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By the 12th century, Edinburgh was
well established around castle rock,
where Edinburgh Castle now stands.
Another community developed around the
Abbey of Hollyrood about 1 mile east,
where the Palace of Hollyrood now stands.
The streets that now connect the two are
known as the Royal Mile, packed full of
museums, historic places, bar diners,
restaurants and souvenir shops.
Edinburgh New Town was built from the
early 1800s, just to the west of the Old
Town, Princes Street Gardens separates
the two, and Princes Street overlooks the
Gardens and Castle.
Just behind Princes Street, is the
narrow Rose Street with many
Bar/Diners. The Bar/Diners are popular
for meals and drinks throughout the day,
then become extremely popular places for
a few drinks and entertainment at
night.
Just behind Rose Street, is the wide
George Street with many
fine Georgian buildings. George Street is
lined with glamorous bar/diners,
restaurants, and designer shops.
Edinburgh International
Airport is situated 8 miles west of
the city with inexpensive trams, buses
and taxi rides into the city.
The centre of Edinburgh is considered
now to be around Waverley Train Station.
This area has a large Visitor Information
Centre, tour buses depart from St Andrew
Square by the station, and Princes Street
and Gardens are next to the station.
The Royal Edinburgh
Military Tattoo is held at Edinburgh
Castle over three weeks each year, in
August. The Tattoo has attratced
performers from over 40 countries, and
attracts and audience of over 200,000
each year, many from overseas. Taking
place at the same time is the Edinburgh Festival
Fringe, the largest arts festival in
the world.
Edinburgh is also a good base to
explore Scotland with inexpensive
Buses and Trains running regular to
Stirling about 60 minutes
travel time, Glasgow 50 minutes, and
Inverness 3.5 hours.
There are also a number of tour buses
that offer guided day trips to other
areas of Scotland, see City
Tours.
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