No visit to Edinburgh is complete without a visit to one of Scotland’s most important strongholds.

The castle itself was originally built by David I in 1130, however there has been a stronghold sitting atop Castle Rock for over 2,000 years.

Castle Rock is an extinct volcano that towers 437 feet high, offering extensive views across the city from Edinburgh Castle.

Don’t mess with us.

Military prison sleeping quarters.

After exploring Edinburgh Castle, we strolled through the Royal Mile. We had a few hours to burn before our Edinburgh Vault ghost tour. Oooooooooooh.

The Palace of Holyrood House, the official residence of the queen when she is in Scotland.

Holyrood Abbey

The father of modern economics (between you & I, he was as excitable as a fan-girl when we came upon this –shhhhhh).

We saw everyone touching this statue’s toe as they walked by so we thought, why not? Let’s touch it & get everyone’s germs! When in Rome/Edinburgh… Turns out this is a statue of David Hume, a philosopher who was deeply anti-superstition, yet hundreds of years later… his toe is being touched for good luck.

When the sun was down, we headed underground on an extremely creepy tour of the Edinburgh Vaults, reputedly one of the most haunted places in the world. It was an excellent tour even for a scaredy cat like myself.

And just when you think we might have had our fill of castles, we stayed the night at Melville Castle.