Hidden under the Royal Mile is a series of narrow streets that used to be part of the city above in the 16th century or so and are now part of the foundations of the Royal Mile. These are real preserved buildings, not just a tourist show, and a fascinating look at Edinburgh in a past time.
A word of warning – the smells are pretty real too!

2 Warriston’s Court, Writers Close

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Visit Edinburgh in the middle of winter - at Christmas or at New Year...?

Yes, and I recommend it!

The locals are full of bonhomie; every pub or eatery with a fireplace is welcoming; and the locals, who act as tourist guides at the castle and other touristy places, are happy to see you and have a chat.

Crowds? No ... have have the castle and the whisky tours all to yourself.

You can even venture out of town and maybe have a hit at St Andrews ('cos there is noone else there playing).

There is also the added bonus of Scottish New Year celebrations. Something everyone should do at least once in a lifetime: Hogmanay.

Downside? It's cold - very cold; sleeting and snowing, but hey, nothing a couple of jackets, coats, mufflers, gloves and hats can't fix.

Seriously: go and visit in winter;
it is a different place.

Edinburgh is in Scotland! Drive or fly or train it there.

www.edinburghschristmas.com/
and
www.edinburghshogmanay.org/

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The Water of Leith Walkway will take you along about 12 miles of river through the heart of Edinburgh from Balerno to Leith. One of the nicest stretches is the walk from Stockbridge to the Dean Gallery and Modern Art Gallery, which consists of a mile of picturesque woodland, including a Victorian mineral well guarded by a rather grand nymph-type and wander through the very pretty Dean Village. The best bit is that when you get to the fantastic galleries, you can reward yourself with chocolate cake (Dean Gallery Cafe - highly recommended). Alternatively, walk in the opposite direction (towards Leith) and after three miles pop out onto The Shore in Leith for an excellent feast and pint at the King's Wark.

Water of Leith: www.waterofleith.org.uk/

National Galleries of Scotland:
www.natgalscot.ac.uk/

King's Wark:
www.bestpubs.co.uk/layout0.asp?pub=143236

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Set in a beautifully restored 16th century mansion, the Museum of Edinburgh is the city’s principal museum of local history. It has period rooms and reconstructions that depict Edinburgh's proud industrial heritage. The museum has important collections of glass and Scottish pottery.

142 Canongate, Royal Mile
Tel: 0131 529 4143

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Edinburgh Dungeons is a macabre visitor attraction buried deep beneath Edinburgh. It depicts the darkest chapters of Scottish history in grisly detail. The Dungeon has a wonderfully interactive emphasis, with actors, rides and tableaux combining horror and humour to tell their tales of terror and torture, mutilation and mass murder, persecution and pestilence.

Please note: The Edinburgh Dungeon may not be suitable for very young children, or for those of a nervous (or squeamish) disposition.

31 Market Street
Tel: 0131 240 1000

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At the far end of the Royal Mile is the Outlook Tower, and inside is one of the most remarkable of inventions from the mid-nineteenth century, a Camera Obscura. To visit this is to fall in love with Victorian technology with its gleaming brass and polished mahogany.

Climb to the top of the tower and enter a darkened room with a white circular table in the middle. At the appointed hour a guide appears for the ritual. Above the table in the summit of the tower is a complex arrangement of ropes and pulleys that ingeniously manipulate a variety of lenses. The guide, by means of these, can make images of the streets below appear on the white table, complete with people and traffic. So clever is the system that it is possible to zoom in on individuals, who appear with the most startling clarity.

Visit the Camera Obscura and be captivated by its archaic charm. There is a fascination about this mechanism, which ensures that any subsequent visits to the city will include a return to the Outlook Tower.

And forget the camcorder.

Castlehill, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh;
tel: 0131 226 3709;
www.camera-obscura.co.uk

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This is the most visited monument in Britain after the Tower of London, but it should be remembered that it is a working military establishment. Inside, roam the Crown Room and the Great Hall. Listen for the one o’clock gun fired daily, except on Sundays. Ponder the Witches’ Well, where women found guilty of witchcraft were put to death.

Situated on rocky outcrops, the castle rears over Princes Street, the main shopping thoroughfare, and an elegant, wide avenue, graced by public gardens with the tapering spire of the Scott Monument at one end.

tel: 0131 225 9846;
www.edinburghcastle.biz

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A warren of underground streets and houses hidden beneath Edinburgh's Royal Mile. Costumed guides take you around this amazing site, revealing the stories of the former residents. Very eerie and supposedly very haunted. Great for adults and older kids alike.

Mary King's Close, off the Royal Mile;
Bookings: 08702 430 160;
www.realmarykingsclose.com

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There are plenty of free museums and art galleries to see in Edinburgh: Chambers Street museums (Royal Museum and Museum of Scotland), Museum of Childhood, Museum of Edinburgh, The People’s Story (all central) and City Art Centre, Dean Gallery and the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art (n.b: you have to pay entry fee for some exhibitions within the galleries).

Royal Museum and Museum of Scotland: www.nms.ac.uk;
City Art Centre, Museum of Childhood, Museum of Edinburgh, The People’s Story: www.cac.org.uk;
Dean Gallery and Scottish Gallery of Modern Art: www.nationalgalleries.org

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From outside the Dean Gallery looks like what it used to be: a hospital. Not the orphan hospital it actually was, but more a retreat for Victorian gents with gout, set as it is in opulent grounds. But it’s all about the beauty on the inside. Surrealist art (including works by Dali and Man Ray), a recreation of Sir Eduardo Paolozzi’s haphazard studio, a shop packed with fascinating books, and a buzzing café in which locals and visitors share their love of art over steaming cups, all combine to make it an unusually vibrant gallery experience.

Not quite so lively is the Dean Cemetery, located at the side of the gallery. But it’s still wonderful to stroll through the trees and read the names of forgotten scholars and captains of industry on mossy mausoleums and gravestones.

Old and new melted into one another. Dali might have liked it.

The Dean Gallery it located directly opposite the National Gallery of Modern Art, Belford Road, Lothian. Number 13 Bus from Georges Street; entry is free; www.natgalscot.ac.uk

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There's no better way to get a handle on Edinburgh's transformation in the late 18th century. Gladstone's Land shows how the old high-rises of the medieval city, where poor and rich lived in the same block, were gradually tarted up with drawing rooms. 7 Charlotte Square showcases the new suburbs that were the Georgian New Town - built, ultimately, with money from the Highland Clearances.

Gladstone's Lane on the Lawnmarket, near the Castle; 7 Charlotte Square at the west end of George Street.

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It's free and it's utterly absorbing, even for an Englishwoman with no known Scottish heritage. The Tower Restaurant in the roof is rather expensive but has one of the best views in Edinburgh.

www.nms.ac.uk/scotland/home/index.asp Chambers St, Edinburgh

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The Vaults have a truly spooky atmosphere because of its gruesome past (it was alledgedly used by bodysnatchers as a storage place for their corpses). It was also where many of Edinburgh's poorer citizens lived in filthy squalor as they were evicted from the site of the New Town. Go on a guided tour to appreciate it fully.

The Vaults lie under South Niddry Street and Blair Street in the Old Town.

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