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Edinburgh

  Scotland, Edinburgh

Edinburgh: -

(Tourist Board website: www.edinburgh.org.) Known as ‘the Athens of the North’, Edinburgh is one of the United Kingdom’s finest cities. It straddles a deep gorge occupied by newly refurbished Waverley Station, and gardens containing the Scott Monument. On its south side is Old Town, the original city centre, while opposite is the predominantly Georgian New Town, with its elegant 18th-century architecture. This is also the main shopping area, centred on Princes Street.
Edinburgh Castle, the nation’s top tourist attraction, also housing the Scottish Crown Jewels, stands in Old Town at the head of the Royal Mile, which extends to the Palace of Holyrood House, the Queen’s official Scottish residence. Edinburgh Zoo is also popular, especially with families. Attractions such as St Giles’ Cathedral, John Knox House, the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre, the Writer’s Museum and the Camera Obscura pepper the Old Town, along with galleries and museums.
Edinburgh is home to many of Scotland’s national galleries and museums, including the Museum of Scotland, the National Gallery of Scotland, a new gallery at the National Trust for Scotland, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery of Modern Art and the National Museum of Antiquities. There is also a National Centre for Dance.
Edinburgh’s cultural life offers a programme of theatre, music and dance unrivalled in the UK outside London. It has Britain’s largest stage and largest theatre in the Festival Theatre and the Edinburgh Playhouse, respectively. These feature during the three-week August Edinburgh Festival, the world’s largest of its kind. The festival season kicks off with the spectacular Military Tattoo, staged outside the Castle. The world’s biggest New Year party (known as Hogmanay in Scotland) takes place over several days at the end of each year.

Excursions: Attractions close to Edinburgh include the city’s port, Leith, where the former Royal Yacht Britannia is now open to visitors; Linlithgow, with its magnificent palace; Hopetoun House, one of Scotland’s best stately homes at South Queensferry; Deep Sea World, at North Queensferry; and the Scottish Seabird Centre at North Berwick.