The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh was founded in 1670 as a small physic garden near Holyrood, growing medicinal plants. After two moves it settled at Inverleith in the 1820s, and it is now both a world centre for plant science and a 70-acre landscape garden a mile north of Princes Street.
Locals call it simply “the Botanics” and use it as their park. There is something to see in every month — snowdrops and witch hazel in winter, rhododendrons in spring, the herbaceous border in summer, maples in autumn — and the garden itself is free.
What to see and do: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
The Rock Garden and Chinese Hillside
The Rock Garden holds thousands of alpine plants around a stream and waterfall. The Chinese Hillside nearby draws on one of the largest collections of wild-origin Chinese plants outside China, with a pavilion and a pond.
The view from Inverleith House
The lawn in front of the 18th-century Inverleith House, at the highest point of the garden, gives one of the best skyline views in Edinburgh: the castle, the Old Town and Arthur’s Seat in a single sweep.
The glasshouses
The Victorian Temperate Palm House of 1858 is one of the tallest of its kind in Britain. The glasshouses are being restored as part of a long-term project and have been closed to visitors — check the garden’s website for the current position before promising anyone an indoor jungle.
The beech hedge and herbaceous border
A beech hedge more than a century old and around eight metres high backs a 165-metre border that peaks in July and August.
Queen Mother’s Memorial Garden and the Arboretum
A quiet garden with a shell-lined pavilion, and beyond it a collection of trees from around the temperate world, including giant redwoods.
How to get to Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
- There are two gates: the East Gate on Inverleith Row and the West Gate, with the visitor centre, on Arboretum Place.
- Lothian buses run from the city centre to Inverleith Row in around ten minutes; the hop-on hop-off bus that goes to the Royal Yacht Britannia also stops here.
- On foot it is 20–25 minutes downhill from Princes Street, or 10 minutes from Stockbridge.
Insider tips
- Opening hours follow the daylight: the garden closes much earlier in winter.
- No dogs (except assistance dogs), bicycles or ball games, and picnics are restricted to certain areas.
- The cafés at the West Gate and by Inverleith House are good; so are the bakeries of Stockbridge on the way.
- In late autumn and winter the garden hosts an after-dark light trail on selected evenings; it is ticketed and popular.
Best tours & tickets for Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
These top-rated experiences pair well with a visit to Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh:
Walking tour from €21 Edinburgh: Dean Village and Circus Lane Walking Tour
A gentle walk through the prettiest parts of the city that most first-time visitors miss: the Georgian New Town, the old mill village in its gorge, the riverside path and the mews of Circus Lane.
- Dean Village and the Water of Leith
- Circus Lane and Stockbridge
- Small group with a local guide
Bus tour from €21 Edinburgh: City Sightseeing Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour
A loop of the Old and New Towns on an open-top bus, with commentary and the freedom to get off at any stop. Useful on a first day, for saving your legs on the hills, and for the long downhill-then-uphill haul to Holyrood.
- Open-top double-decker
- Stops at the castle, Royal Mile and Holyrood
- Audio commentary in several languages
