The Ultimate Guide For Spending 48 Hours In Edinburgh Without Spending A Fortune

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The capital of Scotland is one of the best cities in the world, but only 48 hours in Edinburgh isn’t nearly enough time. You could easily spend a month visiting the best attractions. But if the weekend is all the time you have, here’s the ultimate guide on how to spend your 2 days in Edinburgh.

Table of Contents

Why Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh has it all – castles, volcanos, beaches, history, ghosts, dancing…you name it! The city is also relatively small. About half a million people live within the city limits – which makes it easy to explore most of the attractions without a lot of walking.

The New Town and Old Town are two of Scotland’s eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Edinburgh also became the first UNESCO City of Literature in 2004 – unsurprising considering how many great authors are from or wrote in the city: Sir Walter Scott, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Iain Banks, Ian Rankin, J.K. Rowling, and many more.

If you’re a fan of J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter, Edinburgh is fantastic. None of the Harry Potter movies were actually filmed in Edinburgh, but many spots of the city are said to have inspired the stories (not by Rowling herself), and she wrote in some of the cafes in town. If you want to see some famous Potter filming locations, you can reach many on a day trip from Edinburgh, such as the Hogwarts Express steam train and Glenfinnan’s Viaduct.

Edinburgh Attractions on Google Maps

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48 Hours in Edinburgh Itinerary – Day One

Start with a Scottish Breakfast

The best way to start your first day in Edinburgh is with a food tour of the Scottish cuisine. But if you don’t book that, at least get a full Scottish Breakfast. If you’re not familiar with the massive meal, it’s similar to the English breakfast…but bigger. The English breakfast comes with an egg (fried or poached), bacon (British back bacon is softer than American bacon and not as crispy), sausage links, baked beans, fried tomatoes, mushrooms, toast fried in the bacon fat, and tea on the side.

In addition to all that, the Scottish breakfast includes three more sausages and a potato pancake. The first sausage is haggis, made with ground meat, oats, onions, and spices, and honestly quite delicious. Another sausage is called black pudding, made with beef suet, oats, and spices. Finally, you can get Lorne sausage, a square Scottish sausage patty a bit tougher than the other sausages. Finally, you’ll get a tattie scone, a wedge of a potato pancake, unless the cafe cuts corners and gives you a hashbrown instead. In Scotland, you’ll also usually get coffee instead of tea.

The quality of Scottish breakfasts can vary widely. Furthermore, very few cafes or restaurants serve all eleven ingredients of the Scottish breakfast. The only gastropub I know of in Edinburgh that serves every ingredient is Teuchters Landing, which adds a twelve item you usually only get in Aberdeen called a buttery.

Check out my list of the best cafes in Edinburgh where you can get a great quality Scottish breakfast.

Explore Greyfriars Kirk and Graveyard

With your stomach full, head to Forrest Road to see Greyfriars Kirk and Graveyard, one of the most haunted graveyards in the world. “Kirk” means “church” in Scottish. The church is not particularly special, other than it’s over 450 years old. Edinburgh has hundreds of churches, and some of them are really magnificent. Instead, it’s the cemetery surrounding the church that is of particular interest.

At night, you can take the City of the Dead Tour to learn about the graveyard and the ghost stories associated with various tombs and crypts. A section of the cemetery is off-limits for safety reasons, but the tour has access and will bring you in to discuss how it used to be a prison, as all the crypts were surrounded by iron bars.

The reason for those iron bars might be jokingly chalked up to keeping the zombies from escaping, but it was actually the other way around. Grave robbers were a big thing in Edinburgh, and the bars were installed to keep the cadavers from being stolen for medical research. On the other hand, that line of work contributed to Edinburgh being the world capital of medical research in the 18th century.

Even more interesting are the graves which inspired a certain famous author. Scattered throughout the courtyard are tombstones with names such as Scrymgeour, Moodie, McGonagall, and Potter. Yep, several characters from Harry Potter can be found in the graveyard. J.K. Rowling used to wander through the graveyard, although apparently, only two of the gravestones were consciously used for inspiration. One is William McGonagall (a fantastically bad poet in Scotland), and the other is none other than Thomas Riddell, a.k.a. Lord Voldemort.

One more point of interest here is the school next to the graveyard – George Heriot’s School. This school was clearly an inspiration for Hogwarts with its fantasy architecture and the four houses which students are divided into based on their academic talents. The school also started off as an orphanage for boys in the 17th century. Rumor has it that when J.K. Rowlings’s daughter asked her if she could go to the school, instead of saying the school was out of her budget (at the time), she said the school was only for wizards.

Check Out Greyfriars Bobby

Just outside of Greyfriars Kirk is a small statue of a black dog. This is Greyfriar’s Bobby. The story of Bobby goes back to 1856, although a few versions circulate. The basics are that a local guard picked up a Skye terrier as an assistant or a companion. Sadly, two years later, the guardsman passed away, perhaps from tuberculosis. Bobby then spent the next 14 years guarding his master’s grave until the dog died in 1872.

You’ll find the statue at the top of Candlemaker Row. For years, it was a tradition to rub Bobby’s nose for good luck, just like hundreds of other statues meant for rubbing. However, rubbing causes attrition to the bronze, so we ask that you refrain from rubbing his nose. Perhaps give him a nice pat as you walk past if you feel the need to touch him.

Wander Through the Grassmarket

Down Candlemaker Row from Greyfriars Kirk is the Grassmarket, so named for the cattle sold at auction there from the 15th century. This is also where many executions in the city were performed. An image of a gallows is embedded in the paving stones on the east end where the executions would have been.

The Grassmarket is one of the key tourist streets in town, along with the Royal Mile and Princes Street. You’ll find quite a few restaurants and bars lining the big open area, nearly all of which are part of large chains serving mediocre food. The only restaurant on the Grassmarket I would recommend is Mussel and Steak Bar, which has some of the best seafood in Edinburgh.

A couple of the best ice cream parlors in town are also on the Grassmarket. One is at the western end called Mary’s Milk Bar. At the opposite end in the tiny green police box is Over Langshaw Ice Cream, a farm south of Edinburgh that produces fantastic ice cream using its own ingredients. The single malt and raspberry ripple is one of the best flavors in town!

On Saturdays, the Grassmarket Market sells local handicrafts, snacks, and other products. You can also visit the Saturday Farmer’s Market on Castle Terrace, just around the corner from the Grassmarket.

Walk up Victoria Street

Several streets around the world claim to have inspired Diagon Alley, three of which are in Edinburgh. Here’s what J.K. Rowling once said:

No real street inspired Diagon Alley, I’m afraid. It came out of my head! I’ve never seen 99% of the places that claim to be the inspiration and I’d never seen Victoria St when I created DA (I have since, obviously, as it’s in Edinburgh, where I live). 1/3 https://t.co/66dpltNUcW

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 9, 2022

Regardless of any connection to Diagon Alley, Victoria Street has some beautiful shops. Although she never said exactly which street directly inspired Diagon Alley (if any), it’s true that in 1993 when the first book was written, a bank was next to a stationary store at the bottom of Victoria Street, just like Gringot’s Bank, and Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley.

Nowadays, you’ll find two very popular stores on the street – Museum Context and The Boy Wizard. Both shops sell Harry Potter memorabilia. Museum Context is the better store, although I confess I haven’t spent a lot of time in either.

Grab a Bowl of Cullen Skink

By now, it should be about lunchtime. Although you’re probably still full from that massive Scottish breakfast, you should still have room for the next popular Scottish dish. Cullen Skink is a cream-based soup made with smoked haddock, leeks, and potato. Not all the restaurants serve it (as it takes a bit of talent to make it well), so I’ve compiled a list of the best restaurants in Edinburgh for Cullen skink.

If you’re on a budget or have a dietary restriction (vegetarian, vegan, or dairy-free), head off the Royal Mile down George IV Bridge to the Union of Genius. They serve some of the best soups in town and at a fantastic price. Each day, they have six soups: two meat-based, two vegetarian, and two vegan. Most of their soups are dairy-free, and nearly everything in their cafe, including all their bakery items, is gluten-free.

Further reading: Where to Find the Best Cullen Skink in Edinburgh

Visit Edinburgh Castle

This next attraction is probably the most obvious in Edinburgh, but it’s not one I particularly recommend. As far as tourist attractions go, it’s expensive and a bit overrated. Stirling Castle is far more impressive. If you want to see castle ruins, there are almost too many to recommend – Urquhart, Eileen Donan, Duntulm, Dunnottar, etc. Having said that, Edinburgh Castle is still Scotland’s most visited paid attraction and second in the UK.

The Edinburgh Castle is more symbolic than anything else. The One o’Clock Gun fires each day, symbolizing setting the time for the nearby harbor. In August, the Military Tattoo is the highlight of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where the Scottish military and other international outfits perform nightly with a fireworks finale. There are museums to explore and a church dating back to the 12th century. This is also where you’ll find the Honours of Scotland, informally known as the Scottish Crown Jewels.

If the entrance fee is out of your budget, I’d recommend simply viewing the castle from the outside. The aforementioned Grassmarket is an excellent vantage point for photos of the castle, and you can get photos of the city from the esplanade in front of the castle. The castle is built on an ancient volcanic plug, and the city sprawls in glacial valleys formed in the Ice Age. As such, it’s one of the best viewpoints for photos.

Take a Tour of Mary King’s Close

Now, head back down the Royal Mile to one of my most recommended attractions. As an aside, the Royal Mile is the street stretching almost exactly a mile from the castle to the palace (hence royal). The street changes name four times along its length, which is very common in the UK.

About a third of a mile down the street from the castle is The Real Mary King’s Close, a truly unique attraction. The original streets of Edinburgh date back to the Middle Ages. These streets are called “closes” or “wynds.” The term “close” comes from the fact that a gate at the top of the street was locked at night for security, hence “closed.” In 1753, when they built the Royal Exchange (now the City Chambers) across the street from St Giles Cathedral, instead of bulldozing the side of the hill to build the new building, they decided to simply cut the tops of the already existing buildings and then construct the new building on top.

As a result, the original streets beneath the city chambers are still preserved, along with many of the old dwelling spaces. The Real Mary King’s Close takes you on a tour of the old street to explore what life was like 400 years ago in the capital, the effects that the plagues had on the city, and even a ghost story or two. After all, Edinburgh has been labeled the most haunted city in the world, but I’ll talk more about that below.

Find the Angel with Bagpipes at St Giles Cathedral

After you finish your tour, head across the street to St Giles Cathedral, the 12th-century house of worship for the Church of Scotland. The building has gone through many upgrades over the past couple of centuries, and now is a rather fantastic piece of architecture – which you can see briefly in the Avengers: Infinity War movie when they’re battling the minions of Thanos.

The cathedral (Scotland and Brazil are the only two countries that call some of their Presbyterian churches cathedrals) is still active and holds four services every Sunday. You can visit the church Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Another key attraction within St Giles Cathedral is the Thistle Chapel. This is the small room where the Queen meets with the sixteen Order of the Thistle knights and ladies. It’s a beautiful chapel at the back of the cathedral, but many people miss it. While you’re inside, see if you can find the statue of an angel with bagpipes.

Visit Holyrood Palace

Holyrood Palace started as Holyrood Abbey in 1128. The original palace was constructed in the early 1500s and then reconstructed in the 1670s. It’s currently the official residence of the British monarch in Edinburgh, although they spend more time at their summer home of Balmoral Castle.

The current palace tour allows you to explore several rooms, including the royal dining room, the throne room, the king’s bedchamber and antechamber, the Great Gallery, and the bedchamber and antechamber of Mary Queen of Scots. You’ll also be able to visit the ruins of Holyrood Abbey (when it’s not under renovation) and the palace gardens where the Queen (and now King) holds their annual garden party with Arthur’s Seat as a backdrop.

The palace is one of the more expensive attractions in Edinburgh, so if you’re on a budget, I’d definitely consider skipping it. On the other hand, if you’ve never been to a palace, visit this one. Make sure to book in advance—that’s the only way to visit nowadays. Plan to spend about an hour and a half there, an hour of which will be for the audio guide.

Enjoy Haggis, Neeps and Tatties

Now it’s time for dinner, and what better than the national dish of Scotland? Haggis is simply a delicious, healthy sausage made with ground meat, oats, onions, and spices.

The most common way haggis is served is with neeps (a.k.a. “rutabaga” in the U.S. and “swede” in England) and tatties (mashed potatoes). Haggis is an extremely versatile sausage that can be used with burgers, pizzas, mac and cheese, bonbons, shepherd’s pie, and more.

Many of the restaurants around Edinburgh serve haggis in one form or another. I used to recommend the Beehive Inn on the Grassmarket, but they changed their menu and now only offer it as a starter (which is still good). Another good restaurant that serves it is MUM’s Comfort Food, across the street from Greyfriars Kirk. Since you’re by the palace, head back up the Royal Mile to The Piper’s Rest or The Doric for some of the best haggis in the city center. Unlike the US, pubs and taverns in Scotland serve some of the best food and usually source their products from local farmers and butchers.

If you’re vegetarian or vegan, get the vegan version of haggis. It’s just as good as the real thing. Most places that serve haggis also have the vegan version available.

View the Sunset from Calton Hill

The final stop of day one should be on Calton Hill. Depending on what month you visit, you could make it up for sunset. For the longest day of the year, sunset is after 10 p.m., and twilight in the northern sky remains all night long. Conversely, the shortest day of the year sees the sun set before 4 p.m.

The view is just as wonderful whether you get to the top of Calton Hill before sunset or afterward. You’ll have a full panoramic vista of Edinburgh. Scattered around the top of the hill are several monuments. The Parthenon-looking structure is the National Monument of Scotland, although it was never finished. The tall tower that looks like a spyglass is the Nelson Monument, and the circular structure with nine columns and Edinburgh Castle in the background is the Dugald Stewart Monument.

Edinburgh Itinerary – Day Two

Get Started with Some Scottish Salmon

Scotland ranks 3rd in the world when it comes to salmon production. The quality is fantastic, and many restaurants serve salmon-related dishes. Check out my article on the best cafes in town for an up-to-date list of where you can get a superb Eggs Royale.

One highly recommended breakfast cafe close to the first attraction of the day is Toast Cafe at the Leith Shore. They often have a fantastic Eggs Royale on the menu, although the menu is seasonal and changes regularly. Their view of the harbor is also beautiful, although this spot really gets gorgeous in the evening. Their prices are slightly higher than the other cafes, so perhaps stick to Oqo if you’re on a budget.

Visit the HMY Britannia

Half a mile away from Toast Cafe is the Ocean Terminal Shopping Center. Head there next for the next attraction. The HMY (Her Majesty’s Yacht) Britannia was commissioned in 1954 and used by Queen Elizabeth II until it was retired in 1997 and displayed in Edinburgh as a leading tourist attraction.

You can now take a full tour of the yacht with an audio guide describing all components and features throughout the ship. You can tour through all the exquisite cabins for members of royalty, the state dining rooms, and the Royal Deck tea room. On the lower decks are the crew quarters, infirmary, kitchens, laundry facilities, and many more rooms. The tour spans five decks of the yacht and lasts about an hour. Check the website for the current ticket price.

Take a Tour to Queensferry and the Forth Rail Bridge

While we’re on the subject of ships, it’s time for another tour, this time to Queensferry and the three bridges. The Forth Rail Bridge is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the world’s second-longest single cantilever bridge. Beside that is the Forth Road Bridge, which is now only used by passenger buses, bikes, and foot traffic. In 2017, the Queensferry Crossing replaced the Forth Road Bridge, which had been showing severe signs of wear.

One of the three hop-on-hop-off bus tours in Edinburgh goes to the three bridges and includes a boat tour of the Firth of Forth and Inchcolm Island, although you have to buy an additional landing permit if you want to explore the island…which I highly recommend. Inchcolm Island has one of the best-preserved Augustine abbeys in Scotland, as well as old battlements from both World War I and World War II.

Ride the Red Bus Bistro for Afternoon Tea

Now for some lunch. One of my favorite tours in Edinburgh is the Red Bus Bistro Tour. Leaving from Waterloo Place at the end of the New Town, the Red Bus tour takes 90 minutes and gives you a delicious meal and lots of interesting information about the city. You can choose between an afternoon tea tour or a gin tour.

All the food for these tours is prepared on the bus before departure. The afternoon tea tour includes finger sandwiches, scones and jam, mini quiches, and various petit fours and small cakes, with tea or coffee on the side. The gin tour is the afternoon tea tour, just with a glass of gin. What’s fascinating is how the food stays on the plates while the bus bounces around the cobblestone streets of Edinburgh.

The tours are very reasonably priced for a nice dinner and a tour around Edinburgh. Another thing I really like about this tour is that the information they give is unique from the other tours available. In fact, I had done several tours before taking this one and still learned quite a few new facts about the city I love so much.

Explore Rosslyn Chapel

If you’ve seen the Da Vinci Code, you’ll be familiar with this next attraction. Just outside the city is one of the most beautiful chapels in the world. Rosslyn Chapel was built in the 15th century. The current structure was originally intended to be the choir of a grand church, but funds ran out and the church was never built. However, the chapel alone is completely full of beautiful artwork. Perhaps the most impressive piece is called the Apprentice’s Column – carved with incredibly intricate designs.

The outside of the chapel is gorgeous, too. Everything was built with the local sandstone, which varies between white and rose colors. Despite how easily sandstone wears down in the Scottish climate, the Rosslyn Trust has taken great care to restore the chapel as much as possible. You can take a self-guided tour of the chapel at your own pace, and every hour, a tour guide will give a lecture about important features of the building inside and out.

If you have a bit more time, you can walk down to the little-known Rosslyn Castle behind the chapel. There isn’t much left of the castle beyond a wall, the central keep house, and an awesome bridge leading to it. The castle was built on a rather unique, steep hill, which gave it an excellent defensive position. While Dan Brown connected the chapel to the Knights Templar, there’s not a lot of evidence to support that theory, but you should decide for yourself.

Rosslyn Chapel is one of my favorite attractions in Edinburgh, so I had to include it on this list. However, the chapel closes at 4:30 p.m., which means you won’t have enough time to visit if you take both bus tours. If you want to skip one of them, you can replace it with the chapel. The chapel is also significantly cheaper than the bus tours.

Hike Up Arthur’s Seat

It’s rather unique to find a city with a volcano in the middle. Portland, Oregon, has one, but it’s small and anti-climatic. Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh is the remnants of a 300-million-year-old volcano, nad definitely the dominant feature of the city. Many people consider it quite a strenuous hike, and many local residents have never been to the top, but I really don’t think it’s that bad.

There are two main ways up – one is a long, steadily sloping path, and the other is mostly stone steps to the top. Either way, it takes about 30-40 minutes at a comfortable pace to get to the top from the parking lot. On a good day, I can run it in under 20 minutes.

There are quite a few trails around Holyrood Park, where Arthur’s Seat is located. Near the parking lot are the ruins of St. Anthony’s Chapel, possibly built in the 1300s and overlooking St Margaret’s Loch. On the back side of Holyrood Park is Dunsapie Loch. Both lochs (Scottish for “lake”) have several swans and perhaps a heron or two. The parking lot behind Holyrood Palace is paid, but the one a little bit further down the road is free.

Freak Out on a Ghost Tour with Mercat Tours

You can’t leave Edinburgh without doing a proper ghost tour. As mentioned above, Edinburgh is the most haunted city in the world, and one of the most spooky locations is the South Bridge vaults. In 1788, 120 rooms were built into the 19 arches of South Bridge, which spanned the valley from the city of Edinburgh to the Old College. The bridge wasn’t waterproof, and the businesses in those rooms soon moved out, leaving them open for unsavory businesses and trades to move in. There’s even a rumor that the graverobbers of Edinburgh used it as a repository for cadavers.

Quite a few people have been known to run out of the vaults, absolutely terrified by an apparition they saw. A full paranormal investigation was once done in the vaults, with very interesting findings. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, this is still an awesome tour to take, and you’ll also learn a lot about Edinburgh’s history from the guide.

Mercat Tours has access to several of the rooms and offers several different guided tours. One tour covers quite a bit of Edinburgh’s Old Town before heading down into the vaults, and another has a gin tasting at the end.

How Much Will 48 Hours in Edinburgh Cost?

Accommodations

Due to the annual Fringe Festival in August, which draws millions of visitors to the city, there are hundreds of hotels, hostels, guesthouses, Airbnbs, Couchsurfing hosts, and every other manner of lodging throughout the city. Aside from Couchsurfing, prices range from as little as £120 ($15) to several grand a night. Some months are cheaper than others, and prices rise significantly in August when everything is sold out on the weekends.

Food

Edinburgh is known as the second-most expensive city in the UK, after London. That’s probably most apparent with the food. Per Numbeo, the average meal at an inexpensive restaurant in Edinburgh is £15 ($20)! I personally think that’s on the low end. In my years living here, I’ve found quite a few places to eat on a budget. If you’re savvy, you can find a good lunch for as little as £8, or you can get the meal deal at Tesco for £3.50.

If you want to splurge, you could easily spend £50 on a meal. So again, this part of your budget will really depend on your preferences. If you eat the places I’ve recommended above, you’re looking at about £100 ($140) over two days, not including the Red Bus Bistro or dinner on the second day…since I didn’t recommend any lunch that day. This includes basic drinks and coffee, but your bills will be quite a bit more if you want to add alcohol to your meals. Then again, this is Scotland, and you might want to try a dram of whisky.

Attractions and Activities

Unless you choose to stay at a luxury hotel, attractions and activities will probably take the biggest chunk out of your budget if you manage to get to all the attractions listed above. Here’s a summary of the costs. As prices change constantly, I no longer list individual costs here but expect to pay upwards of £20 ($25) per activity.

Of course, you can skip some of those activities if they’re out of your budget. And if you’re really on a budget, check out my list of free attractions in Edinburgh.

Summary of the Perfect Itinerary for 48 Hours in Edinburgh

To summarize this rather long article, here’s a schedule for 48 hours in Edinburgh. Obviously, this will vary depending on your speed, preference for attractions, and where in the city your accommodations are, but at least you can use it as a general guide. Granted, this is a very fast-paced itinerary, and you’ll have to move quickly to get from one attraction to the next to squeeze everything in. Did I mention that 48 hours isn’t nearly enough time to explore Edinburgh?

Day 1

9 a.m. – Scottish breakfast at Teuchters Landing
10:30 a.m. – Greyfriars Kirk and Graveyard
11:00 a.m. – Grassmarket and Victoria Street
12 p.m. – Cullin Skin at the Magnum Restaurant
1:30 p.m. – Edinburgh Castle
3:00 p.m. – Mary King’s Close Tour
4:30 p.m. – Holyrood Palace Tour
6:00 p.m. – Haggis, Neeps and Tatties Dinner
Sunset – Calton Hill

Day 2

9 a.m. – Eggs Royale at Toast Cafe
10:30 a.m – HMY Britannia
12:05 p.m. – Three Bridges Bus Tour (only Fri-Sun, don’t be late)
3:00 p.m. – Red Bus Bistro Tour (also leaves at noon if you want to skip the bridges tour)
Optional before 3:30 p.m. – Rosslyn Chapel (if you want to skip either bus tour)
Sunset: Hike Arthur’s Seat
9 or 10 p.m. – Mercat Ghost Tour

The Ultimate Guide for Spending 48 Hours in Edinburgh without Spending a Fortune

Why Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh Attractions on Google Maps