Camera Obscura & World of Illusions - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

The Writers’ Museum, housed in Lady Stair's House at the Lawnmarket, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, presents the lives of three of the foremost Scottish writers: Robert Burns, Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. Run by the City of Edinburgh Council, the collection includes portraits, works and personal objects. Beside the museum lies the Makars' Court, the country's emerging national literary monument.

Gladstone's Land is a surviving 17th-century high-tenement house situated in the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has been restored and furnished by the National Trust for Scotland, and is operated as a popular tourist attraction. it is now a house-museum that explores in detail how the city’s residents lived in the Old Town over 400 years ago. Currently, six of its rooms are open to the public and all include original items from the 1600s, antiques and period decoration.

Victoria Street was built between 1829-34 as part of a series of improvements to the Old Town, with the aim of improving access around the city. Built between 1829 and 1834, this street is the brainchild of architect Thomas Hamilton, the one who masterminded Edinburgh’s network of neo-classical wonders. It was now gently curved and adorned with colourful shopfronts, is indeed a much loved spot for tourist photos, postcards and TV adverts.

The Grassmarket is one of the oldest parts of the city, and although the architecture has changed the layout of its open space retains its historic character. It was used as a market from the 14th century, with cattle fairs, horse fairs and corn being bought and sold in its wide open space. But this also made it suitable for public executions, with the last hanging taking place here in 1784.

Princes Street Gardens is one of the most important urban parks situated in the heart of Edinburgh. It separates the Old Town from the New Town. The Gardens were created in the 1820s following the long draining of the Nor Loch and building of the New Town, beginning in the 1760s. The Gardens are the best known parks in Edinburgh, having the highest awareness and visitor figures for both residents and visitors to the city.