Whilst my husband and I were up in Scotland earlier in the year helping take care of my dad, we took the opportunity to do a quick overnight trip to Edinburgh. It was a chilly couple of days, but we made the most of it, at least being dry and this is a city with so many lovely coffee shops to stop in to warm up!

In fact, our first stop as soon as we got off the train was to visit The Milkman. This is such a popular café in Edinburgh, if you enjoy good coffee, a sweet treat and a cosy atmosphere then I can highly recommend visiting.

We stayed at another one of the hotels in the Locke Group (which we stay at quite often in Manchester). The Edinburgh Eden Locke was in a great location, very central, and it looks understated but charming from the street. Our room was bright and modern, all their hotels are styled to perfection. What I like about this hotel group is that they’re mini apartments, so you have a kitchen and dining area.

Although it was cold (March) we lucked out with the weather staying dry and one of the days we had blue skies all day! We love to just explore and get off the beaten track, discovering new places and stumbling across cafés and pretty streets. Also it is always so much quieter even if you just go one street over from the main tourist locations!

No visit to Edinburgh would be complete without a visit to the famous Greyfriars Kirkyard Graveyard to visit the grave of Greyfriars Bobby, Scotland’s most famous dog! The graveyard dates back to 1650, and it is also rumoured to be where J.K Rowling got the inspiration for many of her characters names in her Harry Potter novels, if you search the gravestones you will find graves with names quite similar to those in the books, like McGonagall, think Scrimgeour, Riddell and Moodie. So keep your eyes peeled if you’re a Potterhead.

After a walk around the graveyard, you have to pop into the Greyfriars Bobby Bar for a pint of locally brewed Innis & Gunn!

If you have ever visited a Brewdog, you will know they have an extensive selection of beer to pick from and their Vegan food options are AMAZING too! Best Vegan Burger and chips I have had in a long time. Edinburgh has recently opened one of the Brewdog Hotels, called the Doghouse. We didn’t say here (unfortunately) but the bar attached to the beer themed hotel is open to the public, and it was the perfect place to rest our legs and refuel after a long day of walking. I like that they have good Alcohol Free beer as well as a selection of Vegan and Gluten Free beers too!

We have visited Edinburgh quite a few times over the years, as my family live about an hour North of the city. So we have visited all the main attractions like the castle, Scottish Museum, National Portrait Gallery and done a few of the ghost tours too. On this visit, we decided to just explore the streets, and visit some new areas of the city.

I am a sucker for looking on Instagram for new & fun looking vegan food options and I knew next time I was in Edinburgh that I 100000% would be paying a visit to Considerit. They’re an all vegan bakery and their doughnuts and sweet treats are incredible. I had a tough time picking what to have (never a bad thing) I went for the pistachio and white chocolate and my husband went for the double chocolate, they were HUGE! Well worth the walk, and it was nice to get out of the city centre and explore the area.

If you’re lucky enough to catch a sunset in Edinburgh, you will not be disappointed, it is my favourite time of day in the city. The buildings glow, and look like they’ve been painted a golden colour. The castle looks stunning bathed in the light of the sunset. I do love that Edinburgh has so many of its historical buildings still intact. The cityscape looks almost as it would have hundreds of years ago, and there is something very magical about that! I can see why J.K Rowling took so much inspiration from this beautiful city.

The Milkman Coffee, actually has two locations in Edinburgh – very close together (on Cockburn street), and because we loved the first café so much we decided to stop at the other one before we got the train home. This one at the top of Cockburn street is very bright and airy, it is a calm oasis from the hustle and bustle of Edinburgh. They had some fantastic Vegan cakes on offer and the coffee was top notch once again.

Let me know what you love to do in Edinburgh, any must see places, cafés or secret spots you have discovered.