The 15 Most Iconic Landmarks in Edinburgh
15 landmarks with verified facts and stories
Arthur's Seat
Holyrood Road, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh, EH8, United Kingdom
You can climb an extinct volcano without leaving the city centre.
Calton Hill
Calton Hill, Holyrood, Edinburgh, EH7 5AA, United Kingdom
Edinburgh's most embarrassing monument sits on this hill, and the city has spent nearly two centuries trying to decide whether to be proud of it or pretend it doesn't exist.
Edinburgh Castle
Castlehill, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh, EH1 2NG, United Kingdom
There's a tiny chapel hiding inside one of Europe's most besieged fortresses, and it's been standing since around 1130 — making it the oldest surviving building in Edinburgh.
Grassmarket
Grassmarket, The Grassmarket, Edinburgh, EH1 2HS, United Kingdom
From 1660 until 1784, this sunny square in the shadow of the castle was Edinburgh's principal killing ground.
Greyfriars Kirk & Kirkyard
Greyfriars Place, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
A Skye Terrier named Bobby sat on his master's grave here for fourteen years, from 1858 until his own death in 1872, becoming the most famous dog in Scottish history.
National Museum of Scotland
Chambers Street, Portsburgh, Edinburgh, EH1, United Kingdom
Dolly the Sheep stands in a glass case on the first floor, looking remarkably calm for an animal who changed the course of biological science.
Palace of Holyroodhouse
Canongate, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh, EH8, United Kingdom
On the night of 9 March 1566, Mary Queen of Scots was having supper in a tiny room off her bedchamber when a group of armed nobles burst in, dragged her Italian secretary David Rizzio from behind her skirts, and stabbed him fifty-six times.
Princes Street Gardens
Princes Street, Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH1, United Kingdom
Edinburgh's most beautiful park sits on top of a lake of corpses.
Rosslyn Chapel
Chapel Loan, Midlothian West, Roslin, EH25, United Kingdom
Dan Brown made this chapel world-famous in 'The Da Vinci Code,' but the real Rosslyn is stranger than any conspiracy theory.
Royal Mile
The Royal Mile, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
This street isn't actually a mile long — it's a mile and 107 yards, which happens to be exactly one Scots mile, a measurement that hasn't been used since the eighteenth century.
Scott Monument
Princes Street, Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH1, United Kingdom
The largest monument to a writer anywhere in the world stands in the middle of Edinburgh like a Gothic rocket ship.
Scottish Parliament Building
Horse Wynd, Edinburgh EH99 1SP
This building was supposed to cost £40 million.
St Giles' Cathedral
High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1RE
In 1637, a market trader named Jenny Geddes supposedly hurled a wooden stool at the minister's head when he tried to read from the new Anglican prayer book that Charles I was forcing on the Scottish Kirk.
The Elephant House
21 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EN
This unassuming cafe on George IV Bridge calls itself the "Birthplace of Harry Potter," which is not strictly true — J.
Victoria Street
Victoria Street, Edinburgh EH1 2JW
Edinburgh's most photographed street curves downhill from the Royal Mile to the Grassmarket in a rainbow of painted facades that look like they were designed by someone who'd just read a particularly vivid fairy tale.
Explore iconic in Edinburgh
GPS-guided narration at every landmark. Tap a spot on the map, hear the story. Every fact verified.