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| Attractions
A CAPITAL FOR ALL SEASONS Festival time in August is best to see the city at its liveliest but accommodation can be very difficult to come by. Edinburgh's Hogmanay has also developed into a major draw for visitors from all over the world who want to enjoy the revelry of a Scottish New Year. Again accommodation is at a premium, but it is well worth making the effort, especially for the spectacular midnight firework display that heralds the new year. But with so many interesting attractions, most within easy walking distance in the city centre, Edinburgh provides a year-round tourist haven whether for a lengthy stayor a brief weekend visit. CITY HIGHLIGHTS The Castle is an obvious starting point not only for its historical points of interest www.historic-scotland.gov.uk but also for the superb view it gives over Princes Street and beyond. The walk down the Royal Mile to the Palace of Holyroodhouse provides a step back in time with such notable buildings as the High Kirk of St Giles but before reaching there make sure to take a detour along George IV Bridge to visit the statue of Greyfriars Bobby (right) as well as the National Museum of Scotland www.nms.ac.uk and the adjoining Royal Museum of Scotland in Chambers Street. At the foot of the Royal Mile is Holyrood and the royal palace as well as the still to be completed Scottish parliament building while nearby, in Holyrood Road, is another of Edinburgh’s newer attractions Dynamic Earth, an imaginative millennium project which looks at the history of life on Earth www.dynamicearth.co.uk From Dynamic Earth a walk into Holyrood Park is another
essential for the visitor. The climb to the top of the 823ft Arthur’s
Seat should take no longer than an hour and the view from the city’s
highest point provides its most dramatic view. Another famed view of
the city is that from Calton Hill looking along Princes Street and across
to the Castle and the Old Town while another excellent vantage point
for the photographer is the Scott Monument in Princes Street. For the
admission price of ? you can climb the 287 steps to near the top of
200ft tribute to the author Sir Walter Scott and get a bird’s
eye view of Edinburgh’s main thoroughfare.
GALLERIES Edinburgh also houses two other national art collections at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Queen Street and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the adjoining Dean Gallery at Belford Road in the city’s West End. Conveniently for the visitor a free hourly bus service connects the galleries between 11am and 5pm. Add on the various exhibitions at the likes of the City Art Centre in Market Street and other local galleries and you have a city that is a perfect haunt for any art lover.
The Botanic Garden at Inverleith lies in 72 acres of landscaped grounds and is acknowledged to be one of the best in the world. It includes various glasshouses, including ritain's tallest Palm House, as well as a world-famous rock garden, a well-stocked souvenir shop and a terraced cafe with excellent views of Edinburgh. www.rbge.org.uk The zoo is on the road to the airport at Corstorphine Hill and is noted for its large collection of penguins in the world's biggest zoo pool. The penguin parade where they leave their enclosure is one of a daily programme of events and another one of those Edinburgh must-sees. www.edinburghzoo.org.uk
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