t cooperate. We were lucky that our trip started off with two days of blissful, glorious blue skies, but those were quickly followed by torrential downpours. So after checking out of our hotel, we picked up our rental car and headed out to the Palace of Holyroodhouse instead of up Edinburgh’s iconic hill.

Palace of Holyroodhouse

This was my first time at the queen’s residence. (Go figure, she’s still yet to invite me over for tea and crumpets.) Even though my flat was on the same street when I lived in the fair city, it was just one Edinburgh attraction that had never really interested me before. And yet it was the one thing that my mom—lover of all things Downton Abbey—wanted to do. So do we did.

The palace was actually very interesting. All admission comes with an audio tour that lasts an hour and takes you through hundreds of years of the history of Holyroodhouse—from the construction of the palace in the 16th century (the abbey was built long before that even) to present day, highlighting every royal who has claimed the chambers as home, from Mary, Queen of Scots, to Bonnie Prince Charlie to Queen Victoria.

Palace of Holyroodhouse

The interior is not necessarily lavish—not like Versailles—but more modern, understated and elegant like the current queen herself.

You’re not allowed to take photos inside, so you’ll just have to visit on your own if you want to see where HRH lays her head when up in Scotland. Admission is £10.75, but if you’re over 60 or a student (be sure and bring your school ID), then you get a discount, as is the case most everywhere in Scotland.

Palace of Holyroodhouse

After we finished our tour, we were at a loss at what to do next. We had the car, and there was no way I was about to brave the construction cluster that was downtown Edinburgh, navigating on the wrong side of the road at that. So on a whim, we drove eight miles south to the cute little town of Rosslyn, home to Rosslyn Chapel.

Admission is £9 (kids and seniors are £7), and every half hour, a historian gives a talk inside of the narrow chapel about its history, the symbolism embedded in the stone walls and all the mystery surrounding the structure. The 15th-century Midlothian church no doubt owes its recent brush with fame to the The Da Vinci Code, as the number of visitors since the release of the movie more than doubled (a blessing for the chapel, as all funds in the Charitable Trust go toward conservation and repair).

Rosslyn Chapel, Scotland

You really only need a half an hour to explore the chapel, and it’s a nice afternoon trip from Edinburgh. Afterward, we tried to get food in Rosslyn, but failed miserably. Apparently, all the restaurants that have a sign boasting “food served all day” actually stop serving at 2:45pm. So, our stomachs rumbling, we drove the hour and a half back through Edinburgh, over the Forth Bridge and on into Fife, where we were staying at Craigsanquhar for the night and ordered sub-par toasties (a glorified ham-and-cheese sandwich).

I originally booked us in the country estate just six miles outside of St. Andrews as opposed to a hotel in the city as I didn’t think we were going to be able to stay in a castle, and that was my mom’s dream. (We failed at finding any room availability at castles in Scotland, but succeeded on our next stop in Ireland.) If we couldn’t have an actual castle, this seemed pretty darn close. And no, I still have no clue how to pronounce the name of the hotel, so don’t bother asking.

Craigsanquhar, Scotland

Again, it was hard to find a room with availability for three people—what is up with that, Scotland? don’t families travel here, too?— but because it was shoulder season, for $240 (yes, still pricey, but the British pound is a bitch and the price did include a full-on breakfast for three), we landed a suite with a king-sized bed and a separate room with a pullout couch. When we arrived, it was still pouring out—obviously, the above photo was taken once the sun had made a cameo the following morning—which only added to the ambiance of the aging estate, built in 1385.

Craigsanquhar, Scotland

If I’m being honest, it was a bit creepy—and cold (no heat; we were freezing the whole time, our teeth chattering and feet turning to blocks of ice)—upstairs in that big old house all alone in the middle of the night. As far as I could tell, only one other couple from Denver occupied any other of the rooms in the mansion—though I’ve never been extremely sensitive to the supernatural. A haunted hotel? Maybe…guess it’s a good thing we were staying there a full month before Halloween!

Craigsanquhar, Scotland

The next morning, we were able to walk around the grounds just a bit—snapping a few photos, doing a little Gangnam Style—before heading into nearby St. Andrews. As a former bride, I couldn’t help but think the 36 acres on the estate grounds would be perfect for a wedding. Who wouldn’t want to get married here, right? As long as the spooks stay at bay, that is.

COMMENTS
  • October 11, 2012
    Lance

    I find it interesting your struggles to find accommodations for three people. Maybe it was helped in part by the fact we were seeking rooms for two adults and a child, but I didn’t have trouble finding rooms that would sleep three in three locations in Scotland, including Edinburgh. And it was always two beds in a room. My main trouble was finding B&Bs that would allow a 5-year-old, although many did. Maybe that’s it: we only looked for B&Bs for our time across Scotland and the north of England instead of hotels. Fortunately for us our photos from Scotland don’t show a drop of rain. Your photos is what I expected to experience.

    • October 11, 2012

      I even thought about touting Kari as our “child” as she’s just 24 (practically a baby, right?) but as we were staying in all smaller hotels and B&Bs, I figured they would notice! The funny thing is that we just wanted a room with a bed and a couch or pullout everywhere we went, but if they would allow a third person, it was 50 GBP extra! To sleep on a couch. So out of principle, I often declined and moved on. I also tried Airbnb, but same: Most places in Edinburgh only were private rooms that slept 1 or 2 in people’s flats. I’m going to write a whole post about finding accommodation in Scotland. My mom said she had a similar problem when the four of us went to London when I was a kid (as such, we wound up renting a whole flat, which was a good call).

      • October 11, 2012
        Lance

        Am I remembering correctly that you started booking just before the trip? I started probably three months in advance and probably met several roadblocks that I’m just not remembering now. For our three-week trip in France, Scotland and England we had an apartment in Paris and stayed with family in London and Norwich in addition to six B&Bs. The only B&B that I questioned having a 5-year-old there, even though they clearly stated he was allowed, was in Giverny. That place was just so delicate. we were on pins and needles with our little wild child in that house.

        • October 11, 2012

          Not quite–I started researching/checking into hotel availability back in May/June when we booked our airfare! As of 10 days before, I had nothing booked because either the places that allowed three people were all full, or they didn’t have any rooms that could accommodate three (i.e. the rooms only had two twins or a double). We actually stayed in a couple places where all three of us shared one king-sized bed! It was crazy.

          • January 16, 2013
            Ellen Chen

            I think maybe try different booking website. Becuase I remember when I took my mum and her friend travel in Scotland, I never had problems in booking for 3 person. Most of the rooms I booked have a king bed together with a single bed. hope this help for your next trip to Scotland 🙂

            • January 16, 2013

              I wasn’t using a booking site actually–I was using all the hotel’s direct sites. Where did you stay? This was more an issue in the small towns versus the bigger cities like Edinburgh (for example, many of the B&Bs in the Highlands, Skye, Aviemore, etc.). But it all worked out, and I loved everywhere we wound up except for one =)

              • January 16, 2013
                Ellen Chen

                all the B&B I booked are from a website that recommended some B&Bs around in highland. I booked 2 B&B in Inverness and Fort William which is a small town that near the highest mountain in UK.I didn’t experience any problems for accommodate 3 audlt. However,since my trip to Highland was like 4 years ago, I couldn’t remember the detail name of the B&B I stayed. I’m sorry. But I think a website called”visit Scotland” should give you some information about the accommodation

  • October 11, 2012

    Just reading your exchange with Lance – love the last comment – I am thinking on one hand “who got stuck in the middle” but the other I thought, “well if I was freezing, that is an excellent way to keep warm!”

    • October 11, 2012

      Our little mom! What made it worse is that, as you well know, in Europe most “king-sized” beds are actually two twins pushed together. So essentially, she got to sleep on the crack. Oops!

  • October 11, 2012

    You are REALLY making me want to go to Edinburgh…holycrap!

    xox

    • October 14, 2012

      You would REALLY love it, given your keen design eye and love of architecture!

  • October 11, 2012

    Does the student discount count for American student ID’s as well? My mom and husband both attend school and the three of us are planning a trip to England and Scotland next year. It would be awesome if they both qualified for a discount (my mom’s not 60 yet)

    • October 11, 2012

      Hi Christa – I’m pretty sure if you can show student ID, you’ll be able to get a discount. On a less cultural note (unless shopping counts as a cultural activity when you’re in a different country!), the same applies in Topshop…

    • October 14, 2012

      Student ID from any country, yes! And actually, they didn’t even ask for my sister’s once when we asked for the student rate. But take it just in case!

  • October 11, 2012

    Guess they don’t know what roll-aways are in Scotland. Staying in a castle does sound like fun, but I like the modernization of heat idea with that.

    • October 14, 2012

      The actual castle we wound up staying in in Ireland did have heat and was oddly modern for being 300 years older than our country!

  • October 12, 2012

    I adore your photos of Holyrood Palace. You’ve captured the wet ground like a moat! I only returned recently to Holyrood and did an audio guide visit with the kids (they had their own cool version) and I loved it. Sorry to hear you were cold but seeing that photo wrapped up with glass in hand, it doesn’t look that bad. I like your style!

    • October 15, 2012

      I felt so ashamed I’ve spent so much time in Edinburgh and only just now did Holyrood! It was fascinating–and beautiful. A really great audio tour, I thought. Now I just need to go back on a sunny day!

  • October 12, 2012

    My parents and I had the same lodging problems when traveling around England and Scotland way back in the day. I kept getting relegated to cots, which got old, fast!

    • October 14, 2012

      My mom said we had the same problem when the four of us went to England in 1998. Of course, given that I wasn’t involved in the booking process, I had no idea! Now I see why Mom was so eager for me to do all the bookings =)

  • October 12, 2012
    Lisa

    I visited Holyrood so many years ago and can’t wait to return with my kids! We’re a family of 4 and have given up on trying to rent a room to accommodate all of us in Europe – we tend to book apartment-hotels that provide us with the amenities of a hotel but with an apartment that has multiple beds, a kitchen, a living area and sometimes 2 bathrooms. Everyone’s much happier if they can have a bit of space!

    • October 14, 2012

      The funny thing is that we couldn’t even find an apartment to rent! There were plenty of rooms in flats (but usually just with one bed), but we couldn’t find too many entire flats up for rental. (Maybe it was just the time of year we were traveling?)

  • October 14, 2012
    haidang

    always hard to take pics in rainy weather
    you did a phenomenal job!

    • October 14, 2012

      The key for me has been adjusting the white balance in my camera–changing from AWB to Cloudy or Shade (and then doing a bit of post-processing) works miracle!

      • October 15, 2012
        haidang

        what program do you use for post processing

        thanks for the tips. you rock!

        • October 15, 2012

          Lightroom for all photo editing (except those taken in my phone, for which I usually use Snapseed or HDR Pro). To make photo collages for my blog or slider images, I use Photoshop.

  • October 14, 2012

    Wow, I need to get up to Scotland. Having traveled to over 50 countries, I somehow skipped over Scotland. The architecture in your pics is AMAZING.

    • October 15, 2012

      I feel like it truly is the definition of an underrated gem. I can’t even remember why I decided to study abroad there–I’d never had an overwhelming desire to visit Scotland, but I think friends who had studied abroad in Edi prior to me had just raved about it–but boy am I glad I did!

  • October 14, 2012

    You visited a spectacular city.The architecture around Edinburgh is marvelous.The castle is worth a visit and as you did it is pretty easy to secure a car hire,letting you roam around the highlands
    Some nice photography in this post and others

    • October 15, 2012

      Scotland was way cheaper for car rental than Ireland (our next country visited)–not to mention, an easier place to drive around in general! I love the flexibility of being able to rent a car and not having to follow anyone’s itinerary but your own.

  • October 14, 2012

    I’ve been to Scotland before but all your posts about it are getting me soooooo excited because I’m going back in May. Cannot wait. Love Edinburgh. Love it all.

    • October 14, 2012

      Do you know when you’ll be there? I’ll be back in May (just for a day, my next stint on the ship).

      • October 14, 2012

        Would be amazing if we crossed paths! I’ll be there for sure May 26th as that’s the date of the half marathon I’m running, but not sure yet how long I’ll be in town before or after…

        • October 15, 2012

          May 19. I’m just going to cross my fingers and toes and hope that you decide you need a lengthy Edinburgh vacation beforehand! =)

          • October 15, 2012

            Are you stopping anywhere else in the UK? I do want to arrive early to get used to jet lag before the race, but I’d probably be in London since I have friends there.

  • October 26, 2012

    Oooh I hope you and Kyle meet up! 🙂

  • October 30, 2012

    I’ve just found your blog and I have to say your photography is so impressive. My husband is Scottish and possibly for that reason we haven’t been to many of the ‘tourist’y parts of Edinburgh – just his family’s home – but this is really making me want to visit the city properly the next time we’re there!

    What sort of photo software do you use? And have you taken any photography classes or anything?

    • November 1, 2012

      Thank you, Kerry–you’re so sweet! I work as a journalist, so yes, I took photography as part of my major in undergrad (and have been more self-taught since then). I use Lightroom for most editing, though I also use Photoshop for making collages and such.

  • November 16, 2012

    It is so laborious to search for the right room, I can imagine how hectic it would have been for you. Ahh the rain! It must have been a of bit spoiler, but then your images wouldn’t have been that brilliant.

  • December 10, 2012
    Rebecca

    Great photos, Edinburgh is a really lovely place. My family and I went a couple of years ago and loved it there. I stayed near the city area though, at Fraser Suites Edinburgh. This brings back lots of memories!

  • January 30, 2013

    I’m going to be checking out a lot of your UK posts in the near future cuz I think we’ve decided it’s our next trip. We kind of eliminated Croatia and Scandinavia which were runners up. Fun times!

  • April 26, 2013

    Wow…lovely photos…we have been in Edinburgh recently and fortunately had sunny weather all the time. We headed for the Highlands and Isle of Skye, spent only couple of hours in the city but definetely would love to see it again =)

    • May 30, 2019
      Simon

      You had sunny weather for more than one day?

      Are you sure it was Scotland?

      Skye is amazzzzzing

  • May 30, 2019
    Leev

    Edinburgh has never looked so awesome….and I come from there.

    • May 30, 2019
      Stevie

      Totally true. It’s a great city but you’ve captured it to a T.

    • May 30, 2019
      Morag

      Really is one of the best cities in the world. Possibly my second fav to NYC

  • May 30, 2019
    Hannah

    One of my favourite cities in the world! Love this 🙂

    • May 30, 2019
      Grant

      It’s the best city ever!. Whiskey, castles, funny accents. Whats not to love?

  • May 30, 2019
    Grant

    Edinburgh rocks. Volcanic rock!

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