Fourteen places that make the city, each with its own in-depth guide.
Edinburgh’s sights fall naturally into three groups. The Old Town, on the ridge between the castle and Holyrood, holds most of the famous ones. The New Town, across Princes Street Gardens, is Georgian, orderly and elegant. And beyond both are the green and watery places that surprise first-time visitors: a volcano, a village in a gorge, a great botanic garden and a harbour.
Each guide below covers what to see, how long to allow, how to get there and the tips we wish we had known the first time.
Old Town The fortress on the rock
Scotland’s most visited paid attraction crowns an extinct volcano at the top of the Royal Mile. Inside the walls are the Honours of Scotland — Britain’s oldest crown jewels — the 12th-century St Margaret’s Chapel, the giant cannon Mons Meg, the Great Hall and the One o’Clock Gun. Tickets are timed and sell out in summer, so book ahead.
Old Town The spine of the Old Town
A single sloping street, a little over a mile long, joins the castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Along it are St Giles’ Cathedral with its crown spire, tall tenements, small free museums, whisky shops and dozens of closes — the narrow alleys that drop away on either side and hold much of the Old Town’s character.
Old Town The city beneath the city
Beneath the Royal Mile lies a warren of 17th-century streets that were built over and sealed when the Royal Exchange went up in the 1750s. Costumed guides lead small groups through the surviving rooms and lanes. A few minutes away, the damp chambers under the South Bridge — the Edinburgh Vaults — are the setting for the city’s famous ghost tours.
Old Town The King’s house at the foot of the Mile
The monarch’s official residence in Scotland closes the lower end of the Royal Mile. Visit the State Apartments, the chambers of Mary, Queen of Scots and the roofless nave of Holyrood Abbey, founded in 1128. Across the road stands the boldly modern Scottish Parliament, opened in 2004 and free to enter.
Old Town Curving colour below the castle
Victoria Street sweeps downhill in a curve of brightly painted shopfronts, with a terrace of restaurants above, into the Grassmarket — a broad old market square lined with pubs, directly beneath the castle rock. It is the Old Town at its most photogenic, and its most sociable in the evening.
Old Town Graves, a loyal dog and a boy wizard
An atmospheric 16th-century burial ground behind the Old Town, known for three things: the National Covenant signed here in 1638, the little Skye terrier said to have guarded his master’s grave for fourteen years, and gravestones whose names will be familiar to Harry Potter readers.
Old Town A whole country under one roof — free
One of Britain’s finest museums and the best rainy-day plan in the city. Scottish history from the first rocks to Dolly the sheep, alongside natural history, science, design and world cultures, in a soaring Victorian hall and a modern sandstone wing with a rooftop terrace. Entry is free.
New Town & city centre The green valley between two towns
Where a polluted loch once lay, a ribbon of lawns and flowerbeds now separates the Old Town from the New, with the castle towering above. Here are the Gothic spire of the Scott Monument, the Ross Fountain, the Floral Clock and, on the Mound, the Scottish National Gallery — free, and full of masterpieces.
New Town & city centre Georgian Edinburgh, planned to perfection
Laid out from 1767 to relieve the overcrowded Old Town, the New Town is one of the largest and best-preserved areas of Georgian town planning anywhere, and with the Old Town forms a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Come for Charlotte Square, George Street’s shops and bars, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and the grand crescents further north.
New Town & city centre The five-minute viewpoint
A short flight of steps from the east end of Princes Street leads to a hilltop scattered with monuments, among them an unfinished Greek temple. The view — castle, Old Town skyline, Arthur’s Seat, the Firth of Forth — is the classic postcard of Edinburgh, and it costs nothing.
Hills, villages & the waterfront A mountain in the middle of the city
The remains of an ancient volcano rise 251 metres above the sea at the foot of the Royal Mile. The climb takes most people 30 to 60 minutes and rewards them with a 360-degree view over the city, the Forth and the hills. Holyrood Park around it has cliffs, lochs and a ruined chapel — and it is all free.
Hills, villages & the waterfront A village in a gorge, ten minutes from Princes Street
Follow the Water of Leith into a wooded valley and the city disappears: old mill buildings, the turreted Well Court and a river running under Telford’s high Dean Bridge. Downstream is Stockbridge, a neighbourhood of independent shops, cafés, a Sunday market and the much-photographed Circus Lane.
Hills, villages & the waterfront Seventy acres of calm
Founded in 1670 and at Inverleith since the 1820s, “the Botanics” is one of the world’s great botanic gardens: a rock garden, a Chinese hillside, giant trees, a beech hedge and a famous view back to the castle and skyline. Entry to the garden is free, and it is a mile north of the centre.
Hills, villages & the waterfront Edinburgh’s port, reborn
Edinburgh’s old harbour town is now its best neighbourhood for eating and drinking, with restaurants and bars along the quayside known as The Shore. Moored nearby is the Royal Yacht Britannia, the late Queen’s floating home for more than forty years and one of Scotland’s best-rated attractions. The tram runs straight here from Princes Street.
For how to fit it all together, see the itineraries in our Edinburgh travel guide, and for what lies beyond the city, day trips from Edinburgh.
Edinburgh Castle, Mary King’s Close and the best Highland day trips run on timed slots that fill up in summer and in August’s festival weeks. Compare and reserve in a couple of taps.
