She Packed Wellies for Scotland and Still Paid $150

Travel writer Amanda Shammas put rain boots at the top of her packing for Scotland list, then still paid about $150 in foreign transaction fees.

She visited in September, based herself in Edinburgh, and later named six items that earned their keep and four she still regrets leaving at home.

She Packed for Instagram, Then Met the Hills

Shammas had been to other parts of the UK. Edinburgh was new, and the suitcase followed the photos. “When I packed for my trip, I had Instagram pictures in mind,” she wrote.

The city does not style itself around a trench coat. Old Town streets rise and drop on cobbles, and a farm track or a muddy path shows up the moment the itinerary leaves the mile of souvenir shops. She found herself in tights, a trench, and boots while other walkers went past in sneakers and windbreakers.

“I quickly realized that comfort beats aesthetics every time,” she wrote. The line sounds obvious until you have already worn the wrong kit up a hill. A September day in this climate asks for a rain shell and a layer you can peel off at noon, which is why a single polished look rarely lasts until dinner.

What Edinburgh Weather Does in September

The Met Office station at Gogarbank, using 1991 to 2020 normals, puts Edinburgh’s September daytime high at 16.87°C and the night low at 9.37°C. That is cool, not winter. It is also wet often enough that a dry morning is not a forecast.

THE EDINBURGH SEPTEMBER BASELINE

Those Edinburgh September rainfall and temperature averages explain the layering. Mornings start cold, sun can warm a sheltered street by midday, and a shower still has a better than even chance of interrupting the walk. Shammas said US weather apps lagged the local ones, so she stopped trying to outguess the sky and carried rain kit anyway.

VisitScotland’s national band for autumn, September through November, sits at autumn temperatures of 8 to 15 C (46 to 59 F). That wider shoulder-season range is cooler than Edinburgh’s September high, and it is the number to pack against if the trip leaves the city for higher ground.

Wellies, Layers, and the Rest of the Working Kit

The six items that worked were almost all dull. They also mapped onto the climate table rather than the camera roll.

THE SIX ITEMS THAT EARNED THEIR SPACE

• Neutral layers: Pieces she could add or strip as the day flipped from cold to warm to damp, in colours that mixed without a second outfit.
• Rain boots and a small umbrella: Wellies, the local word, kept her feet dry in showers that arrived and left without warning.
• Fleece-lined socks: The boots stopped water, not chill, and the thick socks did the job her footwear could not.
• A UK power adapter: Three rectangular pins, not the round European ones, so phones and hair tools could take a socket.
• A portable charger: Maps, photos, and bus routes ran all day without a hunt for a cafe outlet.
• Allergy medicine: A Highland cow farm also had horses, and the walk back brought on symptoms she already had pills for.

Wellies were her favourite pack. They still needed help. Dry is not the same as warm, and fleece-lined socks closed that gap in both boots and sneakers. She bought a multi-pack adapter before she flew, some of them with USB ports, and treated the power bank as a substitute for dragging a cord through the New Town.

The allergy pills were the item the cow photos never mention. Shammas and her friends all felt a reaction after petting horses at the farm. Bringing a known medicine from home beat standing in a pharmacy and guessing at a local brand.

The Type G Plug and a Dead Phone Problem

Scotland uses the same socket as the rest of the UK. It is IEC Type G, built to BS 1363: three rectangular pins, with the earth pin longer than the others. Mains power is 230 volts at 50 hertz. An adapter changes the shape of the plug. It does not change the voltage.

Phone and laptop bricks marked 100-240V will take UK power with only the adapter. A single-voltage US hair dryer will not. Shammas said the right adapter let her charge devices and run hair tools without drama. The portable charger then kept the phone alive on the street, which mattered more than a second pair of shoes once she was using maps all day.

A dead phone in an unfamiliar city is a navigation problem first. It is also a safety problem if you are trying to get a bus or a licensed cab after dark. The power bank is the unglamorous item that prevents that, and it weighs less than a spare outfit.

A $150 Hit From Ordinary Card Fees

The money mistakes were the ones that did not look like packing. Shammas used her regular US card for most spending. By the end of the trip, foreign transaction fees had added up to about $150.

Those charges are usually foreign transaction fees of 1% to 3% of each purchase. On a card that bills 3%, about $150 in fees would mean about $5,000 charged abroad. The fee is easy to miss because it lands later, in small lines on a statement, after the whisky and the pub meals already feel paid for.

WHAT 1% AND 3% ADD ON SAMPLE SPEND

Her bill sat well above those sample lines. Travel cards often waive the fee entirely, and some no-annual-fee cards do too. The work is to read the fee box before the flight, not after the statement.

Cash Still Matters at Stalls and Some Pubs

Most places she went took cards and Apple Pay. That matches VisitScotland’s advice that debit and credit cards, including contactless, are widely accepted. She still wanted notes.

Street vendors and service workers were hard to tip without cash. One pub would not take her type of credit card, and a friend had to cover the night. VisitScotland tells visitors to carry cash for market stalls and rural areas, and to expect fewer ATMs on the islands. City Edinburgh is not a remote glen, but a single declined card is enough to make a thin envelope of pounds useful.

Why a Crossbody Beats an Open Tote

Shammas packed a backpack, a tote, a card holder, and a going-out shoulder bag. The missing piece was a small bag that sat against her body. She spent the trip clutching the open tote shut and once tucked her phone into her waistband. Her shoulders were sore after a few days of carrying the weight on one side.

Pickpocketing is not a panic story in Edinburgh, but it is a real city-centre one. On 22 July 2026, Police Scotland logged a bag and phone taken from a 12-year-old girl near St James Quarter around 5.50pm, then a phone stolen from a 30-year-old man’s pocket around 11pm in the same area.

I would also ask the public to remain vigilant whilst they are visiting and to keep their personal belongings safe and not to have money visible. Purses, wallets, handbags and rucksacks can all be targets, along with mobile phones.

Inspector Stephen Quinn, Police Scotland, 22 July 2026

That warning is why an open tote is a poor tool on a busy pavement. A zipped crossbody or a belt bag keeps the same wallet closer, and it leaves both hands free on wet cobbles. Officers put it in plain language: handbags and rucksacks can all be targets.

Locals Walked Past in Sneakers and Windbreakers

The clothes miss was the same error as the tote, only for feet and weather. Shammas had layers, but they were city layers. Hills, mud, and rocky paths punished trench coats and tights. Locals and other visitors moved faster in sneakers and shells.

Rain boots still earned their place when the showers started. They are a poor substitute for broken-in walking shoes on a long day of inclines. The practical split is one waterproof option for wet streets and one pair you can actually walk in, not a single photogenic boot asked to do both jobs.

A hooded waterproof jacket, which several Scotland walking notes treat as the year-round essential, covers the gap an umbrella cannot when the wind picks up. Shammas liked her travel umbrella and carried it everywhere. In a sheltered street that is fine. On an exposed hill, a shell with a hood beats a canopy you are fighting with one hand.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Plug Adapter Do You Need for Scotland?

You need a Type G adapter with three rectangular pins, and you should check that each device is dual voltage. UK sockets run at 230 volts and 50 hertz, so a US hair tool that is not marked 100-240V needs a converter as well as an adapter, while most phone and laptop chargers need only the plug change.

How Wet Is Edinburgh in September?

Gogarbank records 55.17 mm of rain across 10.54 days with at least 1 mm in September, and the year as a whole is wetter still. The same station’s annual total is 784.29 mm over 137.43 days, and October jumps to 82.66 mm, so a trip that slides into autumn should keep the shell in the bag.

Do You Need Cash for a Scotland Trip?

Cards work in most city shops, but a small float of pounds still covers stalls, some tips, and the odd till that rejects a US network. You must declare sums over £10,000 at the UK border, traveller’s cheques are rarely taken at the counter, and island and Highland trips have fewer cash machines than Edinburgh.

Can You Bring Allergy Medicine Into the UK?

Yes, personal medicines for your own use can come in without a customs declaration, in the labelled box the pharmacist issued. VisitScotland still suggests carrying a doctor’s letter that names the drug, and there can be limits on quantity, which is why a known allergy pill from home is simpler than shopping blind after a farm visit.

What Is a Typical Foreign Transaction Fee?

US issuers that still charge one usually take 1% to 3% of the amount, and the fee can apply to a foreign website even if you never leave home. A no-foreign-fee travel card removes that line item; Shammas’s about $150 bill is what the everyday card looks like when you wait until after the trip to check.

Shammas already wrote down the fix for the fee. Next time she will apply before she flies for a card that does not add a charge on every foreign purchase, and she will put local currency in the bag with the wellies.