London and Edinburgh recommendations - outside of typical?

When are you going?

Can recommend a great private guide if you want to take a tour in or out of Edinburgh to see lochs/castles/the beginnings of the highlands (you can go further out overnight if you have the time). Will take you to off the path restaurants and pubs as well if time and $$ permit.

Stockbridge is a cool neighborhood that feels a good bit less touristy, IMO. Worth a walk and dinner/drinks.

Beermondsey Beer Mile in London.

London watering holes that friend and I hit earlier this month

The Marquis of Wellington (Bermondsey Mile)
BrewDog Tower Hill (near Tower of London)
Ye Olde Chesire Cheese (near Financial District and Fleet Street)
The Lyric (near Piccadilly Circus)
St. James Tavern (near Piccadilly Circus)
The Blue Anchor (Hammersmith)
The Dove (Hammersmith)

Museums and Historical Sites

The British Museum (free)
The National Gallery (free)
St. Paul's Cathedral (not free)

Restaurants We Liked

Nuraghe Italian (Sardinian) Restaurant (next to The Dome concert venue) in Tufnell Park
The Blue Boat (in Hammersmith)
Home Slice (pizza) in Financial District

We took the Tube everywhere and walked to Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, etc.

Hop On Hop Off bus was a waste of money after we drank too much in one bar.

Jim @ Discreet Scotland

0044 7989 416 990

info@discreetscotland.com

London

The Globe Theater...a tad touristy but not overly crowded

Churchill War rooms...I liked touring

A stadium tour is cool. Chelsea was the best one I have seen and it was EASY to get to.

Edinburgh

The Queens yacht - by far my favorite

Ghost tours -of which there are many. I chose the underground crypts and also anotger one that was informative and funny too.

Take in a Ceilidh...and go out of town. There is a hall between Edinburgh and Sterling that puts on a great show

Take your golf clubs. There's a million courses in and around Edinburgh.

My GF is actually there this week for a wedding at some castle. They're having a tea and spa day up at St Andrews right now.

Wish I could've made the trip, but new truck and diamond ring all within the next 2 months took priority over me going on this trip. Plus, she didn't get a plus 1 to the wedding anyways, even though we live together.

Are you going to be there from mid August - Mid May? If so, if you can get tickets to a Premier League match, highly recommend it.

ETA NM saw your next post.

While certainly on the Top 10 list the British Museum and Tate Modern, while touristy, really do need to be on your list. They are free, so you can pop in and spend as much or as little time as you want. Would also recommend listening to podcast A History of the World in 100 Objects before going to the British Museum.

Blackfriars, Ship's Tavern, The Grapes, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese are all fantastic old pubs worth an afternoon.

London has a surplus of fantastic restaurants of all shapes, sizes, budgets, ethnicities. Borough Market also worth a visit.

I have about 24 hours in London this summer routing back and its overwhelming trying to narrow down what to do.

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Pettifogger, I'm leaving on Friday. Contact info for your guide?

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Flying out of MSY on BA? I’ll be on that flight with my family.

Thanks again to all of you for the great recs. I've been super busy at work and need a break. Even though this is sort of a work trip, it's a reward and they take pretty good care of us. We are at the Savoy in London and the Balmoral in Edinburgh, with a couple nights in a castle between and I'm looking forward to it.

Have a Savoy Truffle.

Go to the The George Inn in Southwark.