Map

Traveldiary

We flight from Dublin, Ireland to Edinburgh, Scotland. The flight lasts about 45 minutes. So this is rather short and convenient. The Airport of Edinburgh is about 20 km north the city, but there are shuttle buses frequently taking passengers to the city center. The first impression of Edinburgh was: It’s a really old city. The city is divided into main 2 parts:
• New City - There are still old buildings there (about 18th century)
• Old City - There are realy old buildings like the famous Edinburth castle.

In the middle there is the famous Waverly rail station of Edinburg and the West Princes Street Gardens. We lived in a youth hostel, which was located outside the city, near the famous Fifth Fourth railroad bridge. So every day we take the bus to stay the whole day in the city.

Attractions

The first day we had typical Scottish weather, it was raining and quite cold. So we decided to visit some indoor attractions of Edinburgh. At first we go to Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre. This is a fine museum about the history of Scotch – the Scottish Whiskey. And of course you get some Scotch for taste.
At the Camera Obscura you can see a lot of optical illusions and on the top of the building there is an observatory. With this “Eye in the sky” you can see a live moving panorama of the city.
The Edinburgh Castle is the most famous attraction of Edinburgh. Of course we visit the whole area of the castle. There are many more attractions in Edinburgh.
Panorama Panorama View: City Edinburgh

General Information

Facts about the Travel
location Edinburgh
date 30.08.2006 - 03.09.2006
country Scotland flag
traveled by plane
average temperature about 14°C to 20°C
currency Pound
Inhabitants 449.000
language english
Picturegallery go to the gallery
in combination with Dublin
Edinburgh (pronounced [ˈɛdɪnb(ə)rə]; Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann) is the capital of Scotland and its second-largest city. It is situated on the east coast of the central lowlands, on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, on the North sea. It forms the City of Edinburgh council area; the city council area includes urban Edinburgh and a small rural area. It has been the capital of Scotland since 1437 and is the seat of the country's parliament. The city was one of the major centres of the enlightenment (see Scottish Enlightenment), led by the University of Edinburgh. The Old Town and New Town districts of Edinburgh were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. In the census of 2001, Edinburgh had a total resident population of 448,624, making it the 7th largest city in the United Kingdom and 702,189 in its metropolitan area in 2006 according to World Gazetter.com. Edinburgh is well-known for the annual Edinburgh Festival, a collection of official and independent festivals held annually over about four weeks from early August. During this time, the population of the city is said to increase dramatically. The most famous of these events are the Edinburgh Fringe (the largest performing arts festival in the world), the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Other famous events are the Hogmanay street party and the Beltane celebrations. The city is one of Europe's major tourist destinations, attracting roughly 13 million visitors a year, and is the second most visited tourist destination in the United Kingdom, after London.

Geography

pic
Panoramic View of Edinburgh form Arthus's Seat to Edinburgh Castle
Some 320 million years ago, the cores of several volcanic vents in the area cooled and solidified to form tough basalt volcanic plugs, then, during the last ice age, glaciers eroded the area, exposing the plug as a rocky crag to the west, and leaving a tail of material swept to the east. At the same time, the glacier gouged out ground to each side, leaving the ravine of the Grassmarket and Cowgate to the south, and the swampy valley of the Nor Loch to the north. The resulting crag and tail landform now forms the Castle Rock, and the narrow steep sided ridge which the Royal Mile follows. The ridge declines in height over a mile, meeting general ground level at Holyrood. This formed a natural fortress, and recent excavations at the castle found material dating back to the Late Bronze Age, as long ago as 850 BCE. The map co-ordinates of the centre of Edinburgh are approximately 55°57′N 3°11′W.

Parts of the City

Areas of the centre

pic
The famous Edinburgh Castle
The historic centre of Edinburgh is divided into two by the broad green swath of Princes Street Gardens. To the south the view is dominated by Edinburgh Castle, perched atop the extinct volcanic crag, and the long sweep of the Old Town trailing after it along the ridge. To the north lies Princes Street and the New Town. The gardens were begun in 1816 on bogland which had once been the Nor Loch. To the immediate west of the castle lies the financial district, housing insurance and banking buildings. Probably the most noticeable building here is the circular sandstone building that is the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

Old Town

The Old Town has preserved its medieval plan and many Reformation-era buildings. One end is closed by the castle and the main artery, the Royal Mile, leads away from it; minor streets (called closes or wynds) lead downhill on either side of the main spine in a herringbone pattern. Large squares mark the location of markets or surround major public buildings such as St Giles Cathedral and the Law Courts. Other notable places of interest nearby include the Royal Museum of Scotland, Surgeons' Hall, the University of Edinburgh, and numerous underground streets and vaults, relics of previous phases of construction. The street layout, typical of the old quarters of many northern European cities, is made especially picturesque in Edinburgh, where the castle perches on top of a rocky crag, the remnants of a dormant volcano, and the main street runs down the crest of a ridge from it. Due to the space restrictions imposed by the narrowness of the 'tail' the Old Town became home to some of the earliest 'high rise' residential buildings. Multi-storey dwellings were the norm from the 1500s onwards.

New Town

pic
Northeast across Princes Street Gardens
The New Town was an 18th century solution to the problem of an increasingly crowded Old Town. The city had remained incredibly compact, confined to the ridge running down from the castle. In 1766 a competition to design the New Town was won by James Craig, a 22-year-old architect. The plan that was built created a rigid, ordered grid, which fitted well with enlightenment ideas of rationality. The principal street was to be George Street, which follows the natural ridge to the north of the Old Town. Either side of it are the other main streets of Princes Street and Queen Street. Princes Street has since become the main shopping street in Edinburgh, and few Georgian buildings survive on it. Linking these streets were a series of perpendicular streets. At the east and west ends are St. Andrew's Square and Charlotte Square respectively. The latter was designed by Robert Adam and is often considered one of the finest Georgian squares in the world. Bute House, the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland, is on the north side of Charlotte Square. Sitting in the glen between the Old and New Towns was the Nor' Loch, which had been both the city's water supply and place for dumping sewage. By the 1820s it was drained. Some plans show that a canal was intended, but the Princes Street Gardens were created instead. Excess soil from the construction of the buildings was dumped into the loch, creating what is now The Mound. In the mid-19th century the National Gallery of Scotland and Royal Scottish Academy Building were built on The Mound, and tunnels to Waverley Station driven through it. The New Town was so successful that it was extended greatly. The grid pattern was not maintained, but rather a more picturesque layout was created. Today the New Town is considered by many to be one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture and planning in the world.
Panorama Panorama View: City Edinburgh

Southside: Marchmont, Bruntsfield, Newington, Morningside and Merchiston

pic
(click on the image)
A popular residential part of the city is its southside, comprised of a number of areas including Marchmont, Bruntsfield, Newington, Morningside and Merchiston. These areas are particularly popular with students (the central University of Edinburgh campus is based around George Square just north of Marchmont and The Meadows, and Napier University has major campuses around Merchiston/Morningside) and with Festival-goers. These areas are also the subject of fictional work: Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus lives in Marchmont and works in Newington; and Morningside is the home of Muriel Spark's Miss Jean Brodie. Today, the literary connection continues, Merchiston being the home of the authors J. K. Rowling, Ian Rankin, and Alexander McCall Smith.

Leith

Leith is the port of Edinburgh. It still retains a separate identity from Edinburgh, and it was a matter of great resentment when, in 1920, the burgh of Leith was merged into the county of Edinburgh. Even today the parliamentary seat is known as 'Edinburgh North and Leith'. With the redevelopment of Leith, Edinburgh has gained the business of a number of cruise liner companies who now provide cruises to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. Leith also boasts the Royal Yacht Britannia, berthed behind the Ocean Terminal shopping centre. Leith is also home to the computer game company Rockstar North, developers of the Grand Theft Auto series.