Self-guided Sightseeing Tour #1 in City of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Legend

Churches & Art
Nature
Water & Wind
Historical
Heritage & Space
Tourism
Paid Tours & Activities

Tour Facts

Number of sights 48 sights
Distance 11.5 km
Ascend 360 m
Descend 408 m

Experience City of Edinburgh in United Kingdom in a whole new way with our free self-guided sightseeing tour. This site not only offers you practical information and insider tips, but also a rich variety of activities and sights you shouldn't miss. Whether you love art and culture, want to explore historical sites or simply want to experience the vibrant atmosphere of a lively city - you'll find everything you need for your personal adventure here.

Activities in City of EdinburghIndividual Sights in City of Edinburgh

Sight 1: Bruntsfield Links

Show sight on map

Bruntsfield Links is 35 acres (14 ha) of open parkland in Bruntsfield, Edinburgh, immediately to the south-west of the adjoining Meadows.

Wikipedia: Bruntsfield Links (EN)

461 meters / 6 minutes

Sight 2: King's Theatre

Show sight on map

The King's Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Wikipedia: King's Theatre, Edinburgh (EN), Website

231 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 3: Church of St Michael and All Saints

Show sight on map

The Church of St Michael and All Saints is an Episcopal church in Edinburgh, Scotland. The church stands in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, and is a Category A listed building.

Wikipedia: Church of St Michael and All Saints, Edinburgh (EN), Website

357 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 4: Church of the Sacred Heart

Show sight on map

Sacred Heart, Edinburgh, formally known as the Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is a Roman Catholic church run by the Society of Jesus, close to the city centre of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. It is situated in Lauriston, midway between the Grassmarket and Tollcross, on the edge of Edinburgh’s historic Old Town. The church building was opened in 1860 and is a category A listed building.

Wikipedia: Sacred Heart, Edinburgh (EN)

352 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 5: Royal Lyceum Theatre

Show sight on map
Royal Lyceum Theatre

The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658-seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by architect C. J. Phipps at a cost of £17,000 on behalf of James B. Howard and Fred. W. P. Wyndham, two theatrical managers and performers whose partnership became the renowned Howard & Wyndham Ltd created in 1895 by Michael Simons of Glasgow.

Wikipedia: Royal Lyceum Theatre (EN), Website

232 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 6: Traverse Theatre

Show sight on map
Traverse Theatre No machine-readable author provided. Globaltraveller assumed (based on copyright claims). / CC BY-SA 3.0

The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded as The Traverse Theatre Club in 1962 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes, Richard Demarco, Terry Lane, Andrew Muir, John Martin and Sheila Colvin.

Wikipedia: Traverse Theatre (EN), Website

23 meters / 0 minutes

Sight 7: Usher Hall

Show sight on map

The Usher Hall is a concert hall in the West End of Edinburgh, Scotland. The hall is owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council, and has hosted concerts and events since its construction in 1914.

Wikipedia: Usher Hall (EN), Website

424 meters / 5 minutes

Sight 8: Castle Terrace

Show sight on map

Castle Terrace Car Park is a car park in Edinburgh in the brutalist style which was designated as a listed building in October 2019.

Wikipedia: Castle Terrace Car Park (EN), Website

337 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 9: Edinburgh Castle

Show sight on mapJoin Free Tour*

Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcolm III in the 11th century, and the castle continued to be a royal residence until 1633. From the 15th century, the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as a military garrison. Its importance as a part of Scotland's national heritage was recognised increasingly from the early 19th century onwards, and various restoration programmes have been carried out over the past century and a half.

Wikipedia: Edinburgh Castle (EN), Website

343 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 10: St Columba's by the Castle

Show sight on map

St Columba's-by-the-Castle is a congregation of the Scottish Episcopal Church in central Edinburgh, Scotland. The church is located close to Edinburgh Castle, on the south slope of Castle Hill, and is protected as a category B listed building.

Wikipedia: St Columba's-by-the-Castle (EN), Website

142 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 11: The Scotch Whisky Experience

Show sight on map

The Scotch Whisky Experience is a whisky visitor attraction located on Castlehill in the Old Town of Edinburgh, immediately adjacent to the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. The centre offers tours and whisky tutoring sessions, alongside a shop, corporate spaces and Amber Restaurant & Whisky Bar.

Wikipedia: Scotch Whisky Experience (EN), Website

91 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 12: Camera Obscura & World of Illusions

Show sight on map

Camera Obscura & World of Illusions is a tourist attraction located in Outlook Tower on the Castlehill section of the Royal Mile close to Edinburgh Castle. The original attraction was founded by entrepreneur Maria Theresa Short in 1835 and was exhibited on Calton Hill. Outlook Tower has been a museum since the late 1890s and is currently home to many interactive exhibits, including the original Camera Obscura.

Wikipedia: Camera Obscura, Edinburgh (EN), Website

28 meters / 0 minutes

Sight 13: The Hub

Show sight on map

The Hub is a public arts and events building in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. Located at the top of the Royal Mile, it is a prominent landmark as its tall Gothic spire is the highest point in central Edinburgh, and towers over the surrounding buildings below Edinburgh Castle.

Wikipedia: The Hub, Edinburgh (EN)

107 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 14: General Assembly Hall

Show sight on map

The Assembly Hall is located between Castlehill and Mound Place in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the meeting place of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

Wikipedia: General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland (EN)

230 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 15: National Gallery

Show sight on map

The National is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by William Henry Playfair, and first opened to the public in 1859.

Wikipedia: Scottish National Gallery (EN), Website

235 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 16: Museum on the Mound

Show sight on map

The Museum on the Mound is a museum in Edinburgh, Scotland, that focuses on money, coinage and economics. It is located in the Bank of Scotland Head Office building on The Mound. It has more than 50,000 visitors per year.

Wikipedia: Museum on the Mound (EN), Website

139 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 17: Writers' Museum

Show sight on map

The Writers’ Museum, housed in Lady Stair's House at the Lawnmarket on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, presents the lives of three of the foremost Scottish writers: Robert Burns, Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. Run by the City of Edinburgh Council, the collection includes portraits, works and personal objects. Beside the museum lies the Makars' Court, the country's emerging national literary monument.

Wikipedia: Writers' Museum (EN), Website

187 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 18: Heart of Midlothian

Show sight on mapJoin Free Tour*

The Heart of Midlothian is a mosaic located outside St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh. The heart marks the location of the entrance to Edinburgh's Old Tolbooth which was demolished in 1817. Locals will often spit upon the heart as a sign of good luck. While the tradition is now one of good luck, it was originally believed to be done as a sign of disdain for the executions which took place within the Old Tolbooth.

Wikipedia: Heart of Midlothian (Royal Mile) (EN)

0 meters / 0 minutes

Sight 19: Old Town

Show sight on mapJoin Free Tour*

The Old Town is the name popularly given to the oldest part of Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and many Reformation-era buildings. Together with the 18th/19th-century New Town, and West End, it forms part of a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Wikipedia: Old Town, Edinburgh (EN), Heritage Website

64 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 20: St Giles' Cathedral

Show sight on map

St Giles' Cathedral, or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alterations were undertaken in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the addition of the Thistle Chapel. St Giles' is closely associated with many events and figures in Scottish history, including John Knox, who served as the church's minister after the Scottish Reformation.

Wikipedia: St Giles' Cathedral (EN), Website

80 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 21: The Mercat Cross

Show sight on map

The Mercat Cross of Edinburgh is a market cross, which stands in Parliament Square next to St Giles' Cathedral, facing the High Street in the Old Town of Edinburgh.

Wikipedia: Mercat Cross, Edinburgh (EN)

260 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 22: City Art Centre

Show sight on map

The City Art Centre is part of the Museums & Galleries Edinburgh, which sits under the Culture directorate of the City of Edinburgh Council. The City Art Centre has a collection which include historic and modern Scottish painting and photography, as well as contemporary art and craft. It is an exhibition based venue with no permanent displays.

Wikipedia: City Art Centre (EN), Website

191 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 23: Old Saint Paul's

Show sight on map

Old Saint Paul's is an historic church of the Scottish Episcopal Church in the heart of Edinburgh's Old Town in Scotland. It is one of the original congregations of the Scottish Episcopal Church, part of the Anglican Communion, which evolved with the adoption of Presbyterian governance by the established Church of Scotland.

Wikipedia: Old St Paul's, Edinburgh (EN)

162 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 24: Trinity Apse

Show sight on map
Trinity Apse

Trinity College Kirk was a royal collegiate church in Edinburgh, Scotland. The kirk and its adjacent almshouse, Trinity Hospital, were founded in 1460 by Mary of Guelders in memory of her husband, King James II who had been killed at the siege of Roxburgh Castle that year. Queen Mary was interred in the church, until her coffin was moved to Holyrood Abbey in 1848.

Wikipedia: Trinity College Kirk (EN)

146 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 25: Carrubbers Christian Centre

Show sight on map

Carrubbers Christian Centre is a church on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Wikipedia: Carrubbers Christian Centre (EN), Website

60 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 26: John Knox House

Show sight on map

John Knox House, popularly known as John Knox's House, is a historic house in Edinburgh, Scotland, reputed to have been owned and lived in by Protestant reformer John Knox during the 16th century. Although his name became associated with the house, he appears to have lived in Warriston Close where a plaque indicates the approximate site of his actual residence.

Wikipedia: John Knox House (EN), Website

42 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 27: Museum of Childhood

Show sight on map
Museum of Childhood Kjetil Bjørnsrud / CC BY 2.5

The Museum of Childhood is a museum which houses a collection of children's toys and playthings, situated on the Royal Mile, in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the first museum in the world to specialise in the history of childhood.

Wikipedia: Museum of Childhood (Edinburgh) (EN), Website

107 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 28: St Patrick's RC Church

Show sight on map

St Patrick's Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in the Cowgate part of Old Town, Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built from 1771 to 1774, and became a Catholic church in 1856. The facade of the church was designed by Reginald Fairlie in 1929. It is situated between South Gray's Close and St Mary's Street north of Cowgate and south of the Royal Mile. It is a category B listed building.

Wikipedia: St Patrick's Church, Edinburgh (EN), Website

580 meters / 7 minutes

Sight 29: Augustine United Church

Show sight on map

Augustine United Church is a United Reformed Church in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is in a local ecumenical partnership with St Columba's-by-the-Castle and Greyfriars Tolbooth and Highland Kirk.

Wikipedia: Augustine United Church (EN), Website

160 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 30: Greyfriars Bobby

Show sight on mapJoin Free Tour*
Greyfriars Bobby Michael Reeve / CC BY-SA 3.0

Greyfriars Bobby was a Skye Terrier or Dandie Dinmont Terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh for spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner until he died on 14 January 1872. The story continues to be well known in Scotland, through several books and films. A prominent commemorative statue and nearby graves are a tourist attraction.

Wikipedia: Greyfriars Bobby (EN), Website

83 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 31: Greyfriars Kirk

Show sight on mapJoin Free Tour*

Greyfriars Kirk is a parish church of the Church of Scotland, located in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is surrounded by Greyfriars Kirkyard.

Wikipedia: Greyfriars Kirk (EN), Website

153 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 32: Bedlam Theatre

Show sight on map

Bedlam Theatre is a theatre in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The building was completed in 1848 for the New North Free Church. After closing as a church in 1941, the building served as a chaplaincy centre and then a store for the University of Edinburgh before reopening in 1980 as the student-run theatre of Edinburgh University Theatre Company (EUTC), operating during Edinburgh Fringe festival as venue 49.

Wikipedia: Bedlam Theatre (EN)

217 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 33: Reid Concert Hall

Show sight on map

The Reid Concert Hall is a small music venue in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located in the south-western corner of Bristo Square about 0.53 kilometres (0.33 mi) south of the Royal Mile, and is part of the University of Edinburgh. Originally opened in 1859 as the Reid School of Music by the university's professor of music, John Donaldson (1789-1865), it was designed by the Scottish Architect David Cousin and is a Category A listed building. The hall is named after General John Reid, an army officer and musician who founded the Chair of Music at the university. The Reid Concerts take place every 13 February.

Wikipedia: Reid Concert Hall (EN)

518 meters / 6 minutes

Sight 34: The Meadows

Show sight on map

The Meadows is a large public park in Edinburgh, Scotland, to the south of the city centre.

Wikipedia: The Meadows, Edinburgh (EN)

331 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 35: George Square Gardens

Show sight on map

George Square is a city square in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is in the south of the city centre, adjacent to the Meadows. It was laid out in 1766 outside the overcrowded Old Town, and was a popular residential area for Edinburgh's better-off citizens. In the 1960s, much of the square was redeveloped by the University of Edinburgh, although the Cockburn Association and the Georgian Group of Edinburgh protested. Most but not all buildings on the square now belong to the university. Principal buildings include the Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre, Edinburgh University Library, 40 George Square and Appleton Tower.

Wikipedia: George Square, Edinburgh (EN)

326 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 36: Edinburgh Central Mosque

Show sight on map

Edinburgh Central Mosque is located on Potterrow near the University of Edinburgh central area and the National Museum of Scotland. The mosque and Islamic centre was designed by Dr. Basil Al Bayati, and took more than six years to complete at a cost of £3.5M. The main hall can hold over one thousand worshippers, with women praying on a balcony overlooking the hall. The mosque holds chandeliers and a vast carpet, with very little furniture.

Wikipedia: Edinburgh Central Mosque (EN), Website

214 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 37: Festival Theatre

Show sight on map
Festival Theatre No machine-readable author provided. Globaltraveller assumed (based on copyright claims). / CC BY-SA 3.0

The Edinburgh Festival Theatre is a performing arts venue located on Nicolson Street in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is used primarily for performances of opera and ballet, large-scale musical events, and touring groups. After its most recent renovation in 1994, it seats 1,915. It is one of the major venues of the annual summer Edinburgh International Festival and is the Edinburgh venue for the Scottish Opera and the Scottish Ballet.

Wikipedia: Edinburgh Festival Theatre (EN), Website

326 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 38: Talbot Rice Gallery

Show sight on map
Talbot Rice Gallery Talbot Rice Gallery / CC BY 4.0

Talbot Rice Gallery is the public art gallery of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and part of Edinburgh College of Art. The building has three exhibition spaces, including a contemporary white cube gallery and a neoclassical space that was formerly a 19th-century natural history museum. Its programme includes a number of exhibitions each year, with solo shows providing international artists with access to University research and collections, whilst conceptual group shows foreground key political and social issues. Talbot Rice Gallery is open to the public and admission free.

Wikipedia: Talbot Rice Gallery (EN), Website

203 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 39: National Museum of Scotland

Show sight on mapJoin Free Tour*
National Museum of Scotland No machine-readable author provided. Maccoinnich~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). / CC BY-SA 3.0

The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland is a museum of Scottish history and culture.

Wikipedia: National Museum of Scotland (EN), Website

208 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 40: Adam House

Show sight on map

Adam House is a Category B listed building in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is owned by the University of Edinburgh, and used as studio spaces for the architecture school. It consists of 4 studio spaces and a lecture theatre.

Wikipedia: Adam House (EN)

258 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 41: St Cecilia's Hall

Show sight on map
St Cecilia's Hall Jim Barton / CC BY-SA 2.0

St Cecilia's Hall is a small concert hall and museum in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the United Kingdom. It is on the corner of Niddry Street and the Cowgate, about 168 metres (551 ft) south of the Royal Mile. The hall dates from 1763 and was the first purpose-built concert hall in Scotland. It is a Category A listed building.

Wikipedia: St Cecilia's Hall (EN)

454 meters / 5 minutes

Sight 42: Symposium Hall

Show sight on map

The King Khalid Building is an event space in the Southside, Edinburgh, Scotland, owned and operated by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. The building was constructed Roxburgh Free Church in 1847 and converted to its current use in 1982.

Wikipedia: King Khalid Building (EN)

288 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 43: Pleasance Theatre

Show sight on map

The Pleasance is a theatre, bar, sports and recreation complex in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on a street of the same name. It is owned by the University of Edinburgh, and for nine months of the year it serves the Edinburgh University Students' Association as a societies centre, sports complex, student union bar and entertainment venue.

Wikipedia: The Pleasance (EN)

658 meters / 8 minutes

Sight 44: The People's Story Museum

Show sight on map

The People's Story Museum is located in the historic Canongate Tolbooth, and features collections that narrate the story of the working-class people of Edinburgh from the late 18th century to the present day. The museum achieves this through the use of oral history, reminiscence, and written sources.

Wikipedia: The People's Story Museum (EN), Website, Facebook

99 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 45: Canongate Kirk

Show sight on map

The Kirk of the Canongate, or Canongate Kirk, serves the Parish of Canongate in Edinburgh's Old Town, in Scotland. It is a congregation of the Church of Scotland. The parish includes the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Scottish Parliament. It is also the parish church of Edinburgh Castle, even though the castle is detached from the rest of the parish. The wedding of Zara Phillips, the Queen's granddaughter, and former England rugby captain Mike Tindall took place at the church on 30 July 2011. The late Queen Elizabeth II used to attend services in the church on some of her frequent visits to Edinburgh.

Wikipedia: Canongate Kirk (EN), Website

497 meters / 6 minutes

Sight 46: Dynamic Earth

Show sight on map

Dynamic Earth is a not-for-profit visitor attraction and science centre in Edinburgh, and is Scotland's largest interactive visitor attraction. It is located in Holyrood, beside the Scottish Parliament building and at the foot of Salisbury Crags. It is a registered charity under Scottish law and is owned as The Dynamic Earth Charitable Trust. The centre was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1999.

Wikipedia: Dynamic Earth (Edinburgh) (EN), Website

354 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 47: The King's Gallery

Show sight on map
The King's Gallery

The King's Gallery, previously known as the Queen's Gallery. is an art gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland. It forms part of the Palace of Holyroodhouse complex. It was opened in 2002 by Queen Elizabeth II, and exhibits works from the Royal Collection.

Wikipedia: King's Gallery, Edinburgh (EN)

551 meters / 7 minutes

Sight 48: Wentworth Elm

Show sight on map
Wentworth Elm Max Coleman / CC BY-SA 4.0

Ulmus × hollandica 'Wentworthii Pendula', commonly known as the Wentworth Elm or Wentworth Weeping Elm, is a cultivar with a distinctive weeping habit that appears to have been introduced to cultivation towards the end of the 19th century. The tree is not mentioned in either Elwes and Henry's or Bean's classic works on British trees. The earliest known references are Dutch and German, the first by de Vos in Handboek tot de praktische kennis der voornaamste boomen (1890). At about the same time, the tree was offered for sale by the Späth nursery of Berlin as Ulmus Wentworthi pendula Hort.. The 'Hort.' in Späth's 1890 catalogue, without his customary label "new", confirms that the tree was by then in nurseries as a horticultural elm. De Vos, writing in 1889, states that the Supplement to Volume 1 includes entries announced since the main volume in 1887, putting the date of introduction between 1887 and 1889.

Wikipedia: Ulmus × hollandica 'Wentworthii Pendula' (EN)

Share

Spread the word! Share this page with your friends and family.

How likely are you to recommend us?


Disclaimer Please be aware of your surroundings and do not enter private property. We are not liable for any damages that occur during the tours.

GPX-Download For navigation apps and GPS devices you can download the tour as a GPX file.