text: So having two sets of visitors coming two weekends in a row I had the chance to visit first Stirling and then Edinburgh Castle And you know I am going to slightly downgrade Edinburgh It has the advantage of being in a richly historical city that would be worth a visit even without the castle The castle itself also deeply impressive from afar looming up from a dramatic cliffside of course that was just good strategy back in the daynnButonce inside all that big bold castleyness does not quite live up to its promise The Crown Jewels room is an interminable labyrinth of rooms with creepy mannequins When you finally get to the crown jewels they are just meh although the seat of destiny is pretty excellent just because of its storied past The whole place is a bit disneyesque and commercial nnA few things do stand out The views are spectacular St Margarets chapel resonates with years of history There are no fussy mannequins in there just a real sense of place in this modest contemplative room And the Royal Apartments are pretty interestingnnAll that being saidwhat are you going to do NOT go to Edinburgh Castle Do not be daft Like the Blue Lagoon in Reykjavik and the Eiffel Tower in Paris you have to visit the citys signature landmark before you can do anything else And combined with the Princes Street Gardens the Royal Mile Holyood and Arthurs Seat this does make for part of a very historical and beautiful day out