Places to Visit | Tourist Information
Discover a collection of guides and reviews about Scotland’s best historic sites.
Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh is one of the largest public spaces in the city. Originally a body of water called the Nor Loch, the gardens were designed in the 1770s but weren’t created until 1820 when the loch was drained.
Today, the gardens are a popular recreational area that features a number of popular landmarks including The Scott Monument, The Ross Fountain and The Ross Bandstand.
Edinburgh’s Grassmarket is a bustling square in the heart of the city’s Old Town. This historic site is surrounded by classic tenement buildings that line the roads along the iconic West Bow and Victoria Street but it’s best known for the lively pubs and restaurants that offer superb outside seating areas.
The Grassmarket is one of the oldest parts of Edinburgh and it was originally used as a marketplace for horses and cattle.
Leith is a historic district of Edinburgh that centres around the Water of Leith, Leith harbour, and the restaurant-packed Shore.
The district has a rich maritime history but it is now a popular tourist destination thanks to its combination of trendy bars, award winning restaurants, superb shopping areas and attractions including the Royal Yacht Britannia.
The historic Royal Mile in Edinburgh connects the Palace of Holyrood at the bottom to Edinburgh Castle at the top, on a road that is one mile in length (hence the name).
The road runs through the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town and is one of the top tourist destinations in the city thanks to the number of tourist attractions, restaurants, pubs and events that can be found along its entire length.
Prestongrange in the coastal village of Prestonpans is a free-to-visit outdoor museum that showcases East Lothian’s rich industrial heritage.
The museum aims to educate visitors about the 800-years of industrial activity that left its mark on the area, from the almost-vanished harbour to the long-abandoned colliery.
If you were to follow the Water of Leith through Edinburgh you’d eventually arrive at one of the most beautiful areas in the entire city – the tranquil green oasis known as Dean Village.
The historic village of Culross is situated on the banks of the Firth of Forth where it overlooks the petrochemical works of Grangemouth to the south and the Longannet power station to the west.
I was lucky enough to spend a full week on Islay recently and after exhausting all the distillery options in the first 48 hours, I started to explore some of the lesser-known attractions tucked away in the slightly more remote areas. One of which is Finlaggan, the former stronghold of the Lord of the Isles.
The quaint coastal town of Dunbar is located just 30 miles east of Edinburgh on a stretch of coastline that’s famed for being one of the most scenic in Scotland.
