I haven’t done a Travel Tuesday in ages! Not quite because I didn’t travel last year, but my trip to the UK that I mentioned back in the spring spawned 19 drafts that have been rather daunting to embark on–but I’m finally starting on them now! We’ll be checking out Arthur’s Seat today! :]
Arthur’s Seat is actually an ancient (and extinct) volcano that can give you a gorgeous view of Edinburgh. I think it lasted erupted about 340 million years ago, so you can climb without worrying about that!
There will be a lot of climbing though, just for the record. ;P
Climbing Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh
We started the morning off by picking up breakfast at the Hula Juice Bar next to the Airbnb we were staying at! I got an acai bowl because they’re full of awesome. <3
The roundtrip hike should take ~2 hours, although you’ll probably want to stop to take pictures!
You can pretty much start climbing Arthur’s Seat from any direction–we started from the east (I think) and somehow accidentally missed the staircase, which led to me doing some experimental rock climbing before deciding that mayhaps we should circle back and find the actual trail. (Good thing we did!)
This is what we would’ve had to climb, hahaha.
Here we are finally on the actual trail! :P
Arthur’s Seat is apparently often mentioned as one of the possible locations for Camelot!
Distance: 3 miles
Elevation: 823 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Location: Queen’s Drive, Edinburgh EH8 8HG, Scotland / 55°56′39″N 3°09′43″W
Parking: £1 per hour (minimum of £1), charged from 8:30am-5:30pm on weekdays.
Fees: None!
Almost to the top!!
As always, make sure you dress for the weather! Layers are your friends, and it gets super crazy windy at the top! I’d also recommend finding a clear day to do this–you can still climb it in the rain but a lot of the trails consist of dirt and stony steps and I’d rather no one slip and fall. (Plus you’ll actually get to see more!)
Check out my other hikes and/or travels here!
- Have you ever been gotten lost on a trail?
- What’s the highest you’ve ever climbed?
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Ooh beautiful! I’m not really a hiker, so there isn’t anything I’ve done that was too strenuous but I have friends that enjoy it. haha I went to London in the fall of 2016 and I STILL need to post about it – but it will happen early this year, since I have a lot of posts to do!
-Lauren
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haha, I feel ya! I still have another 18 from the UK and like…9 from Ithaca. :'( Somedayyyy!
Farrah recently posted…Climbing Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh
Sounds like an epic adventure! Inspired me to make some travel goals for 2018!
Yay! Can’t wait to see where you go! :D
Farrah recently posted…Climbing Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh
What a gorgeous landscape! Scotland is definitely on my list, Farrah!
It’s such a gorgeous place! I’d love to go back there someday! :]!
Farrah recently posted…Climbing Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh
Omg yes I’ve almost gotten lost on a trail. It was the Subway trail with Zion National Park. I talked about it in one of my posts too. http://www.andadashofcinnamon.com/blackberry-peach-protein-oatmeal-clean-vegan-gf-zion-national-park-part-2/ Quite daunting sometimes! Your hike looks like it was a lot of fun and definitely something up my alley!
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I would so love to visit Zion National Park someday!! *-* I’m glad you found your way back! :P
Farrah recently posted…Climbing Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh
Love this! I was in Edinburgh a few months ago but we didn’t have time to climb Arthur’s Seat! Next time :)
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Aww, darn! Makes for a good excuse to go back though! ;]!!
I have heard so many great things about Arthur’s Seat! I’ll have to try to go there at some point!
I once hiked down from the bottom of the glacier at Chamonix. Back then I wasn’t a hiker, nor a walker, nor a runner. I was an out of shape from the sidelines type of gal, but one of my best friends was very sporty and was living near there so I agreed to go with her. She said it wouldn’t be too hard, in fact, we’d take the skilift up and then hike DOWN. I guess it wasn’t really a matter of being lost, it was more that it took much, much longer than expected. in the beginning it was great. I even laughed often from slipping on the snow (I was wearing Dr Martens… that should tell you how prepared I was ;) ) onto my backside but after about 3 hours it wasn’t funny anymore. And… she kept saying “It’s probably just another half hour to the bottom” At some point it started to get colder and you could tell the sun was going to go down soon – we had finally reached the woods at the bottom but I’m not a fan of the woods at dusk or dark! So I totally panicked, started yelling and crying. She managed to calm me down and then… we were literally out of the woods and near a parking area and a fondue restaurant! 5 minutes after I was crying and yelling! haha! (never again will I do something like that without knowing what I’m getting into).
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I hope you get a chance to go there sometime!
Oh man, that definitely sounds like it was an ordeal/adventure (at least it makes for a good story now + the beginning was nice? :D?…)–it’s never easy to get thrown into something you didn’t expect though (and all that false hope about almost being back! x_x)! I’m glad you guys made it out okay though, and I hope you got to enjoy an awesome “return to civilization” meal!
What a cool name for a hike! Inspires the imagination with the mythical stories behind it. Also good to know that the volcano isn’t likely to erupt mid-hike, ha! Definitely looks like a workout for the legs!
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Agreed! I’m definitely glad there wasn’t a very high likelihood of it erupting while we were hiking, hahaha. Definitely would’ve been more cautious otherwise! ;P
I was disappointed that we didn’t climb Arthur’s Seat when we went to Edinburgh – but it was raining the whole time! But we had also walked from our Airbnb to Edinburgh Castle and around the castle and down the royal mile…some people felt like that was more than enough walking for one day :P
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haha, there’s definitely a lot of walking that can be done there–so much to explore! :] I hope you get to go back sometime! <3
Wow! This is my ultimate dream destination, Farrah. This trail seems like a must do. How long did it take to hike this trail?
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It took about 2 hours to get to the top, but we did take an initial wrong turn and there were lots of stops for photography! :P I hope you get a chance to hike it sometime!! :]