Visit some of Edinburgh’s greatest attractions, discover world-class museums and galleries, take a tour on an open-top bus or visit the famous castle. From the world-famous festivals to top-class restaurants and bars, not to mention fabulous shopping, there is plenty to do.
Make the most of your visit to Edinburgh with some unmissable city highlights, courtesy of the Edinburgh tourist board:
Architecture
A stroll through the streets shows Edinburgh's timeless elegance, from the dominating castle to the new Scottish Parliament building and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. www.ewht.org.uk
City Tour
Choose from an open-top bus, a walking or cycling tour or an atmospheric ghost tour of the Old Town. Bus tours leave from Waverley Bridge and you can buy a hop-on, hop-off ticket which will last 24 hours. Ghost tours are generally concentrated around the Old Town. Tickets can be bought direct or at the Tourist Information Centre at 3 Princes Street. www.edinburghtour.com
Museums & Galleries
Choose from national collections and international blockbusters to more intimate spaces and exhibits. Home to five National Galleries and the National Museum, there are events and exhibitions to choose from year round. www.nationalgalleries.org or www.nms.ac.uk
Shopping
From the High Street favourites of Princes Street, boutiques of the West End and chic of the New Town, you'll be spoilt for choice. Find Scotland's only Harvey Nichols store next to Edinburgh's designer boulevard at Multrees Walk. Or check out local legend WM Armstrongs & Son in the Grassmarket, packed with vintage gowns and retro gems.
Eating & Drinking
Rooftop restaurants and basement bars make eating and drinking an essential part of any visit. Edinburgh is said to have more restaurants per head of population than anywhere else in the UK. For stylish drinking, head to George Street or for a more traditional tipple, see the Old Town. www.eatscotland.com
Free attractions
The Writers' Museum contains a rich collection of manuscripts, first editions and portraits dedicated to the lives and work of literary figures including Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. The adjacent Makars’ (Scots for poet) Court celebrates Scottish writers from the 14th century John Barbour to the present day.
The Museum of Childhood is a favourite with adults and children alike. This is a treasure house crammed full of objects telling of childhood past and present. Discover how children have been brought up, dressed and educated in decades gone by.
Housed in the Cannongate Tolbooth, a former tax collecting house, court and prison, The People’s Story is a museum dedicated to the history of the people of Edinburgh. The museum is filled with the sights, sounds and smells of the past. Feel the despair of the dungeon, the camaraderie of the pub, or listen to the town crier and the demands of social reformers.
Set in a series of interconnected 16th and 17th century buildings, the Museum of Edinburgh is packed with artefacts from the development of the city. Highlights include the National Covenant signed by Scotland’s Presbyterians in 1638, and the collar and feeding bowl of Grayfriars Bobby.
Queensferry Museum commands magnificent views of the great bridges spanning the Forth and traces the history of the people of Queensferry and Dalmeny, the ferry passage to Fife, the construction of the rail and road bridges, and spotlights the wildlife of the Forth estuary.
Next Waverley Station, with six exhibition galleries, the City Art Centre is home to the city’s outstanding collection of Scottish art and one of the UK’s top temporary exhibition spaces.
Most temporary exhibitions are free but occasionally there is a small admission charge.
48 hours in Edinburgh
Be sure to get the most of your trip to Edinburgh with this 48-hour itinerary, suggested by the official tourist board.
DAY ONE: An open-top bus tour is a great way to find out what's where. Tours follow a circuit through the medieval Old Town and the 18th century Georgian New Town so you can always get back to where you started.
The top of the Royal Mile is a great starting place to explore on foot. Edinburgh Castle is Scotland's No1 attraction. As well as the obvious visits to see Scotland's Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny, it's worth trying to locate the Dogs' Cemetery. Possibly the best view of Edinburgh is from the castle ramparts.
Crossing the Castle Esplanade, scene of the annual Military Tattoo, you will find The Spirit of the Tattoo, a new free visitor centre which gives some of the history and flavour of the Tattoo. Try a dram at the Scotch Whisky Experience.
Either continue down the Royal Mile with museums and visitor centres on everything from weaving to toys or jump back aboard a tour bus to the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Scottish Parliament or over to Princes Street with its shops and galleries.
In the evening, combine a tour of pubs with the Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour before dinner in the Old Town.
DAY TWO: Edinburgh is surrounded by hills which give a great view and good exercise. If an extinct volcano in Holyrood Park is too much for you, try Calton Hill, off Princes Street. This is the site of what should have been Scotland's National Monument but the city ran out of money so the columns are all that was completed, earning the title ‘Edinburgh's Disgrace’. Nelson Monument, in the shape of a telescope, is worth the climb to the top. A ball at the top of its mast drops simultaneously with the firing of the One O'Clock Gun from the Castle.
Enjoy a tour of the Royal Botanic Garden with its renovated glass houses, exhibitions and colourful plants and shrubs.
In the evening, try a traditional pub in Leith and freshly-caught fish dishes.
Edinburgh Tourist board www.edinburgh.org/
