Edinburgh, a city of two towns

About Edinburgh, a city of two towns

By the ULTIMATE Edinburgh Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

UNESCO lists the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh together as a World Heritage Site: the medieval town that runs down the ridge from the castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and the planned Georgian New Town laid out to the north. Between them lie Princes Street Gardens, and around them the hills: Castle Rock, Calton Hill and Arthur’s Seat.

The Old Town

The Royal Mile runs from Edinburgh Castle, home of the Honours of Scotland, Mons Meg and the One o’Clock Gun, to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the King’s official residence in Scotland. Off it run the closes and wynds; beneath it, the Real Mary King’s Close preserves a 17th-century street, in its own words.

The New Town

North of the gardens, the New Town’s squares, crescents and terraces were built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The Georgian House, on Charlotte Square, shows how one of its houses was lived in (National Trust for Scotland).

Climb Calton Hill at dusk for the view that explains the city: castle, Old Town ridge, New Town grid and the Firth of Forth.

The hills

Castle Rock, Calton Hill with its monuments, and Arthur’s Seat in Holyrood Park give Edinburgh its skyline; Historic Environment Scotland looks after Holyrood Park.

Leith and the sea

Down the Water of Leith lies the port, where the Royal Yacht Britannia is moored at Ocean Terminal.

Our advice: give the Old Town a morning, the New Town an afternoon and the hills an evening.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Edinburgh, a city of two towns before you go.