| Great escapes: Scotland 5 |
Edinburgh, Scotland's capital city, is known as the 'Athens of the North' due to its many neo-classical buildings. It's a stunning city, with many medieval and post-medieval buildings surviving alongside the elegant and grandiose 'New Town' buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries. Edinburgh is steeped in history.
Its attractions pull millions of tourists every year, for good reason: it truly is a beautiful capital, surely one of Europe's finest.
Start here
Take the train from Stirling to Edinburgh Waverley station. You'd be ill-advised to attempt taking a vehicle into the capital as parking space is not plentiful. The train is simple, quick and central, and your ticket is partly subsidised, by Edinburgh council, to encourage you to use it. All-day parking is just £2.50 at Stirling station and the train costs only £6 for an adult cheap-day return.
Leave the station by the stairs to Princes St, but before you do, visit the travel centre to see the North British Railway's domed booking hall. On Princes St, turn left and begin walking.
This is Edinburgh's main shopping street, with shops on one side only so that views of the castle are unrestricted.
• You'll soon pass the Scott Monument, erected in 1846 to the memory of Sir Walter Scott, Scotland's finest romantic poet and novelist. You can climb to the top of the 200ft-high Gothic tower for spectacular views - if you can
manage the 287 (narrow) steps!
Further along, on your left just after the Mound, enter the beautiful Princes Gardens and cut through. Cross the railway at the Ross Open Air Theatre, and climb towards Castle Esplanade.
1. Edinburgh Castle
The Castle is perched on a plug of volcanic rock, and offers commanding views across the city and surrounding countryside. Its history is one of invasion and war, ending with the failure of Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite rebellion in 1745. Now, the Castle is Scotland's biggest crowd-puller. You can see Mons Meg, a 544-year old cannon which last fired in 1681 and the 12th century St Margaret's chapel, the oldest part of the castle.
Within the castle is the well maintained, and dignified Scottish War Memorial designed by architect Robert Lorimer. It commemorates the soldiers of both world wars who lost their lives.
The castle is still guarded by the troops of the Highlanders, and every day (except Sunday) a field gun is fired at one o'clock, as has been the case for the past150 years.
Leave the castle and proceed down the Esplanade to enter the Royal Mile (actually a mile and an eighth - an old Scots mile). About 30 yards on your left is Camera Obscura, a tall building.
2. Camera Obscura
Camera Obscura is a unique way to view the capital. Inside, you are given a 20-minute treat as you view the city through a Victorian lens and light-projection system which allows you to 'pick' up in your hand unsuspecting tourists on Edinburgh's streets and 'shake' them about! Camera Obscura also has five floors devoted to all kinds of optical illusions, photography, holographs, and Europe's biggest plasmadome. On the roof, binoculars provide a free, 360 degree view of the city.
3. Museum of Scotland
This museum is absolutely the place to go to understand Scotland as a nation. Through a series of wonderful exhibits, it takes you from Scotland's geological beginnings, through the arrival of Scotland's earliest people, to the Kingdom of the Scots, which includes items such as stone crosses, muskets, swords and even a guillotine. You'll also see the transformation of Scotland in the 18th century following the Act of Union in 1707. This museum also takes a close look at the rise of industrial Scotland with a complete, 'atmospheric' engine in situ, and commemorates a way of life which industrialisation tore apart. You can also view Scotland's contribution to the 20th century, and its place in the modern world. You really could spend all day here.
Leave the museum and head back up to the Royal Mile. There, turn right and walk until you see the Cathedral.
4. St Giles Cathedral
Outside the Cathedral, look down to see the Heart of Midlothian, a heart shape built into the cobbles to mark the site of the 'Tolbooth', (demolished in 1817) once the council chamber, courthouse, jail and execution site.
The Cathedral itself has a spire dating from 1495, and the pillars that support it are even older (1120). It took its name from St Giles, the patron saint of lepers.
A must-see is the detailed carving that makes up the Thistle Chapel (designed by Sir Robert Lorimer) religious home to the Knights of the Thistle, the highest honour the Queen can bestow on a Scotsman.
Walk out of St Giles, back onto the High St and Royal Mile, and follow it away from the castle, down Canongate, to its conclusion with Abbey Strand.
5. Holyrood Palace
The palace you see today originated as a guesthouse for royalty when they visited the
now-ruined abbey adjacent, which itself dates from 1128. Today's palace dates from 1670 or thereabouts, although James IV raised it from its 'temporary' status to a palace in 1501 when he made it the residence for his new bride Margaret Tudor. Nowadays, there is an excellent, 45-minute guided tour available.
Not to be missed, though, is Mary Queen of Scots' room and
an exhibition which includes some interesting personal effects, including a lock of her hair.
Leave Holyrood Palace and return to St. Giles Cathedral, from where Mercat Tours leave.
6. The Mary King's Close tour
If you do nothing else during your time in Edinburgh, you really should try this tour. Mercat runs a variety of excellent walking tours, but perhaps the most unusual is the Mary King's Close tour. Be warned, though - booking ahead is essential.
The Tour takes you through one of Edinburgh's narrow 'closes' (or streets) - one with a difference.
In 1645, the plague struck Edinburgh and quickly spread throughout the town, which had no sewerage system. Mary King's Close was one such street but to contain the plague, the authorities shut off the close, leaving the infected inhabitants (some 600 people) to die.
Later, in the 1700s, a new council trading building was erected right on top of Mary King's Close, thereby completely (and inadvertently) preserving it.
It is well-worth taking the guided tour through this unnerving and completely unrestored medieval close. It is electrifying and, as you might expect, haunted throughout - there are regular sightings. Absolutely not to be missed and a bargain at only £5.
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PARK GUIDE
Trossachs Holiday Park
Aberfoyle, Perthshire, FK8 3SA
Tel: 01877 382614
Open 1 Mar - 31 October
Distance: 40 miles (by train)
Time: all day
Start/finish: Stirling station
Suitable for: all the family
REFRESHMENTS
Cafe Florentin Tel: 0131 225 6267
The Tea Room Tel: 07771 501679
INFORMATION
Princes Street Tel: 0131 473 3800
ATTRACTIONS
Edinburgh Castle Tel: 0131 225 9846
Camera Obscura Tel: 0131 226 3709
Museum of Scotland Tel: 0131 247 4422
Holyrood Palace Tel: 0131 556 1096
Mercat Tours Tel: 0131 557 6464
TIP
Buy a good map. Edinburgh is an easy city to navigate and walk around, but a detailed map will help you find its narrow 'closes'.
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