City Centre Chaos

08 Oct, 2025

Today I arrived in Edinburgh — capital city of Scotland. I'm here for work, and for the next three days I will be attending a conference. However, for today it was simply to arrive, check-in to my hotel, and then relax for the remainder of the day.

Being from Scotland, I am no stranger to most of our cities. Over the years my work has dragged me around the country. In my late 20s I lived in Glasgow city centre for ten years. I loved every minute of it. The two minute walk to work; the general buzz of the city; access to endless great restaurants and bars. I eventually worked the city euphoria out of my system and returned to my roots as a countryside boy. We've now had 20+ years nestled in a far flung corner of Scotland, where the nearest shop is a 10 minute drive; there's no such thing as rush-hour traffic; the air is fresh.

Anyway, I digress; back to today. Here I am in Edinburgh after a three hour drive. Feeling a little touristy even although I know my way around, and speak the same language!

I checked into my hotel just after 3pm, and went for a stroll around the streets.

A few things occurred to me, as a non-native of this fair city:

People everywhere

It is bursting with tourists. I mean absolutely packed with people wandering around pointing at things, stopping mid-stride, taking photos.

They look at tat in the shops that apparently represents the Scottish way of life!

Residents rebel

The place is full of signs. Everywhere. Excluding directional signage, everything else is negative. "Private" features heavily: you are warned not to walk up a side-street, or chain your bike to a railing, or go into what seems like a park. Even the bins in the streets have private signs, or are chained closed. It just feels very unwelcoming.

I guess this is the price you pay for mixing residential city-dwellers and tourists/incomers. Everyone wants to tell you what not to do with their little bit of Edinburgh.

Moving around on 4+ wheels

Driving is a challenge. I am a confident driver, and nothing really phases me. However, as a non-regular visitor to this city with my car, you need to keep your wits about you at all times. One minute you are driving in your lane, the next it is a bus-only lane. Or it's a bus lane at specific times so you need to be reading even more signs.

Since I last drove in Edinburgh, like many cities, they now have Low-emission zones. Again, keep your eyes wide open to check if you are entering a LEZ. If your vehicle is not 'on the list' of clean cars you get an nice photo in the post, with a fine attached, for daring to drive in the city. Luckily I have an electric vehicle so all was good.

I had not planned to take the car, and travel by train, but I had a number of things to bring to this conference and it was too much to carry. Shame.

Parking is another disaster. Basically, you can't park on the street — unless you are a resident with a permit. The city-centre hotels have no parking of their own, which is shocking in itself. So what do I do with my car for 3 days? You book it into a multi-storey car park, a convenient(!) half a mile away, and pay £127 (170 USD, 147 Euros).

In Conclusion

I will not be rushing back! Having said that, I am quite sure other cities are in a similar predicament.

Harking back to when we lived in Glasgow, it was not quite as bad as Edinburgh is today. Who knows what it is like now.

On Saturday evening I escape and drive back to greenery, rather than grey.

#Life