Edinburgh

Places to visit in Scotland

Although Edinburgh is not the largest city in Scotland it is the capital. This extremely picturesque city lies on the east coast close to the Firth of Forth and the North Sea. The city itself has over 4,500 listed buildings and some lovely examples of Georgian architecture. UNESCO designated the Old Town and New Town areas of Edinburgh as World Heritage Sites in 1995. There is a rough population of 472,000 people living in Edinburgh with over 1 million overseas visitors coming to see the many attractions on offer.

Popular with many visitors are the many museums and libraries on offer including

the Museum of Scotland
the Royal Museum
the National Library of Scotland
National War Museum of Scotland
the Museum of Edinburgh
Museum of Childhood
and the Royal Society of Edinburgh

In early August, the city plays host to the annual Edinburgh Festival with the most famous of events taking place being the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This is the biggest performing arts festival in the world - attracting famous and those wanting to become famous. In 2006 over 1867 different shows were staged at 261 different venues. Comedy is a huge part of the Fringe Festival. In addition, there is the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh International Book Festival. During the festival season, the population of Edinburgh effectively doubles. The Edinburgh Military Tattoo takes place in the Castle Esplanade just in front of the castle and includes massed bands of pipers and fireworks every night. The Edinburgh International Festival comprises a programme of theatre productions and classical music shows performed by some of the world’s top acts.

On New Years Eve the centre of Edinburgh becomes a huge party known as Hogmanay. The event is so big now that the main party street of Princes Street is closed off to ticket only participants. Roughly 100,00 tickets are available for this famous street party where you can hear live bands, enjoy the many food and drink stalls and, of course, watch the fantastic firework display with a wonderful view of Edinburgh Castle.

Edinburgh is an extremely popular city break with so much to do as well as the many pubs and restaurants to enjoy. It’s well worth catching one of the many “hop-on hop-off” buses to take you on a tour of Edinburgh and to learn all about its history. At the same time this will give you a real perspective for the size of the city. For those of you that find steep hills a challenge this is a great way of getting to see the many sights on offer such as the castle itself. The buses also travel as afar as the Royal Yacht Britannia berthed at the Ocean Terminal.

Shopping is a popular past time here and you will find a variety of shops here from the main department store shops along Princes Street to the more independent and upmarket shops along George Street just to the north of Princes Street.

The area known as the Royal Mile links the castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse which is the Queen’s official Scottish residence. This is a great area to explore by foot or by bus. Close to here is the New Scottish Parliament which came about after the Scots voted for devolution from the UK parliament in London.

Another magical event that takes place in Edinburgh is the Military Tattoo which takes place on the Castle Esplanade. The Tattoo runs for three weeks every summer and plays to over 200,000 people. This celebration of martial prowess and music has been taking place since 1950. The highlight of the event is a solo piper playing a haunting pibroch lament from the castle battlements.

Edinburgh is a great place to visit and provides a wide choice of accommodation to suit all budgets from where you can explore this amazing city.

Places to stay in Lothian | Edinburgh Attractions