Edinburgh
Introduction
Edinburgh is a beautiful capital city and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. The focal point of the city is the castle, perched up on the rocky crags in the heart of the city, which presides majestically over the streets below and dominates the skyline. There are two distinct central areas, the Old Town and the New Town, separated by Princes Street Gardens. The large tenements of the Old Town loom over winding streets, narrow lanes and hidden alleyways and give an impression of medieval life in the city. The New Town, by contrast, is a neatly planned 18th century grid of grand and pristine Georgian townhouses arranged along wonderful squares, crescents, circuses and terraces.
The city is renowned for its major international arts festival, held every August. It has become so popular over the years that it has spawned various other festivals, from the main fringe festival which has now become bigger than the official festival itself, to other key events such as the book festival, jazz festival and film festival. There are street performances, theatre shows, orchestras, ballets and comedy shows to name a few. Throughout the month of August the city is always buzzing with people from all over the world and there’s a great atmosphere.
The Scots also know how to put on a great party on New Year’s Eve and Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations have become one of the biggest New year parties in the world. There are several days of events, including street parties, ceilidhs (Scottish dancing), torchlight processions and fireworks displays.
Sightseeing
The Old Town
The Old Town is home to Edinburgh’s main tourist attraction – Edinburgh Castle – as well as most of its other famous landmarks. Built on the top of an extinct volcanic rock at the top of the town, it has been amended and adapted several times over the centuries and is still in use for military purposes today. Visitors have access to many parts of the Castle, including the Scottish National War Museum, St Margaret’s Chapel, the military prison, Mons Meg cannon, the Mill’s Mount Battery where the traditional ‘One O’Clock Gun’ is still fired every day, the Honours of Scotland – the Scottish crown jewels, unused since before the Treaty of Union with England in 1707, and the historic rooms of the Palace building, where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James VI. Visitors are also free to wander around the esplanade and battlements, which offer magnificent views of the city.
The Royal Mile is the main thoroughfare leading down the hill from the Castle to the splendid royal residence of Holyrood Palace. Along this mile-long street are some of the most historic buildings in the city. Gladstone’s Land is an excellent example of an Old Town tenement building, and the High Kirk of St Giles is where John Knox started the Scottish Reformation. Also of interest is Mary King’s Close, an alleyway that was blocked off in the 17th century when most of its residents succumbed to the plague. The tenements were used as foundations for the City Chambers built above them, until gradually the close was completely forgotten. It was rediscovered in the late 20th century during building work and is now accessible to the public on guided tours which give an account of 17th century life in the Old Town.
Adjacent to Holyrood Palace is the new Scottish Parliament, a controversial building completed in 2004 at a cost of over £400 million – ten times over budget. Its bold and daring design has left the nation divided, but whether you love it or loathe it, it makes for interesting viewing and tours can be taken when Parliament is not in session.
The New Town
On the other side of Princes Street Gardens in the north of the city centre is the New Town, the hub of Edinburgh’s business and commercial life. Princes Street is the main shopping thoroughfare, with all the buildings lined along the north side, allowing uninterrupted views over the Gardens towards the Castle and Old Town to the south. At either end of Princes Street are two of Scotland’s most exclusive hotels – the Balmoral and the Caledonian, whose interiors are as extravagant as their exteriors and attract many rich and famous guests. The broad streets and neatly arranged squares and crescents of the New Town are best enjoyed by exploring them on foot. St Andrew’s Square and Charlotte Square are the two main squares at the east and west ends of George Street, the New Town’s second largest thoroughfare. Most of the major streets are now occupied by shops and businesses, although many of the surrounding streets still serve their original purpose as residential areas with magnificent big town houses that are fascinating to see, such as Royal Crescent, Randolph Crescent and Ainslie Place. To see what a typical interior of a Georgian mansion would have looked like, visitors can take a tour of the Georgian House on Charlotte Square.
In the west end of the New Town is a surprising little area known as Dean Village, which is tucked away in the valley alongside the Water of Leith underneath the enormous Dean Bridge. Once a mill town, the old buildings have been converted into designer flats and it’s now a tranquil, leafy and picturesque corner of the city.
Museums and Galleries
Edinburgh has some great museums and art galleries dotted across both the Old Town and the New Town, many of which are free of charge. Some of the most impressive are the National Museum of Scotland, a wonderful collection of Scottish artefacts and treasures, and the adjacent Royal Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street, which contains objects and stuffed animals from all over the world.
As a city of art and culture, Edinburgh has some of the best art galleries in the UK. The National Gallery of Scotland has a large collection of pre-20th century art from all over Europe, while the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the Dean Gallery opposite it contain extensive collections of 20th and 21st century works. Also worth a visit is the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, which houses portraits of famous and historical Scottish figures, painted mainly by Scottish artists. The buildings in which all of these galleries are housed are themselves very impressive, from the striking red sandstone exterior of the Portrait Gallery with its ornate carvings, to the Neoclassical splendour of the Modern Art Gallery, set back from the road in extensive lawns surrounded by trees.
Eating Out
The cosmopolitan nature of Edinburgh society is reflected in its vast selection of restaurants. Hannover Street is lined with good, inexpensive Italian restaurants such as La Rusticana and La Lanterna, while there are French, Spanish, Mexican, Chinese and Indian restaurants scattered all over the city.
Scottish cuisine has seen somewhat of a resurgence in popularity in recent years, and there are numerous upmarket restaurants have revived traditional Scottish dishes with a modern twist. Stac Polly, which has premises on both Dublin Street and Grindlay Street, has an excellent reputation for fine Scottish cuisine. Favourites on the menu are the salmon, venison, wild boar and pigeon. Another exclusive modern Scottish restaurant is The Witchery, in a small close at the top of the Royal Mile, where guests dine in enchanted surroundings among Gothic wood panels, old wall hangings and secret gardens. The à la carte menu is expensive, but the pre-theatre menus offer very good value for money for those who just wish a taste of what it has to offer.
Vegetarians are spoilt for choice in Edinburgh. Some of the oldest established vegetarian cafes and restaurants have become Edinburgh institutions, such as Henderson’s Salad Table on Hannover Street, a buffet restaurant with live piano music most nights of the week, and Bann’s Vegetarian Café on Hunter Square, which serves interesting and unusual vegetarian dishes.
Nightlife
There’s no shortage of good drinking establishments in Edinburgh, with several pubs, bars and clubs scattered along most of the city centre streets. No matter what your tastes, you’ll never have difficulty finding somewhere to have a good night out.
The Old Town
Nightlife in the Old Town is dominated by students. (Edinburgh University buildings are scattered all over the Old Town.) The long established pubs on the Grassmarket (such as The Last Drop, Biddy Mulligan’s, Maggie Dickson’s) are the main focus of nightife in this part of the city and are popular with students and tourists alike.
The Royal Mile pubs attract mainly tourists. Many of them are themed on local histories and legends and are certainly worth a visit, such as Deacon Brodie’s Tavern. Deacon William Brodie, respectable citizen by day and drunken and debauched gambler and robber by night, was the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
For a more authentic Scottish pub experience on the Royal Mile, try the Jolly Judge, a hidden gem tucked away in James Court, a small close just off the Royal Mile. It’s popular with locals and gives a real taste of traditional Scottish pub life.
The New Town
The favourite haunts of young professionals and the after work crowd are the large, lively and trendy bars along George Street in the New Town, such as The Opal Lounge, Candy Bar, The Dome and The Grape. Many of them were converted from former bank buildings and have beautifully ornate period features which contrast with the chic and modern décor.
There’s a small but lively gay scene in Edinburgh, concentrated around Broughton Street, which has a number of fashionable and friendly gay bars as well as some eclectic and cosmopolitan cafes and restaurants.
