Edinburgh - 97 Attractions You Must Visit

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About Edinburgh

Capital city of Scotland. Edinburgh is Scotland's second-most populous city and the seventh-most populous city in the United Kingdom. It is the second-largest financial centre in the United Kingdom, and UK's second-most visited tourist destination.

Types of Attractions in Edinburgh

Activities Around

List of Attractions in Edinburgh

Holyrood Abbey

Holyrood Abbey

Churches

Iconic Buildings

Holyrood Abbey served as a royal residence from the start. Edinburgh Castle was an imposing fortress but was less private than the abbey. The abbey church was used as a parish church until the 17th century, and has been ruined since the 18th century. The remaining walls of the abbey lie adjacent to the palace, at the eastern end of Edinburgh's Royal Mile. The site of the abbey is protected as a scheduled monument.

Holyrood Park

Holyrood Park is the largest green space in Edinburgh with 650 acres. The park houses various hills, lochs, cliffs and vast green plains. The park is associated with the royal palace of Holyroodhouse and was formerly a 12th-century royal hunting estate. The park was created in 1541 when James V had the ground "circulit about Arthurs Sett, Salisborie and Duddingston craggis" enclosed by a stone wall.

Inchcolm

Inchcolm

Islands

Inchcolm is an island in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. It was repeatedly attacked by English raiders during the Wars of Scottish Independence, and was fortified during both World Wars to defend nearby Edinburgh. Inchcolm now attracts visitors to its former Augustine Abbey.

John Knox House

John Knox House

Iconic Buildings

John Knox House on Edinburgh's Royal Mile is a well-known tourist attraction, described by one architectural historian as 'improbably picturesque'. The house itself was built from 1490 onwards, featuring a fine wooden gallery and hand-painted ceiling. Investigate the ground floor and you can see the remnants of medieval ‘luckenbooths’, or locked booths, once rented out as shops.

Jupiter Artland

Jupiter Artland

Sculptures

Jupiter Artland is a contemporary sculpture park and art gallery outside Edinburgh, Scotland. Jupiter Artland Foundation is a registered charity that is subsidized by classes, workshops, events, ticket sales, and donations. It sits on the grounds of Bonnington House, a 19th-century country house around 7 kilometres west of the city of Edinburgh. Jupiter Artland is also near the estate of Haltoun House which extends into Edinburgh and while the grounds remain, the Scottish baronial mansion was de

Kellie Castle

Kellie Castle

Iconic Buildings

Kellie's Castle is a castle located in Batu Gajah, Kinta District, Perak, Malaysia. The unfinished, ruined mansion, was built by a Scottish planter named William Kellie-Smith. According to differing accounts, it was either a gift for his wife or a home for his son. Kellie's Castle is situated beside the Raya River, which is a small creek to the Kinta River. Whether your interest lies in nature, gardens, arts & crafts, fine interiors, ornate plasterwork or furniture, you’ll find much to inspire y

Lauriston Castle

Lauriston Castle

Iconic Buildings

Botanical Gardens

Lauriston is a late 16th-century tower house, extended in 1824. The interiors hold a collection of 18th-century Italian furniture, Derbyshire Blue John, carpets, clocks, porcelain, tapestries, and decorative art. The substantial grounds, Lauriston Castle Gardens, operate as a local park. The castle was bequeathed to the Edinburgh Corporation and hosts the Lord Provost's annual Garden Party. The house is a Category A listed building and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and De

LOVE Gorgie Farm

LOVE Gorgie Farm

Outdoors- Other

The LOVE Gorgie Farm is a great place to bring your kids, especially small children, as it's filled with small and friendly animals. It serves as a unique outdoor resource offering hands-on education and learning opportunities for all our visitors and offers educational tours and workshops for organised groups. Gorgie City Farm is run as a working farm, meaning that their farm animals are bred and raised for food production. They bring the sounds, smells and sights of rural Scotland into the cit

Midlothian Snowsports Centre, Hillend

Midlothian Snowsports Centre, Hillend

Outdoors- Other

Skiing Spots

The Midlothian Snowsports Centre, formerly the Hillend Ski Centre, is the second longest dry ski slope in Europe, situated near Hillend near Edinburgh, South East Scotland. It is a national training centre for Scottish Olympians, with 29 having been trained there as of 2010, including Finlay Mickel, a former British number one downhill skier. It is used for skiing, snowboarding and snowblading, and social use includes lessons for adults and children occurring all year round.

Museum of Childhood

The Museum of Childhood was the first museum in the world to be dedicated to the history of childhood and it attracts over 200,000 visitors a year. The collections include eighteenth-century teddy bears and beautiful dolls, all dressed in the period’s clothing. Visitors will also discover puppets, toy soldiers and small and rudimentary cars with pedals, among many other treasures.

Museum of Edinburgh

The Museum of Edinburgh, is a museum in Edinburgh, Scotland, housing a collection relating to the town's origins, history and legends. It comprises of a variety of items related to Edinburgh’s history and legends, including objects made of silver, ceramic and glass. Moreover, there are several remarkable articles, for example, the original drawings of the New Town or a miniature of the Old Town dating from the sixteenth century, from the time of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Museum on the Mound

The Museum on the Mound focuses on the history of the Bank of Scotland as well as the history of numismatics, which is the study of physical money. The permanent collection includes artefacts tracing the history of the Bank of Scotland since its foundation in 1695, paintings and architectural models of the Head Office building on the Mound, and the history of banking and building societies in Britain. It has more than 50,000 visitors per year.

National Library of Scotland

National Library of Scotland

Man-made Structures- Other

The National Library of Scotland is Scotland's largest library, with over 30 million physical items in our world-class collections. Since 1925, our responsibility has been to record, preserve, and share the memories of Scotland's people and their significant, lasting contributions to the world. To do this, we collect and care for Scotland's knowledge, history, and culture — everything from rare historical documents to leaflets and shopping catalogues.

National Mining Museum Scotland

The National Mining Museum Scotland was created in 1984, to preserve the physical surface remains of Lady Victoria Colliery at Newtongrange, Midlothian, Scotland. It tells the story of coal for Scotland through exhibitions and guided tours of the pithead. See hear and feel what life was like for the miners and their families with real insights from ex-miner tour guides.

National Museum of Scotland

The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture, and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum. It incorporates the collections of the former National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland. As well as the national collections of Scottish archaeological finds and medieval objects, the museum contains artifacts from around the world, encompassing geology, archaeol

National War Museum

The National War Museum, situated within Edinburgh Castle, is Scotland’s national war museum reflecting over 400 years of Scotland at war. It has collection features, as well as the typical military items, traditional Scottish clothing worn during the battles, personal items belonging to the soldiers, and letters sent home from the battlegrounds on distant lands.

Nelson Monument

The Nelson Monument is a commemorative tower in honour of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, located in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is situated on top of Calton Hill, and provides a dramatic termination to the vista along Princes Street from the west. The monument was built between 1807 and 1816 to commemorate Nelson's victory over the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and his own death at the same battle. In 1852 a mechanized time ball was added, as a time signal to shipping i

Newhailes Road

Newhailes Road

Iconic Buildings

Newhailes House is a Palladian style country house which stands in 80 acres of parkland on the edge of the small town of Musselburgh in East Lothian, Scotland. Originally named Whitehills, it is a Category A listed building which is now occupied and maintained by the National Trust for Scotland. Visitors will see the remarkable library wing, imposing Italian marble fireplaces, gilded eagles over the drawing room windows, Chinese wallpaper and an impressive art collection.

Palace of Holyroodhouse

Palace of Holyroodhouse

Iconic Buildings

Palace of Holyroodhouse, also known as Holyrood Palace was originally built by James IV of Scotland between 1501 and 1505, as a Gothic palace adjacent to the 12th-century abbey. It has served as the principal royal residence in Scotland since the 16th century, and is a setting for state occasions and official entertaining. Queen Elizabeth II spends one week in residence at Holyroodhouse at the beginning of each summer, where she carries out a range of official engagements and ceremonies.

Pentland Hills Regional Park

Pentland Hills Regional Park

Viewpoints

1 Day Treks

Mountain Peaks

The Pentland Hills are a range of hills to the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The range is around 20 miles in length, and runs south west from Edinburgh towards Biggar and the upper Clydesdale. One of the iconic location for a trek and also a beautiful view point.

Map of attractions in Edinburgh

Comments

For more information about Edinburgh, visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh