Author Archives: hollyGS

YORK, England |First Impressions

July 25, 2019 by hollyGS

We arrived in York by train (from Edinburgh) around 11 am. This afforded us lots of time to explore York before sunset! We started out in the city centre, where we wandered the Shambles Market and the Shambles. The Shambles is an iconic street is York, know for it’s overhanging timber framed buildings. The street used to be home to many butchers and was known as “The Great Flesh Shambles”. CREEPY? The buildings all look as if they were built […]

Categories: england, Europe, united kingdom • Tags: arcade, backpacker, backpacking, Beer, brew dog, brewery, budget, budget travel, castles and beer, cheap travel, craft beer, england, explore europe, medieval, medieval city, pint, retro arcade, retro games, see the world, self guided, self guided walking tour, travel blog, travel england, travel vlog, uk, united kingdom, walking tour, what to do, what to see, x-men arcade game, york, york minster, york walls

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Edinburgh to York| Scotland to England by TRAIN (train? bus? car?)

July 20, 2019 by hollyGS

We left Edinburgh Waverly Station at approximately 9am. The journey took a total of 1.5 hours. We booked our tickets online a few months in advanced directly through the virgin train website. The trip cost us 17 pounds each, which is a bit more expensive than the bus, but the comfort of the train was worth the extra money to us. The tickets were sent to my phone, and we asked the lady attendant which track to board at. It […]

Categories: england, Europe, Scotland, united kingdom • Tags: backpacking, book online, budget, budget travel, bus, buying tickets, car, cheap travel, comparison, edinburgh, edinburgh waverly station, england, how to, tickets, train, train travel, train travel in the UK, train trip, travel england, travel europe, travel guide, travel scotland, travel vlog, uk, united kingdom, virgin trains, york, york station

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Scott Monument and Dean Village | Edinburgh, SCOTLAND

July 18, 2019 by hollyGS

After our Harry Potter themed adventure, we decided to catch a few more of the “big sites” in Edinburgh, starting with Calton Hill. You can find quite a few interesting sites up on the beautiful vantage point. The trip up the hill is worth the views alone! The unfinished National monument makes a nice place to take a picnic and soak in the glorious views . After exploring Calton Hill, we made our way back down the slope, and towards […]

Categories: Europe, Scotland, united kingdom • Tags: budget, budget travel, calton hill, cheap travel, cheap UK, dean village, edinburgh, edinburgh castle, hogwarts, hogwarts express, Scotland, scott monument, scottish, see scotland, see the world, self guided, self guided walking tour, travel scotland, travel uk, uk, undiscovered europe, united kingdom, walking tour

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Edinburgh Scotland: Sunrise on the Royal Mile

July 9, 2019 by hollyGS

We decided to get up early and catch surise at Edinburgh Castle (in November that’s just before 7:30 am ). The idea was that we would miss the giant crowds that plague the Royal Mile during the day. This plan, I believe, was a SUCCESS!!!! We did, however, encounter a marathon running at this hour, but the castle front we had to ourselves, and Jives was able to film his rapping with very little interference, YES!!!! The Royal Mile and […]

Categories: Europe, Scotland, united kingdom • Tags: backpacker, backpackers, backpacking, beat the crowd, budget, budget travel, cheap travel, cheap UK, edinburgh, edinburgh castle, harry potter, jk rowling, royal mile, Scotland, self guided, sinries, tour free, travel vlog, uk, united kingdom, walking tour

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Harry Potter Sights in Edinburgh, Scotland: SELF GUIDED WALKING TOUR

July 2, 2019 by hollyGS

Edinburgh is known as the place in which JK Rowling wrote the first few Harry Potter books. You cannot go a few feet without seeing a reference to Harry Potter or a memorabilia store selling overpriced Harry Potter Merchandise. Aside from all of these Harry Potter shops, there are quite a few things you can see and do in Edinburgh for free if you are a Harry Potter Fan. NUMBER ONE: Victoria Street Our first stop on our self guided […]

Categories: Europe, Scotland, united kingdom • Tags: diagon alley, edinburgh, greyfriars cemetery, greyfriars kirkyard, harry potter, harry potter books, harry potter cemetery, harry potter film sights, harry potter graveyard, harry potter shops, harry potter sights, harry potter tour, jk rowling, joke shop, mcgonagal, moodie grave, potter grave, Scotland, self guided, thomas riddle, voldemort grave, walking tour, writing harry potter

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Sterling | Day trip from Edinburgh, Scotland

June 28, 2019 by hollyGS

We decided to go on a day trip, on our first day in Edinburgh. We headed to Waverley station in Edinburgh and spoke to the the attendant about heading to Sterling. Apparently there was track maintenance going on, and the normally straight forward train to Sterling would be a bit more complicated today. We purchased tickets from the vending machine (9 pound each) and waited to board our train. Instead of the straight forward train ride from Edinburgh to Sterling, […]

Categories: Europe, Scotland, united kingdom • Tags: backpackers, backpacking, Beer, budget, budget travel, cheap travel, cheap UK, england, Europe, medieval, medieval castle, northern scotland, old sterling bridge, Scotland, scottish, scottish castle, sterling, sterling castle, uk, undiscovered europe, united kingdom, wallace monument, william wallace

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Edinburgh, Scotland | Exploring at night

June 15, 2019 by hollyGS

We arrived in Edinburgh around noon, and settled in to our airbnb. As soon as we had dropped our bags and grabbed a quick refreshment, we set out to see as much of Edinburgh as we could! Firstly we set off in the direction of the Royal Mile. Between our accommodation and the Royal Mile we encountered Calton Hill, home of the National Monument and Nelson’s monument. We then stumbled upon a place that looked great for lunch, Howie’s. The […]

Categories: Europe, Scotland, united kingdom • Tags: backpacker, backpacking, budget travel, cheap travel, edinburgh, edinburgh castle, Europe, free things, haggis, night time edinburgh, princes street gradens, Scotland, see scotland, the royal mile, things to see, top things to see in edinburgh, travel scotland, uk, united kingdom, vegetarian haggis

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Belfast to Edinburgh |Fly? Ferry? Swim?

June 8, 2019 by hollyGS

We had initially done a lot of research about taking the ferry from Belfast/Cairnryan to Edinburgh. A company called Stena Lines does the trip, and you can purchase a combination ticket that includes the bus to the ferry terminal, the ferry and then the continuing bus on to Edinburgh once you’ve crossed. The journey would have taken about eight hours and cost roughly 30 pounds. I’m somewhat of an obsessive planner. So, the fact that the ferry combination ticket could […]

Categories: Europe, northern ireland, Scotland, united kingdom • Tags: airlink, airlink 300, airport, belfast, belfast city centre, belfast international airport, belfast to airport, budget travel, cairnryan, cheap travel, cheap UK, edinburgh international airport, edinburgh to airport, ferry, ferry terminal, Ireland, northern ireland, Scotland, stena lines, tram, travel, travel europe, travel uk

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Giant’s Causeway |The Dark Hedges |Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

June 3, 2019 by hollyGS

On our first full day in Northern Ireland we decided to book a tour in order to see a lot of sites around Northern Ireland. We booked with a company called Paddy Wagon Tours (which cost us 29 euro each). The tour left Belfast central Bus station at 10 am. The bus was late, so we waited around for quite awhile, and despite the fact that we were the first ones there waiting, we were the last too climb onboard […]

Categories: Europe, northern ireland, united kingdom • Tags: Beer, belfast, budget travel, bus tour, carrick-a-rede rope bridge, cheap travel, day trip, dunluce castle, filming sites, game of thrones, Ireland, northern ireland, paddywagon tour, the dark hedges, tour, travel northern ireland, uk, united kingdom

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Author Archives: hollyGS

YORK, England |First Impressions

Edinburgh to York| Scotland to England by TRAIN (train? bus? car?)

Scott Monument and Dean Village | Edinburgh, SCOTLAND

Edinburgh Scotland: Sunrise on the Royal Mile

Harry Potter Sights in Edinburgh, Scotland: SELF GUIDED WALKING TOUR

Sterling | Day trip from Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh, Scotland | Exploring at night

Belfast to Edinburgh |Fly? Ferry? Swim?

Giant’s Causeway |The Dark Hedges |Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge