In November, I took my first trip ever to the United Kingdom.
Of course, I had some expectations and had created some ideas about how the country looked like.
However, as soon as I reached the city of Edinburgh, my destination, I knew I was wrong.
One of the biggest and wrongest stereotypes when thinking about a British city is that they are grey.
Grey, sad, and rainy.
When in Edinburgh, I walked through the whole city, and discovered incredibly beautiful green spots.
In this post, I want to share with you this almost unknown aspect of the Scottish capital.
Are you ready to take note of the five of them?
Holyrood Park & Arthur’s Seat
If you have read the previous post about Edinburgh, you know how much I have loved our excursion on the Arthur’s Seat hill. I totally suggest spending a couple of hours wandering around the park underneath – Holyrood park- and climbing up the hill.
While you’ll have a view on the whole area nearby – from the city to the coast – as soon as you reach the top, in the park you’ll run into the ruins of Saint Anthony’s Chapel and a couple of wee lochs (little lakes).
Water of Leith
Along Edinburgh’s river, the Water of Leith, there’s a beautiful walk. There you can admire the historic Dean’s Village, the foliage in autumn time, and an old little temple dedicated to Hygieia.
For a moment, you’ll forget where you are, and you’ll think you are in the countryside.
Inverleith Park
The calmest park in the whole city we’ve visited is probably Inverleith Park.
A couple of minutes distant from the Water of Leith, we would have missed this jewel if we didn’t decide to get lost and go discovering the suburbs of the city.
We were literally surprised by how cute it is! A little college nearby created the right exploring atmosphere and the pond with some ducks made it even more magical.
While we were crossing it, we were pleased by seeing a group of elderly doing some gymnastics in the park.
Royal Botanic Garden
In front of Inverleith park, the incredible Royal Botanic Garden will give you another green and unforgettable experience.
The free enctrance will bring you across the continents, and with a fee you’ll have the chance to visit the Glasshouses. They’re totally worth it!
All the information is provided in their website.
Princes Street Gardens
A couple of meters below the street level, in the new part of the city centre, the Princes Street Gardens are filled every day by people running from place to place and by those seeking for a moment of relax.
It also hosts the statue of a bear – I told his story in this post.
What do you think about these parks?
Have you ever been to Edinburgh or the UK?
If you’re interested in visiting them and have more questions,
leave a comment below and help me improving this post.
Remember to use the hashtag #wheninEdinburgh
and let me know if you visit these parks!
Looks great! I wanted to visit Edinburgh for a while mostly because of Arthur’s Seat but now I have even more reason to! I live in London, so it should make a nice long weekend. 🙂
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Hi Eniko,
yes! It would be the perfect destination… 😉
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I studied abroad in Edinburgh during college so this makes me so nostalgic! I definitely missed some of these parks when I was there so I guess that means I’ll have to go back 🙂
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It must be so nice to study in Edinburgh!
There are so many things to see that it’s always a great idea to go back…
And, why not, a quick trip back will be lovely 🙂
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The parks look amazing, but my favorite one is the rainforest at the Royal Botanic Garden. It has a mystic feeling and reminded me of home.
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The Royal Botanic Garden is incredibly beautiful, it’s stunning, unique, and breathtaking.
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I’m with you! We love to visit parks when we travel! Hope to visit Edinburgh! I have bookmarked this, thanks so much!
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Hi sweetie!
I really advise visiting Edinburgh, it’s an incredible city…
I’m happy to have visited it without any expectation, because it has inmensely surprised me 🙂
I really hope that you’ll visit it, too!
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Your pictures are just beautiful! I’m hoping the UK will fit into 2018 for me, so thanks for the inspiration!
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Thank you, Kay!
I hope so, too. You would have so much fun! 😉
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Edinburgh seems like such a beautiful place to visit! I’ve been wanting to travel around the United Kingdom and haven’t had the chance to. I will definitely be adding it to my list!
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Hi NieNie,
I really enjoyed visiting Edinburgh. I hope to explore more of both the UK and Scotland… That’s in my list, too!
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These parks look great! I’m hoping to go to Edinburgh this fall, now I have some new things to add to my to do list!
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Hi Ashley,
there are so many things to see in Edinburgh… these parks are just some of them… Have you checked the other post out?
Have fun and have a safe trip!
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Really pretty photos! While I would hardly call Arthur’s Seat unknown, it does seem to be on everyone’s Edinburgh list! Having been to Ireland and lived in Seattle, I know that gray and rainy and green kind of all go together…and now that I live in the desert, I sure miss those green landscapes!
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Hi Leighl,
I agree with you. Arthur’s Seat is the most known of all of them. But still, when talking to some friends that were travelling to Edinburgh, it wasn’t in their lists…
It must be such a radical change! However, I think that this will make you appreciate the green landscapes more.
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
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It looks like there are so many great things to see here! I’ve been wanting to visit to see Arthur’s Seat for ages. I’ll have to add the rest of these parks to my list of reasons to go.
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Hi Kris,
you will love it!
I could help you with the list of reasons to go… it’s plenty! 😉
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Oh I missed so much on my trip to edinburgh. We were two of those people running from place to place (it was the arts festival). I can’t wait to revisit one day and climb Arthur’s Seat. It is firmly on my bucket list!!
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Let me tell you that you will love your second trip to Edinburgh, then! 😉
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Edinburgh may be one of my favorite cities in the whole world. This is a great list of parks for my next trip! Thanks!
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Hi Mary,
Edinburgh is definitely among my favourite cities, too.
I hope it will be useful and that you will go soon!
Have safe trips 🙂
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Tra due mesi mi trasferisco ad Edimburgo e questo post mi scalda il cuore. 🙂
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Davvero? Non sai quanto piacere mi faccia, e buoni preparativi!
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I was in Edinburgh ages ago and loved every part of it – especially the royal mile. I think English cities are grey in winters but they are charming and colorful during summers.
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It was the first and the only English city I’ve visited so far, so I can’t really tell… But what is sure is that this experience proved that the stereotype was only a real cliché, nothing more 🙂
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Looks amazing! I’ve bookmarked this article for my next trip to Edinburgh!
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Hi Jess!
Hope you enjoy it 😉
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I love everything about Edinburgh, it’s such a great city with a fantastic atmosphere! Arthur’s Seat is definitely my favorite place 🙂
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Hi Val!
It really is… That experience was my favourite, too!
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Wow, these photos are gorgeous! Even more inspiration for me to visit Edinburgh!
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Hi Dani, thank you!
Edinburgh is a very lovely city.
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Seems like a beautiful and peaceful place Edinburgh.
Nice post also on these parks. Will save it for next year when I travel there.
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Hi Oly!
Yes, it is. Thank you, hope it will be useful 🙂
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Beautiful spots, I think about visiting Edinburg for a while. Grass looks so green and parks so peaceful.
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Hi Unta,
it is a lovely city! Hope you’ll enjoy it 🙂
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I will admit that Edinburgh has not been on my radar. After reading this post and seeing the beautiful pictures, I am definitely adding it to my list of places to visit.
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Hi Tomeka,
I happy this post made you change your mind. It’s really worth it!
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Wow, these photos are amazing. I enjoyed looking at them (and reading) so much. 🙂
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Hi Amy,
thank you so much!
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I have sadly never been 😦 I have barely been to europe but I am dying to go! I hope to some day. Love that shot with the bright sun! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
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Hi Stelly,
Thanks to you for stopping by!
I really hope you’ll have the chance to come over and explore Europe. It’s plenty of stunning places and we’re waiting for you!
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Haven’t been to Edinburgh yet, but I’d love to see the wee loch and the bigger ones too all over Scotland. Planning a trip there in the next year or so, and will use this as a reference when I head to the Capital.
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Hi Ariana,
Edinburgh was a real discovery for me!
I hope this post will be useful 😉
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It’s so interesting to read what you thought about the UK before you visited! I live here and definitely think it’s grey and sad but there are some wonderful parts like Edinburgh. Glad you changed your mind!
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Hi Anna!
Thank you for your comment.
I’m curious to discover more about UK cities 😉
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I loved my visit to Edinburgh. We were only able to spend a day there, so we didn’t get to any of the parks. These all look lovely! Thanks for sharing about them.
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Thank you for your comment, Nancy 🙂
Edinburgh is really worth a longer visit – hope you will be able to visit it for a longer time and get the opportunity to love the city!
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