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The city is the annual venue of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. It is home to national institutions such as the National Museum of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582 and now one of four in the city, was placed 17th in the QS World University Rankings in 2013 and 2014. The city is also famous for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe, the latter being the world's largest annual international arts festival. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, and the extensive Georgian New Town, built in the 18th century. Edinburgh's Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999.
With a dramatically beautiful Old Town and stylishly modern New Town, it’s little wonder Edinburgh is enticing increasing numbers of visitors each year. In 2010 the city attracted 3.27 million tourists – by 2015 that figure had grown to 3.85 million. Steeped in history amid a dramatic hillscape with the coast just a few miles away, Scotland’s capital is walkable yet densely packed with things to see and do, from medieval buildings to farm-to-table dining. Here are 10 of the best ways to check out everything Edinburgh has to offer.
1- Pick a season
Captivating at any time, Edinburgh is especially winsome in summer and winter. Summer brings with it the world-famous Fringe Festival, with performances ranging from the mainstream to the far out. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the fringe – it’s now the single biggest celebration of arts and culture in the world. It runs from 4 to 28 August 2017.Alternatively, choose to stay around Christmas and there’s a whole host of delights that await. During the festive season a huge German market rolls into town next to Princes Street, serving up gluhwein and crafts aplenty, while George Street plays host to the Street of Light, a free event featuring over 60,000 lights that flash in time to live music. Post-25 December the fun really begins with Hogmanay. In Edinburgh, celebrations begin on 30 December with a torchlit procession, escalate on 31 December with a citywide street party complete with DJs, live bands and midnight fireworks, and wind down with the Loony Dook on New Year’s Day – a chance for insane people to don fancy dress and jump into the freezing River Forth.
This summer is the 70th anniversary of the Edinburgh Fringe (Getty Images)
2- Climb Arthur’s Seat
It is something of a rite of passage to decompose to the highest point in Holyrood Park, known as Arthur's seat-it is a short walk to the east of the city center. Once at the top (250 m), visitors are rewarded with spectacular panoramic views across the city and off the coast. It is a brisk climb but well within the capacities of most people (although the trainers or hiking boots are recommended). There are several hiking trails, with the red route in particular obtaining; It is a circular walk from the Holyrood Palace which takes about two hours to complete.3- Drink at the Dome
The dome is an institution in the new city of Edinburgh. Although it has several tea rooms and restaurants inside, the reason to go is the outside of this world grill room. The elaborate uplit dome roof and circular bar are legendary; Tourists wander about having a nice rubber neck in the décor, buying a cocktail as something of a late idea. Visit around Christmas and the effect is a particularly extravagant mark of Dickens meets Disney, with a gigantic Christmas tree drenched from head to toe in fairy lights, and eye-catching garlands adorned with adornments everywhere.
The Dome is a sight to behold at Christmas (The Dome)
4- Eat your fill
Edinburgh has no shortage of wonderful places to eat. Locals’ favourite The Outsider is the perfect place to grab a spot of lunch. Booking is highly recommended for this popular eatery, where the food is ludicrously good value and the views of Edinburgh Castle through the floor to ceiling windows unbeatable. The hand written menu changes regularly, featuring dishes such as pan fried seabass fillet with crispy red pepper polenta, wasabi crushed peas and smoked paprika syrup; a snip at £6.90.Come dinner-time head to Gardener’s Cottage – a bijoux, rustic restaurant housed in a charming 19th century building, where guests sit on communal wooden benches and eat whatever’s put in front of them by chefs Dale Mailley and Edward Murray. This is a tasting menu-only affair, where for a flat fee of £60 you are served up nine mouth-watering courses based on seasonal ingredients sourced locally.
5- Night at the museum
The National Museum of Scotland has an eclectic collection of remarkable treasures from around the world. From dinosaurs to design, the museum boasts hundreds of objects spanning thousands of years and originating from countries across the globe. If heading there this summer, kick your visit up a notch with the Museum After Hours: Friday Fringe Takeover sessions. Each Friday night in August, the museum will open its doors from 7.30-10.30pm, featuring handpicked performances from the Fringe taking place in various spaces. The £18 admission fee also includes entry to the museum's Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites exhibition.6- Get back to nature
While both Old Town and New Town offer fantastic restaurants,
shopping and entertainment, the combination of rural and urban is what
makes the city truly a place to marvel at. So before you eat at the café
where J.K. Rowling wrote some of Harry Potter, hike a mountain. And after you shop at French Connection and Calvin Klein, take a tour of the famous St. Andrew’s golf course.
Here are my favorite things that I checked out during my nature
exploration of Edinburgh, which I recommend to anyone planning a visit.
It seems a prerequisite for a city to have a botanical garden these
days, but Edinburgh’s is a cut above. The Royal Botanic Garden
was first set up in 1670 and boasts over 70 acres of landscaped grounds
to explore. There’s a huge amount to see and do – the Scottish Heath
Garden is a recreation of the Scottish highlands, the Rock Garden is
home to over 5,000 alpine plants and the 165m-long Herbaceous Border is
backed by a century-old beech hedge. There are daily tours of the
garden, plus 28 glasshouses (the oldest of which was built in 1834) that
are teeming with exotic plantlife. And from 29 July to 29 October 2017 a
new art exhibition, Plant Scenery of the World, brings together
established and emerging artists as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
Entry to the garden is free, glasshouse admittance costs £6.50.
7- Art attack
Swing by the Scottish National Gallery and the Royal Scottish Academy, housed in neighbouring buildings by Waverley Station. The National Gallery is home to masterpieces by Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Constable, Turner, Monet, Van Gogh and Gauguin, while the adjoining Academy features a variety of temporary exhibitions. Free admission (although there is a fee for some exhibitions).8- Walk the Royal Mile
The Royal Mile is the historic heart of Edinburgh.
Discover the museums, restaurants, and shops; explore the closes, wynds
and hidden gems; and enjoy beautiful views across the city to the Firth
of Forth.
Based in the Old Town and within a World Heritage
site, the area is culturally and historically important to the city and
jam packed with things to see and do. A ‘Scots mile’ long, and
connecting two royal residences (the Castle and the palace of Holyrood
House), it is also home to parliaments old and new, law courts, a
cathedral and churches, and a vast range of visitor attractions, walking
tours, shops, restaurants, cafes and pubs.Unsurprisingly, the Royal Mile is one of the most well-known and most visited streets in Edinburgh.
9- Head underground
The Real Mary King’s Close is one of Edinburgh’s odder attractions, but provides a fascinating tour around the city’s warren of old alleyways, now underground. These 17th century tunnels used to be streets where people lived, but have since been completely built over, leaving them intact – just as they were hundreds of years ago. On a one-hour tour led by an actor who stays resolutely in character as a peasant from the 1600s throughout, visitors learn about Edinburgh’s rich and varied history, with a focus on the devastation wreaked by the Black Death. Adult tour costs £14.75.
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