Holyrood sits at the bottom of the Royal Mile, with fantastic views of Arthur’s Seat (if you look closely at the photo with the Abbey and Arthur’s seat, you can see the people on the summit.) It’s the King’s official residence in Scotland.
We did tour the inside (no pictures allowed), which is pretty much as you’d expect, with some amazing artwork, lots of interesting artifacts, and artfully staged “family” portraits of the royal family. (With the current King and Prince William referred to in photos as the Duke of Rothesay, because being the Prince of Wales doesn’t fly north of the border.) They also have a few rooms dedicated to Mary, Queen of Scots.
The room I got the biggest kick out of was the Great Gallery, where a 17th century Dutch painter was commissioned to paint the current kings, all the way back to the purported founder in 330 BC. The older kings are delightfully anachronistic in a 17th century style.
Holyrood Abbey is literally stuck to the side of the palace, so you’d think they would have kept it up, but it’s a lovely ruin. I’d be very curious to see what it looked like in its heyday.
And so end my trip pictures. We had a fantastic time, and would go back in a heartbeat.