The Meadows

Like Princes Street Gardens to the north, the Meadows was once a loch. The "Burgh Loch" or "South Loch" covered much of this area for centuries — the street names Lochrin Buildings and Lochrin Place in nearby Tollcross derive from the burn that fed it. In 1722, Sir Thomas Hope ordered drainage works and transformed the marshy land into a park with lime tree avenues, hedges, and a summer house. By 1827, an Act of Parliament protected the Meadows from ever being built upon — a piece of legislative foresight that Edinburgh residents have been grateful for ever since.

The most extraordinary event in the Meadows' history was the International Exhibition of Industry, Science and Art in 1886, when a substantial portion of the park was temporarily built over with exhibition halls, pavilions, and attractions. It was Edinburgh's answer to the great Victorian exhibitions, drawing enormous crowds. When the exhibition ended, the buildings came down and the Meadows returned to green space. A single whale jawbone arch, gifted by a Shetland whaling company, survived as a park landmark for over a century before being replaced with a replica.

Today the Meadows is Edinburgh's communal living room — the flat, tree-lined green space where students study, families picnic, and impromptu cricket matches materialise on any dry weekend. The cherry blossom avenue along the north side explodes into pink every April, drawing photographers from across the city. In summer, circus tents appear, and the annual Meadows Festival — running since 1974 — fills the park with live music, stalls, and community events.

The park sits between the university quarter and the leafy southside neighbourhoods of Marchmont and Bruntsfield, making it the natural crossroads of Edinburgh's younger population. After dark in August, you can lie on the grass and watch distant fireworks from the Edinburgh Festival rising over the Old Town skyline.