Spots in Scotland (Part 5): Holyrood, Harry Potter, and Horror in Edinburgh

- July 8, 2026, Wednesday.

- Edinburgh never fails to surprise and deliver! Even on my last day, I thought I'd be more relaxed, but I still managed to find things to experience beyond what I had planned!

- In the early morning, I rode the tram from Princes Street to West End stop (not to be confused with West End in London), and walked all the way to Dean Village. Dean Village has existed since the 12th century as a milling village, and built around the Water of Leith (it's a river). To me, Dean Village retains what I imagined Europe would look like in the day. Maybe what added to this feel was that I was there early so there were not a lot of tourists around (I'm also not sure how many tourists visit it during peak hours.) It is one of the most picturesque pockets of Edinburgh!

Here I am!

I love the look, I love he colors, the only thing that bothered me was the sun (too much sun haha.) I was hoping the clouds would cover it a bit. It was also my hottest day in Scotland! (And yes, hello to my kilt again!)

A duck!

I feel like I'm in a Disney movie.

Dean's Brae Bridge.

View from Dean's Brae Bridge.

Water of Leith.

- I later rode the tram back to St. Andrew Square and walked all the way to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. This 17th century castle is the residence of the British royal family in Scotland. This palace also marks one end of the Royal Mile, with the Edinburgh Castle marking the other end; between these two palaces is a distance of one mile (well actuallyyyy....1.1 miles.) PLEASE BOOK TICKETS BEFOREHAND, because tickets may get sold out!! The castle also features the Holyrood Abbey, which has been in ruins since the 18th century, and was never renovated or restored to preserve whatever is left of the original structure.

Palace of Holyroodhouse.

I'm a palace guard!!

This was pretty much the last photo I could take before entering the state apartments. No photography was allowed inside huhu.

Holywood Abbey.

"Interior" of the church.

Abbey facade.

Rolls-Royce Phantom VI, from 1986. This is one of the royal cars.

- On the way back to the city center, I passed by two small museums that I felt were worthy of a peek. The first was the Museum of Edinburgh, housed in the 16th-century Huntly House. This museum tells the story of Edinburgh with some souvenirs. The other museum was The Museum of Childhood, opened in 1995. I loved this museum because not only did it talk about how being a child is like in Scotland from past to present, majority of the museum had toys from past to present!

Museum of Edinburgh.

It was a larger museum than it looked from the outside.

Museum of Childhood.

Doll room.

These bigger dolls at the higher floors were a bit scary. It felt as if they would move at any time.

More life-sized dolls!

- I took a break in the middle of the day to rest, before heading back out to finally try the Elephant House. It is said that J.K. Rowling wrote parts of Harry Potter in this cafe. The original Elephant House opened in 1995, and is near Greyfriars Bobby. It had to close in 2021 because of a fire but it is open again. However, I decided to go to its second branch along Victoria Street (the colorful street said to inspire Diagon Alley). because the table said to be used by J.K. Rowling can be found here! Needless to say, the cafes have Harry Potter merchandise, and sell butterbeer (it's non-alcoholic!) apart from regular food. I enjoyed my time there since I was given a spot all to myself!

This is the original location.

It's along George IV Bridge, near Greyfriars Bobby.

This is the branch along Victoria Street, where I went.

I liked the fact that I was facing the window, but it was also too sunny that afternoon. I did enjoy my butterbeer (butterscotch-flavored soda) and my ube cake. My shirt is also very magical.

J.K. Rowling's table.

Thank you random tourist for taking this nice photo of me.

J.K. Rowling in her youth.

- Later that afternoon, I had a spur of the moment decision to join a ghost tour, which Edinburgh is very known for. You may book through the Mercat Tours website, but in my case, tour agency had a small kiosk near my hostel, so I booked there and then. I took the 3PM tour so it wasn't too late. It was a walking tour through the hidden closes of Edinburgh until we reached the underground vaults. It was a tour mixed with history and horror. Whether the ghosts are true or not, it did give an eerie feeling. What a way to end my Scotland journey!

Our tour guide was in full regalia.

Barrie's Close, leading to the Old Fishmarket Close.

This was the most I could take photos of because it was quite dark in the vaults. A few ghosts were said to reside different parts of the vaults too.

Not a real skeleton, just for display.

- To shrug things off a bit, I had dinner at Whiski Bar and Restaurant, and had a scotch egg, fish and chips, and a sticky toffee pudding - some of Scotland's famed dishes!

Scotch egg.

Fish and chips and peas. Not my favorite honestly, but I think it's a UK thing. They were all good-quality ingredients, just that British food doesn't have seasoning in general....so there wasn't much taste.

Sticky toffee pudding, a sweet way to end dinner!

- I rested early that night because I had a really early flight the next day. I wasn't sure how I felt about leaving Scotland. It was cold, it was beautiful, it was lively, among other things lovable about the city. At the same time, I was excited to fly back to London (despite the heat wave there huhu) because I just love the energy of the big city! I leave Scotland for now, but hoping I could visit it again some day (and yes, I hope I will finally get to visit Loch Ness by then!!)