🇬🇧Edinburgh

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle sits on a plug of volcanic rock at the head of the Royal Mile, and it is the reason the city grew where it did.

• Must see
• Historic monument

National Museum of Scotland

The National Museum of Scotland is the national museum on Chambers Street, combining collections that range across Scotland, the natural world, science, technology, art and design.

• Must see
• Museum

Holyrood Palace

Palace of Holyroodhouse

The Palace of Holyroodhouse is the King's official residence in Scotland and a public visit that combines royal rooms, the remains of Holyrood Abbey and palace gardens.

• Must see
• Historic monument

Arthur's Seat

Arthur's Seat is the high point of Holyrood Park, the royal park that Historic Environment Scotland manages on the eastern edge of Edinburgh's Old Town and describes as roughly circular and about a mile in diameter.

• Must see
• Viewpoint

St Giles' Cathedral

St Giles' Cathedral is the parish church that sits in the middle of Edinburgh's Royal Mile, roughly halfway between the Castle at the top and Holyrood at the bottom, with Parliament Square wrapped around its southern and eastern flanks.

• Must see
• Place of worship

Calton Hill

Calton Hill is a public open space above the east end of Princes Street, known for its concentration of monuments and broad city views.

• Must see
• Nature site

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, usually called the Botanics, is a living scientific collection and a public garden one mile north of the city centre.

• Must see
• Nature site

Scottish National Gallery

National Gallery

The Scottish National Gallery, branded by National Galleries of Scotland simply as the National, is the principal gallery on the Mound above Princes Street Gardens.

• Must see
• Art and culture venue

HMY Britannia

HMY Britannia is the former Royal Yacht, launched in 1953 for the British Royal Family and preserved in Leith by The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust.

• Must see
• Museum

Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament is a working parliamentary building at Holyrood and a free public visit, not merely an architectural sight.

• Must see
• Historic monument

Camera Obscura

Camera Obscura & World of Illusions

Camera Obscura & World of Illusions is a visitor attraction located on Castlehill in Edinburgh's Old Town, near Edinburgh Castle.

• Must see
• Market

Scott Monument

The Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic memorial to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott, located in Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens. Completed in 1844, it stands as one of the largest monuments to a writer anywhere in the world.

• Must see
• Historic monument

The Real Mary King's Close

The Real Mary King's Close is a historic underground site beneath Edinburgh's Royal Mile. It preserves a network of narrow streets and houses that were sealed beneath the Royal Exchange during the 18th century.

• Must see
• Market

Princes Street Gardens

West Princes Street Gardens

West Princes Street Gardens forms the western portion of Princes Street Gardens, a public park in Edinburgh's city centre.

• Must see
• Nature site

Holyrood Park

Holyrood Park is a royal park in Edinburgh, Scotland, associated with the Palace of Holyroodhouse. It covers a substantial area of open landscape including hills, lochs, and rocky outcrops.

• Must see
• Nature site

Dean Village

Dean Village is a former milling hamlet situated northwest of Edinburgh's city centre, nestled in a steep-sided valley along the Water of Leith. The settlement developed from the 12th century around grain mills powered by the river.

• Must see
• Historic monument

Edinburgh Zoo

Edinburgh Zoo is a zoological park situated in the Scottish capital. It occupies a hillside site to the west of Edinburgh city centre, offering views across the city.

• Must see
• Family attraction

Dynamic Earth

Dynamic Earth is a science centre and visitor attraction in Edinburgh, Scotland. It explores the story of planet Earth through interactive exhibits and immersive experiences.

• Must see
• Museum

Greyfriars Kirk

Greyfriars Kirk is a historic parish church located in Edinburgh's Old Town, near the southern edge of the city centre. The church stands within Greyfriars Kirkyard, a substantial graveyard with notable monuments.

• Must see
• Place of worship

Greyfriars Bobby

Greyfriars Bobby is a small statue in Edinburgh commemorating a Skye Terrier who reportedly guarded his owner's grave for fourteen years in the nineteenth century.

• Must see
• Historic monument

Surgeons' Hall Museums

Surgeons' Hall Museums is a medical museum in Edinburgh, Scotland. It serves as the headquarters of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and houses collections related to surgical history and pathology.

• Must see
• Museum

Museum of Edinburgh

The Museum of Edinburgh occupies Huntly House, a historic building on the Royal Mile. The structure dates to the sixteenth century and holds significance as one of the Old Town's notable architectural survivors.

• Must see
• Museum

Writers' Museum

The Writers' Museum is a literary museum in Edinburgh dedicated to Scottish writers. It celebrates the lives and works of Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, and Robert Louis Stevenson.

• Must see
• Museum

Rosslyn Chapel, Roslin

Rosslyn Chapel

Rosslyn Chapel is a 15th-century chapel located in the village of Roslin, approximately seven miles south of Edinburgh city centre. Founded by William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness, the chapel took forty years to construct.

• Must see
• Place of worship

Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre

The Scotch Whisky Experience

The Scotch Whisky Experience is a whisky heritage attraction on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, close to Edinburgh Castle. It occupies a former school building and introduces visitors to Scotch whisky’s production, regional character and cultural importance.

• Must see
• Historic monument

Craigmillar Castle

Craigmillar Castle is a substantial medieval castle ruin southeast of Edinburgh, with major surviving work from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The castle is closely associated with Mary, Queen of Scots, who stayed here in 1566.

• Must see
• Historic monument

Holyrood Abbey

Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated at the foot of the Royal Mile adjacent to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

• Must see
• Historic monument

Forth Bridges

The Forth Bridges are three landmark crossings over the Firth of Forth near Edinburgh: the red steel Forth Bridge, completed in 1890; the Forth Road Bridge, opened in 1964; and the Queensferry Crossing, opened in 2016.

• Must see
• Viewpoint

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is Edinburgh’s national museum of portraiture, housed in a red sandstone neo-Gothic building on Queen Street. Robert Rowand Anderson designed the building, which opened in 1889.

• Must see
• Art and culture venue

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art is a major art museum in Edinburgh, Scotland. It forms part of National Galleries Scotland, the country's national collection of art.

• Must see
• Art and culture venue

Portobello Beach

Portobello Beach is a coastal suburb and sandy beach located to the east of Edinburgh city centre, along the Firth of Forth.

• Must see
• Nature site

Gladstone's Land

Gladstone’s Land is a preserved seventeenth-century tenement on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. The tall, narrow building shows how Old Town residents and merchants used vertical space in a crowded medieval city.

• Must see
• Historic monument

The Georgian House

Georgian House

The Georgian House is a historic townhouse at 7 Charlotte Square in Edinburgh’s New Town. Operated by the National Trust for Scotland, it presents upper-class domestic life through rooms, furnishings and architectural detail associated with Georgian Edinburgh.

• Must see
• Historic monument

John Knox House

John Knox House stands on the High Street section of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.

• Must see
• Historic monument

Museum of Childhood

The Museum of Childhood is on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile in the Old Town. Its subject is the history of childhood, using objects connected with children’s lives, play and experiences across different periods.

• Must see
• Museum

Museum on the Mound

Museum on the Mound is an Edinburgh museum devoted to money, banking and finance. It occupies part of the former Bank of Scotland headquarters on The Mound, the central slope linking Edinburgh’s Old and New Towns.

• Must see
• Museum

National War Museum

The National War Museum is a military history museum located within Edinburgh Castle in Scotland's capital city. It occupies a former storehouse building within the castle complex, which sits atop Castle Rock, a volcanic plug dominating the city skyline.

• Must see
• Museum

People's Story Museum

The People's Story Museum

People's Story Museum presents Edinburgh's social history through the experiences of ordinary residents. It occupies the historic Canongate Tolbooth on the Royal Mile, giving the visit a strong connection with the surrounding Old Town.

• Must see
• Museum

Royal Observatory

Royal Observatory, Edinburgh

Royal Observatory Edinburgh is a working astronomical research institution on Blackford Hill, south of the city centre. The present observatory site dates from 1896 and continues to support astronomical science rather than operating as a conventional museum.

• Must see
• Historic monument

City Observatory

City Observatory is a historic astronomical complex on Calton Hill, one of Edinburgh's most recognisable viewpoints. Founded in 1818, the observatory represents an important chapter in Scottish scientific history and forms part of the wider heritage landscape on the hill.

• Must see
• Historic monument

Lauriston Castle

Lauriston Castle is a historic tower house situated in northwest Edinburgh, Scotland. The property comprises a 16th-century tower with later additions, set within notable gardens overlooking the Firth of Forth.

• Must see
• Historic monument

Jupiter Artland

Jupiter Artland is a contemporary sculpture park and art gallery located on the outskirts of Edinburgh. The venue occupies extensive grounds and presents large-scale artworks by international artists within a designed landscape setting.

• Must see
• Art and culture venue

Cramond Roman Fort

Cramond Roman Fort and Civil Settlement

Cramond Roman Fort and Civil Settlement is an archaeological site located in the Cramond area of Edinburgh, Scotland.

• Must see
• Historic monument

Duddingston Loch

Duddingston Loch is a freshwater loch situated in Edinburgh, Scotland. It forms part of Holyrood Park and lies near the village of Duddingston. The loch is a notable natural feature within Scotland's capital city, offering a habitat for various wildlife.

• Must see
• Nature site

Gilmerton Cove

Gilmerton Cove is a mysterious underground site located in the Gilmerton area of Edinburgh, Scotland.

• Must see
• Historic monument

Grassmarket Market

Grassmarket Market occupies the historic Grassmarket in Edinburgh's Old Town, beneath Edinburgh Castle and Castle Rock. The area has served as a marketplace for centuries and remains a social and commercial meeting place within the city's historic core.

• Must see
• Market

The Meadows

The Meadows is a large public park in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south of the city centre. This open green space serves as a recreational area for residents and visitors alike.

• Must see
• Nature site

Blackford Hill

Blackford Hill is an elevated open space in southern Edinburgh, Scotland. It forms part of the city's broader parkland and offers elevated terrain above the surrounding urban area.

• Must see
• Viewpoint

Salisbury Crags

Salisbury Crags is a striking basalt cliff formation rising above Edinburgh city centre within Holyrood Park. Ancient volcanic activity created the hard rock ridge, while later glacial shaping helped form its steep faces and sloping ground.

• Must see
• Viewpoint

Stockbridge Market

Stockbridge Market is a neighbourhood market in Stockbridge, north of Edinburgh’s city centre. It brings independent traders and local shoppers together in a street-based setting within an area known for Victorian architecture, small businesses and a strong village-like atmosphere.

• Must see
• Market

Holyrood Distillery

Holyrood Distillery is a whisky and gin distillery in Edinburgh’s Holyrood area, near the foot of Arthur’s Seat. It belongs to the city’s modern drinks landscape while drawing on Scotland’s wider distilling tradition.

• Must see
• Historic monument

Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Festival Theatre

Edinburgh Festival Theatre is a major performing arts venue in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands as one of the city's principal theatres, hosting a diverse programme of opera, ballet, musical theatre, and drama.

• Must see
• Art and culture venue

Usher Hall

Usher Hall is a major concert venue in central Edinburgh, Scotland. This Victorian-era auditorium was built for musical performance and remains a working cultural venue.

• Must see
• Art and culture venue

Royal Lyceum Theatre

The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a producing theatre in central Edinburgh, established in 1883. It is one of Scotland’s important theatrical venues, presenting its own productions alongside visiting work.

• Must see
• Art and culture venue

Leith Theatre

Leith Theatre is a historic performing-arts venue in Leith, the former port town incorporated into Edinburgh in 1920. The building belongs to the district’s cultural heritage and reflects Leith’s long community identity alongside its connection to the wider city.

• Must see
• Art and culture venue

Leith Market

Leith Market is a community market in Edinburgh’s historic Leith district. It adds a local trading atmosphere to an area known for its port heritage, waterfront setting and changing urban character.

• High
• Market

Inverleith Park

Inverleith Park is a broad public green space in Edinburgh’s Inverleith district, north of the city centre.

• High
• Nature site

Leith Links

Leith Links is a large public park in Edinburgh’s Leith district. Its open grassland carries an important sporting history: the area is associated with golf played in the sixteenth century and with the early development of the game.

• High
• Nature site

Newhailes House, Musselburgh

Newhailes House & Gardens

Newhailes House & Gardens is a historic Palladian villa near Musselburgh, east of Edinburgh. Built in the late 17th century, it was home to the Dalrymple family for nearly 300 years.

• High
• Nature site

Roslin Glen Country Park

Roslin Glen Country Park is a wooded river valley situated south of Edinburgh, following the North Esk River through a steep gorge. The park encompasses ancient woodland, historical ruins, and significant geological features.

• High
• Nature site

Dalkeith Country Park

Dalkeith Country Park is an extensive estate landscape near Edinburgh in Midlothian. It gives travellers a day outdoors among woodland, open parkland, and the River North Esk, with the atmosphere of a historic Scottish country estate.

• High
• Nature site

Craigmillar Castle Park

Craigmillar Castle Park is a public park in Edinburgh, Scotland, centred on the historic Craigmillar Castle. The park encompasses the castle grounds and surrounding green space in the south-east of the city.

• High
• Nature site

Dunbar’s Close Garden

Dunbar's Close Garden

Dunbar's Close Garden is a hidden walled garden in Edinburgh's Old Town, situated on the Royal Mile near Canongate. It occupies the site of a former tenement close, recreated as a 17th-century-style garden.

• High
• Nature site

Dean Gardens, Edinburgh

Dean Gardens

Dean Gardens is a private garden space located in Edinburgh's Stockbridge area, situated near the Water of Leith. The gardens occupy a sloping site descending toward the river gorge.

• High
• Nature site

St Cecilia's Hall

St Cecilia's Hall is an eighteenth-century concert hall and music museum in Edinburgh. It is recognised as Scotland's oldest purpose-built concert hall and remains connected with the University of Edinburgh.

• High
• Museum

Trinity House of Leith

Trinity House

Trinity House of Leith is a historic maritime building in Edinburgh's port district of Leith. The structure served as the headquarters for the Incorporation of Masters and Mariners, a guild governing seafaring activities.

• High
• Museum

Queensferry Museum

Queensferry Museum is a local heritage museum located in South Queensferry, a historic town on the outskirts of Edinburgh. The museum occupies a position within the settlement that overlooks the Firth of Forth and the iconic Forth Bridges.

• High
• Museum

King's Gallery

The King's Gallery

The King's Gallery is a royal art gallery within the Palace of Holyroodhouse grounds at the eastern end of Edinburgh's Royal Mile.

• High
• Museum

Talbot Rice Gallery

Talbot Rice Gallery is an art gallery located in Edinburgh, Scotland. It forms part of the University of Edinburgh and is situated within the Old College building on South Bridge.

• High
• Museum

Church Hill Theatre

Church Hill Theatre is an Edinburgh performance venue serving the city's theatre and community arts life. It gives visitors an opportunity to experience a local theatre setting beyond the largest festival stages and major central institutions.

• High
• Art and culture venue

Roslin Castle

Rosslyn Castle

Roslin Castle, also called Rosslyn Castle, is a historic tower house near Roslin in Midlothian, south of Edinburgh. It occupies a steep promontory above the North Esk River and forms a dramatic heritage stop beside Rosslyn Chapel.

• High
• Historic monument

Barnbougle Castle

Barnbougle Castle is a historic tower house on the shoreline of the Firth of Forth near Dalmeny, within the wider Edinburgh area.

• High
• Historic monument

Cramond Old Bridge

Cramond Brig

Cramond Old Bridge, also called Cramond Brig, is a historic stone crossing over the River Almond in northwest Edinburgh. It links the village of Cramond with the surrounding riverside and estate landscape.

• High
• Historic monument

Assembly Rooms

The Assembly Rooms is a historic entertainment and events venue on George Street in Edinburgh’s New Town. Established in the late eighteenth century, it has long provided a setting for social gatherings, performances and civic occasions.

• High
• Art and culture venue

Clermiston Tower, Corstorphine Hill, Edinburgh

Corstorphine Hill Tower

Clermiston Tower stands on Corstorphine Hill in western Edinburgh. The tower is a landmark within a wooded hill landscape and gives a walk through the reserve a clear destination.

• High
• Historic monument

Fruitmarket Gallery

Fruitmarket

Fruitmarket Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in central Edinburgh, housed in a former fruit and vegetable market building. Its identity comes from the meeting of industrial architecture and changing contemporary art.

• High
• Art and culture venue

Anatomical Museum

The Anatomical Museum is a historic medical collection associated with the University of Edinburgh.

• High
• Museum

Heriot-Watt University Museum and Archives

Heriot Watt Museum

Heriot-Watt University Museum and Archives preserves the history of Heriot-Watt University and its predecessor institutions in Edinburgh. It is an academic collection rather than a large general museum.

• Notable
• Museum

Museum of the Royal Regiment of Scotland

The Royal Scots Regimental Museum

The Museum of the Royal Regiment of Scotland is part of Edinburgh Castle, presenting the heritage of Scotland’s infantry regiments within one of the city’s most important historic sites.

• Notable
• Museum

Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum

The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum

The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum presents the history of a Scottish cavalry regiment within Edinburgh. The collection follows the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards from origins in the seventeenth century through campaigns and continuing service in the British Army.

• Notable
• Museum

Bruntsfield Links

Bruntsfield Links is a large open parkland area in Edinburgh, situated south of the city centre. It forms part of the larger Meadows and Links chain of green spaces.

• Notable
• Nature site

National Monument of Scotland

The National Monument of Scotland is an unfinished memorial on Calton Hill in Edinburgh. Begun in 1826, it was intended to commemorate Scottish soldiers who died in the Napoleonic Wars.

• Notable
• Historic monument

Dugald Stewart Monument

The Dugald Stewart Monument is a memorial structure in Edinburgh, Scotland, dedicated to the Scottish philosopher Dugald Stewart. It stands prominently on Calton Hill, a significant elevated location in the city centre.

• Notable
• Historic monument

Burns Monument

Burns Monument is an Edinburgh memorial to Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet. The Victorian structure honours Burns's poetry and songs and places literary commemoration within the city's wider landscape of monuments.

• Notable
• Historic monument

Charlotte Square

Charlotte Square Gardens

Charlotte Square is a Georgian square at the western end of George Street in Edinburgh's New Town.

• Notable
• Nature site

City Art Centre, 1-6 Market Street, Edinburgh

City Art Centre

The City Art Centre is a municipal art gallery situated at 1-6 Market Street in Edinburgh, Scotland. It occupies a multi-storey building in the Old Town area, close to Waverley railway station.

• Notable
• Art and culture venue

Colinton Tunnel

Colinton Tunnel is a historic transport structure in Edinburgh's Colinton district. The tunnel formed part of the former Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal route before later railway use, and its brick-lined construction reflects Victorian transport engineering.

• Notable
• Art and culture venue

Cramond Foreshore

Cramond Foreshore is an outdoor coastal area in northwest Edinburgh, where the River Almond reaches the Firth of Forth. It is suited to shoreline walks, estuary views and time beside the water.

• Notable
• Nature site

Cramond Tower

Cramond Tower is a historic tower house in Cramond, northwest Edinburgh. The building belongs to the area’s medieval heritage and reflects the Scottish tower-house tradition, where homes combined domestic life with defensive features.

• Notable
• Historic monument

Dalmeny House

Dalmeny House is a historic country house located near Edinburgh, Scotland. The property stands as a significant example of Scottish architectural heritage within the Lothian region.

• Notable
• Historic monument

Dominion Cinema

Dominion Cinema is a dedicated film venue in Edinburgh, Scotland, serving both local residents and visitors looking for an evening of cinema.

• Notable
• Entertainment venue

Dovecot Gallery

Dovecot Gallery is a contemporary arts venue in central Edinburgh, housed in a building constructed in 1912 for the Edinburgh Tapestry Company. Its identity connects the city’s textile-making tradition with present-day exhibitions of art, craft and design.

• Notable
• Art and culture venue

Duddingston Kirk

Duddingston Kirk is a historic parish church in Edinburgh’s Duddingston area, beside Duddingston Loch and Holyrood Park. The building remains an active Church of Scotland place of worship, so its significance is both architectural and living rather than purely museum-like.

• Notable
• Place of worship

Edinburgh Central Mosque

Edinburgh Central Mosque, also known locally by the same name, is a place of Islamic worship and community gathering in Scotland's capital.

• Notable
• Place of worship

Edinburgh Playhouse

Edinburgh Playhouse is one of Edinburgh’s major live-performance venues and one of the United Kingdom’s largest working theatres by audience capacity.

• Notable
• Art and culture venue

George Square

George Square Gardens

George Square Gardens is the planted garden area within George Square, a prominent public space in Edinburgh's Southside. The gardens sit beside the University of Edinburgh's central campus and provide a green pause among academic, residential and civic buildings.

• Notable
• Nature site