Edinburgh — Sights
A castle on a rock, stairs down every alley, wind off the sea
- Edinburgh Castle — Crown jewels, a volcanic crag and the one o'clock gun
- Royal Mile — A downhill mile from castle to palace, with alleys to duck into
- St Giles' Cathedral — Under the crown spire, hunt for the bagpipe-playing angel
- Palace of Holyroodhouse — Mary Queen of Scots' rooms and a roofless abbey
- Arthur's Seat — An extinct volcano in town; climb an hour for sea views
- Calton Hill — Ten minutes up, and the castle and Old Town fit in one frame
- Victoria Street & Grassmarket — A curving rainbow street down to a pub square under the castle
- Dean Village — An old mill village on a stream, ten minutes from the centre
- National Museum of Scotland — Free museum: Dolly the sheep, then the castle from the roof
- Scott Monument — A soot-black Gothic spire with 287 narrow steps
- Princes Street Gardens — Lawns right under Castle Rock, with a fountain to rest by
- Greyfriars Kirkyard & Greyfriars Bobby — A loyal terrier's statue and a graveyard of Potter names
- The Real Mary King's Close — A guided walk through 17th-century streets buried under the City Chambers
- The Royal Yacht Britannia — The Queen's yacht for 44 years, five decks from bedroom to engine room
- Highlands & Loch Ness Day Tour — Twelve hours through Glencoe to Loch Ness and back
- Rosslyn Chapel — A 15th-century chapel carved on every surface, from The Da Vinci Code
- Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh — Old Town skyline from a grassy hill
- Scottish National Gallery — Raeburn and Monet free, between two towns
- Camera Obscura & World of Illusions — Live city views in a rooftop dark room
- The Scotch Whisky Experience — Barrel ride, and what peat means
- Dynamic Earth — Walk through Earth's history
- Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art — Lawn sculpture and modern art after Dean Village
- The Writers' Museum — Burns, Scott and Stevenson in a 1600s house
- Surgeons' Hall Museums — Surgical tools and anatomy specimens, gloriously grim
- Edinburgh Zoo (RZSS) — A hillside zoo with a penguin parade
- The Edinburgh Dungeon — A 70-minute actor-led horror history tour