There are lots of things to do in Edinburgh when it’s raining, but in this video,
we’re going to share with you some more 'out of the box' suggestions that we haven’t mentioned
before. You can obviously go to places like the National Museum of Scotland and Camera
Obscura on a rainy day because they are indoor to begin with and popular tourist attractions,
so we’re going to give you hopefully a few different ideas! Make sure you stick to
the end of the video where we have our top tips for visiting Edinburgh in the rain. Let’s go!
First on the list is to enjoy some afternoon tea! Afternoon tea did originate in England,
but it is popular up here in Scotland as well, with a wide variety of places to choose from.
Some popular places for afternoon tea in Edinburgh include The Colonnades at The Signet Library on
Parliament Square in Old Town, The Dome on George Street in New Town, and Palm Court at
The Balmoral Hotel on Princes Street in New Town. If you’re looking for something extremely unique,
there is the Red Bus Bistro, which is afternoon tea aboard a classic red British double-decker
bus! The bus takes you on a 1.5-hour journey through some of the highlights of Edinburgh.
Next up is to visit a distillery! We’ve mentioned the Scotch Whisky Experience
on the Royal Mile in a previous video, and it’s a very popular attraction in Edinburgh,
but the Scotch Whisky Experience is not a working distillery. And
while most distilleries, most notably whisky distilleries, are dotted all over Scotland,
there are some in Edinburgh as well. For whisky lovers, Holyrood Distillery offers whisky tours
and tastings. If you’re more partial to gin, Holyrood Distillery also offers gin tours,
as do Edinburgh Gin Distllery and Summerhall Distillery, just to name a few.
The next activity may sound strange, but hear us out. It’s the hop-on,
hop-off bus tour! This may be best if you don’t have much time in Edinburgh and the
weather doesn’t want to cooperate. You can sit shielded from the elements inside the bus while
still getting a whirlwind tour of the city! The biggest hop-on, hop-off bus company in Edinburgh is
Edinburgh Bus Tours, and they offer 3 tours - the Edinburgh Tour, the CitySightseeing Tour,
and the Majestic Tour. Another company that runs hop-on, hop-off bus tours in Edinburgh is
Bright Bus Tours, which offers 2 tours - the Edinburgh City Tour and the Britannia Tour.
Next on the list is potion cocktail making! If you’re a fan of Harry Potter,
all things wizard-y, or just looking for something different to do,
then you can check this out! You get the opportunity to make your own potion cocktails,
which is quite a fun experience. A few options in Edinburgh for potion cocktail making are the
Department of Magic on Blair Street in Old Town and The Cauldron on Frederick Street in New Town.
And last but not least
is escape rooms! This is especially great if you are visiting Edinburgh perhaps with
a group of friends, but is completely doable for couples as well! There is
no shortage of escape rooms in Edinburgh, with some options including the Department of Magic,
which we mentioned previously for potion cocktail making,
Escape Reality on Morrison Street near Old Town, and Locked In Edinburgh at Summerhall Place just
south of Old Town. One interesting thing to note about Locked In Edinburgh is that they
are the only escape room in Edinburgh that uses real rooms and not purpose built sets!
Now, on to our top tips for visiting Edinburgh in the rain! If you’re unaware,
Edinburgh can be quite a windy city, so most of the time, an umbrella is completely useless.
You’re better off wearing waterproof layers and just getting wet, and be sure to wear shoes with
good traction for the slippery cobbles! The good news, though, is that rain in Edinburgh does tend
to be very on and off, so it’s usually unlikely that you’ll be soaked from morning til night. With
that said though, do check the weather forecast in the morning before you head out because even
if the sun is gloriously rising in front of you, it may very well rain in the afternoon!
For more details on the activities we’ve suggested in this video and for two more rainy
day activities, check out our accompanying blog post, which you’ll find in the description below.
We hope you enjoyed this video! Please give it a like, subscribe to our channel, and comment
below on your favourite Edinburgh rainy day activity, and we’ll see you in the next video!
The Colonnades at The Signet Library eh, on *huffs*
I need to read this before I actually say it.
It's a lot of like tongue twistery things here, wide variety.
My glasses are so foggy!
Can you see my glasses fogging up? *laughs*