Edinburgh in the magical winter lights

Hello Hello Hivians and Hivers

"The days are so short that a man does much of his business, and certainly all of his pleasure, by the haggard glare of gas lamps." - Robert Louis Stevenson

One of Edinburgh's most famous sons and authors (think Treasure Island amongst others), we went to the same school Edinburgh Academy so maybe I am biased.

But I wonder what he would have thought of the winter shenanigans that go on now at night-time!

Let's go back to the Edinburgh Christmas market on the night of Friday December 19th 2025.

The view from Waverley

Standing at the entrance to Waverley train station looking up to Princes St you see the grand Scott monument. This was a memorial to the esteemed Edinburgh author Sir Walter Scott. He never went to my school but he was one of the cofounders in 1824.

He published a book anonymously called Waverley in 1814, and for years he was knows as "The Author of Waverley."

That is enough literature references, now onto the market, which I found this year to be a big disappointment!

It was nowhere near as big as in previous years. Most probably because the council being arses charge stupid pitch rent prices, so instead of lowering costs they increase them and less businesses can afford to be there!

Where is the logic in that...

Big wheel ... or big flop

Bank of Scotland headquarters building on The Mound

I used to pass these buildings twice a day going to school and then uni back in the day.

I never tire of seeing them.

I include this one to show the steps, they are a doddle coming down, but going up when slippy is fun lol!

Santa

He was out waving to the world.

Remember I said the market was not as big this year. In years gone by there were more rides and stalls down on the grass where Santa is!

In the queue to spend 12 pounds to get on the wheel

Views from above

See the castle on the right?

Lights galore!

Lights blazing from the Castle

The market, again I don't think there were nearly as many wee wooden huts as in previous years. Do locals ever go to these markets? They really are a rip off, and there were very few Scottish accents I heard let alone Edinburgh accents.

Or do we just go Christmas markets when we are in towns that are not our own lol!

That wheel again.

The wheel cost 12 pounds and you seemed to go round twice. It was way shorter a ride than it used to.

The whirlything you see below was £13.50 and seemed way better value!

View from the wheel!

Marketgoers!

Dry but cold, at least no snow!

The Castle overlooking the art galleries.

There is something magical about a big wheel.

What do you think, are you a fan?

Scott monument.

Remember my wee tale earlier, well this is it again.

You can see the helter skelter on the right, that is one the first things that they had in the rides department!

Loved the flag shot!

There we go, some of the buildings illuminated by the Christmas lights on Edinburgh's city landscape last December, I hoped you enjoyed them!

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of your day and week too!

Some facts are courtesy of my Gemini 3.0 Pro account but all images and ramblings are from me, the mad Scotsman TengoLoTodo unless otherwise stated. All photos captured with my Google Pixel 9 XL Pro on Friday 19th December 2025 in Edinburgh, Scotland... @tengolotodo February 2nd 2026

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