is scotland boring af...? 🏞️✈️

i was expecting scotland to be all greenery and views, but i was so surprised to find a ton of good eats, shops & the best coffee!! ❣️❣️ all of these were recommendations from locals and they went so hard 🙏🏻

☕️ CAFES

• Ante — best mocha on planet earth!!!!!!!!!!

i am a mocha LOVER and this was hands down the best mocha i've ever had, period. ante's mocha is made with bare bones chocolate, a glaswegian brand! 🍫

• Cairngorm Coffee Roasters — reliable locally-roasted coffee

cairngorm has a few outlets and started off in the highlands (hence the name cairngorm), but i really enjoyed the vibes at the melville place outlet close to dean village! 💞

that being said, there are tons and tons of cafes in edinburgh worth checking out!! just do a quick google search 🎶

🛍️ STORES

• Scottish Design Exchange — a plethora of local artists' & makers' works!

loooved this store for its huge variety of items all created by local artisans. they've got everything from ceramics to jewellery to clothing & even body products!! & it's all made in scotland!! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

• Lifestory Concept Store — the cutest concept store ever...

we love a good concept store and lifestory takes the cake for sure. really similar to SDE but has a way more chill vibe, features stuff from around the world!! they also sell bare bones chocolate here 🤓

🎑 VIEWS

• Calton Hill

super easy climb from the city — bring some food and picnic on the hill! tons of people watch the sunset here every night. you can see most of the city, out past Leith and over the waters!!

• Arthur's Seat (Holyrood Gardens)

this is definitely tougher than Calton but offers incredible views. there's a few different routes — we took the fastest one but it involved a bit of actual climbing, so just beware!

defo let me know what you'll be including in your itinerary for your next trip to scotland (which i highly recommend, btw — the people are the BEST)!! 😘🏞️

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