We left Greenock early in the morning and set off for the Lake District. As we punched our destination into Google Maps, we noticed that Edinburgh was a mere hours drive from Glasgow and – in the spirit of our minimal-plans-roadtrip – decided to take a detour.

I'm so glad we did – what a wonderful city to visit!

Edinburgh Castle

Knowing we had a 4 hour drive to complete, we decided to use our time wisely and head straight for the Castle. We parked along Castle Terrace and walked up Castle Rock.

The Great Hall

We stumbled into the Great Hall just as a re-enactment of historic Scottish songs was being performed. The gentleman pictured below was remarkably committed to his character, and quickly had an audience enthralled.

A View of The City

We had lunch at the castle's tea room and were treated to a spectacular view of the city below.

The Royal Mile

We concluded our brief visit to Edinburgh with a walk down the Royal Mile to St Giles' Cathedral.

Edinburgh is definitely on our list of places to visit again, but for this trip we had to reach our next stop before nightfall – Troutbeck in The Lake District.