#1 The Royal Botanic Gardens & Dean Village

The Royal Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh are beautiful. One of the most well-kept and diverse ones we’ve visited, with a ton of funky and amazing plant species. You could spend entire day here without retracing your steps. We hung out here all morning, finally leaving in the afternoon for a late lunch at the Stockbridge Market (only open on Sunday).

Dean’s Village is beautiful! It’s one of the oldest parts of the Edinburgh and an oasis of calm in the city. It takes only a couple hours to walk along the river there, and purposefully get lost among the countless side streets.

#2 Hike Arthur’s Seat & See Edinburgh from Above

Arthur’s Seat is actually an extinct volcano, and the largest of several hills inside Holyrood Park. It took us an hour and a half to hike at a leisurely pace, and another 45 minutes to walk down the backside (the route less hiked, and somewhat challenging). From the top, you get panoramic views of the city of Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth (the surrounding bay). Gorgeous.

#3 Spend the Day (or days) in Cairngorms National Park

Cairngorms National Park is on the edge of the Highlands, and is beautiful! ~3 hours drive from Edinburgh & Glasgow, so a day trip is possible if you do it right, but we recommend spending at least 1 night here, and more if your schedule allows. There are many great activities here, including Scotch distillery tours, hiking, skeet shooting, boating, and our personal favorite, hanging with the reindeer.