Travel tips for London and Edinburgh?

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I'm traveling to London and to Edinburgh in mid-June. Any suggestions? I'll be there with some natives, but I know some of you will have good suggestions for 'mericans. I'll be in London about a week, and then in Edinburgh for a few days. It's a business trip, so touring will be largely at night, though I will probably have a day or two here and there for day travel. Suggestions?

 

[strawman]

Being your notebook. Fantastic architecture you simply can't find anywhere in the US.

 

[sixpackshaker]

If you are not afraid of heights, I'd like to hit the London Eye and get a good view of the city from above.

 

[Jax]

In Edinburgh, the castle is a must of course. It's really cool to wander around and you get a great view of the city. If you can't get any free days there, you can do one of those haunted tours during the evening, they're pretty interesting and fun.

As for London, at night you can just wander around a couple of the squares and soak up the atmosphere. If you are going to do the London Eye, you can also go to the opposite side of the river and get a nice view of the city (and of course the Eye itself) on ground level.

 

[Adam]

Grass Market in Edinburgh is gonna be cray-cray in June with lusty young college students. Great fun. Of course, the castle is a huge highlight but also the crags. Edinburgh Zoo is pretty amazing as well.

 

[IronBrig4]

Even though you're visiting during the summer, bring an umbrella and coat. Just because it's summer there doesn't mean it's warm.

 

[bhamv3]

Edinburgh Castle is that place where they like to scare the bujeezus out of tourists by firing a cannon every afternoon, right?

 

[Grytpipe-Thynne]

Edinburgh Castle is that place where they like to scare the bujeezus out of tourists by firing a cannon every afternoon, right?

Noon actually!

 

[bhamv3]

Noon actually!

Ah!

I was one of the people who lost my bujeezus when I visited Edinburgh.

 

[sixpackshaker]

Noon actually!

Not quite. They fire the Canon at 1pm. If they fire it at noon, they would have to fire 11 more times, and they are too cautious with money.

 

[IronBrig4]

Visit the Imperial War Museum if you get the chance. They've upgraded it over the past several years and their WWI trench exhibit even SMELLS like a trench circa 1917.

 

[Officer_Charon]

Visit the Imperial War Museum if you get the chance. They've upgraded it over the past several years and their WWI trench exhibit even SMELLS like a trench circa 1917.

Having done some homework on the subject matter in my time...

 

[IronBrig4]

If you take a whiff in the trench exhibit you can smell dirty clothes, sweat, sewage, and putrefying meat. You never forget that stench.

 

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Okay to walk around the touristy areas of London with a DSLR?

 

[klew]

There will be plenty of people with DSLRs around tourist areas. I've been one of them multiple times. But being a bigger guy, thieves might have preferred to leave me alone. I replaced my Canon branded strap with a plain black one and doubled that with a steel-cable threaded Pacsafe strap (http://www.rei.com/product/753280/pacsafe-carrysafe-100-secure-camera-strap). I wore it across my chest, only removing it to take self-shots in front of famous stuff.