Overview to Edinburgh: Travel Guide and Tourist Information
- Edinburgh Information
- Eating & drinking in Edinburgh
- Night life in Edinburgh
- Getting around in Edinburgh
- Things to do in Edinburgh
- Where to stay in Edinburgh
- Edinburgh street map
The huge numbers of backpackers who gravitate to Edinburgh every year is a reflection of the city’s unmissable attractions. In total, over two million visitors make a beeline for the Scottish capital every year; a number that dwarves the city's own population of 500,000.
The city itself is a remarkable blend of the medieval Old Town and the New Town. The ‘New Town’ is really no such thing: an elegantly ordered grid of Georgian houses, leafy parks and gardens, it stretches between Queen Street, Princes Street and George Street.
Over and above everything else looms Edinburgh Castle. Sitting atop a long extinct volcano, the castle makes for an incredibly dramatic backdrop to the city, particularly at night when, lit-up, it dominates the skyline in spectacular fashion.
One of Edinburgh’s greatest assets is the green spaces that stretch across the city: Princes Street Garden (in the heart of the city), Calton Hill (east of the new town), the Meadows (to the south of the city) and the Royal Botanic Garden all stand out.
But the finest of all is, undoubtedly, the fantastic Holyrood Park. Just to the east of the Royal Mile, it’s a fantastically wild space to have so close to a bustling city. There are lochs, glens and some great walking and climbing on Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags.
An eerie gothic element runs throughout the ancient city, too. There’s the atmospheric Greyfriars Kirkyard (famous scene of Burke and Hare’s grave robbing antics). The Old Town, meanwhile, is riddled with catacombs, passages and the closed off Mary King’s Close.
And the city is nothing if not a hotbed of cultural activity. The collections of the Royal Museum of Scotland and the National Gallery present history and art history respectively, alongside the more modern offerings of the Dean Gallery and the Fruitmarket Gallery.
Then, of course, there’s the world-renowned Edinburgh Festival that explodes upon the city in August. Running alongside it, meanwhile, few established comedians have not, at one stage or another, made the pilgrimage to the famous Edinburgh Fringe.
As well as hosting one of the world's biggest cultural festivals, Edinburgh’s also famed for its New Year's party: Hogmanay. With fireworks, piping, pomp and ceremony on the streets, watching this most elegant of cities really let itself go is quite something to behold.