Edinburgh, capital of Scotland, is a dramatic city. Its skyline of bastions and battlements, turrets and towers, steeples and spires, is testament to its ancient history. It was Europe’s first high-rise city in the 17th century and remains one of the world’s most beautiful capital cities, abutting Salisbury Crags and Arthur’s Seat, the landscape forming part of the city. Affectionately known by the Scots as “Auld Reekie” from its smoky and fetid medieval past, it is also contradictorily called the “Athens of the North” for the Greek temples on Calton Hill and the stunning neoclassical buildings of the Royal Scottish Academy and the National Gallery of Scotland at the foot of The Mound.
The great philosophers, writers, poets, architects, mathematicians, physicists, physicians and inventors of the 18th century Scottish Age of Enlightenment turned Edinburgh into the ideas capital of the world. It is a city of culture and history, art and literature, philosophy and science. Where would the world be today without Andrew Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, David Lister’s antiseptics, James Clerk Maxwell’s discovery of radar which spawned radio, television and mobile phones?
The imposing Castle dominates the city from its vast 443’-high volcanic basalt plug. It has been a fortress since the 7th century, home to the Scottish kings from the 11th – 17th centuries and has been in continuous use for 1,000 years.
The Royal Mile links the Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The street is filled with historical houses, churches, and shops bursting with antiques, tartans and wool, and beautiful Edinburgh crystal, the modern Scottish Parliament building and delightful old pubs. Whisky plays a major part in Scottish life, Robbie Burns stating that “whisky and freedom gang together”. The Scots always enjoy a “wee dram”, often followed by a beer chaser.
Princes Street Gardens below the castle (once the stinking Nor Loch) conveniently divides the city, by a matter of yards, into the Old Town with its congested, winding cobbled streets, wynds and staircases, and the New Town, a fine example of Georgian elegance. A bandstand, fountain, war memorial, statues and a floral clock are to be found here where spring daffodils are a joy to behold. At the eastern end the Mound (debris dug out from the loch) carries the roadway connecting the Royal Mile to Princes Street.
Concerts and festivals take place throughout the year. Hogmanay - the Scottish New Year - kicks off the festivities which culminate in high summer with the famous Edinburgh International Festival.
With a population of approximately 450,000, Edinburgh combines ancient and modern. It’s an exciting city for lovers of history, geology, architecture, music, art, drama and Scottish culture. And being a compact city, the best way to explore it is on foot.
The Old and New Towns of Edinburgh were listed as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1995. In 2004 Edinburgh was declared a City of Literature when it became the first member of UNESCO’s Creative Cities.
Rolling hills, green fields, beaches, and historic houses and castles in the countryside just outside Edinburgh are easily reached by bus or car.
And if you have a couple of days to spare, hire a car and head for the Scottish Highlands, particularly the west and north coasts, for breathtaking scenery of mountains, heather-covered glens, lochs, talc-white beaches.
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