Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas.
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. It is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh had a population of
506,520 in 2020, making it the second-most-populous city in Scotland and the seventh-most-populous in the United Kingdom. The wider metropolitan area had a population of 912,490 in the same year.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Edinburgh
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
700 m · public university in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom · Wikipedia - 02Edinburgh Castle
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.
900 m · castle in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK · Wikipedia - 03National Museum of Scotland
The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a museum of Scottish history and culture. It was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum, with international collections covering science and technology, natural history, and world cultures.
700 m · combined museum in Edinburgh · Wikipedia - 04Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by royal charter in 1966.
9.5 km · university in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK · Wikipedia - 05National Library of Scotland
The National Library of Scotland is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom.
500 m · legal deposit library of Scotland · Wikipedia - 06Murrayfield Stadium
Murrayfield Stadium is a rugby union stadium located in the area of the same name in Edinburgh, Scotland. The stadium is owned by the Scottish Rugby Union and serves as its headquarters, and is the national stadium of the Scotland national rugby union team.
3.5 km · rugby stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK · Wikipedia - 07St Giles' Cathedral
St Giles' Cathedral, also known as the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is one of three cathedrals in Edinburgh, Scotland. The existing 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.
400 m · Church of Scotland cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK · Wikipedia - 08Arthur's Seat
Arthur's Seat is an ancient extinct volcano. It is the main peak of a group of hills in Edinburgh, Scotland, which form most of Holyrood Park.
2 km · mountain in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK · Wikipedia - 09Tynecastle Park
Tynecastle Park, also known as Tynecastle Stadium or colloquially as Tynie, is a football stadium in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, which is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Heart of Midlothian. A UEFA category four stadium, it has also hosted Scotland international matches, and been used as a neutral venue for Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup semi-finals.
3.1 km · Football stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK · Wikipedia - 10Easter Road
Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian. The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of 20,421, which makes it the sixth-largest football stadium in Scotland.
1.7 km · football stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
Old Town has most major sights: Edinburgh Castle sits on the crag at the top of Old Town. In summer it often sells out, best book online. Royal Mile is the long street descending from castle to palace. The best of it is High Street, the broad upper traffic-free section, with medieval "closes" (alleys) descending steeply on either side. Holyrood Palace is sumptuously furnished and still a royal residence.
From Wikivoyage: Edinburgh, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
Edinburgh has an excellent concert and theatre life. The Usher Hall (Lothian Road, Old Town) has weekly orchestral concerts all year round with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The Queen's Hall (South Clerk Street, South) is home to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. The Lyceum (Lothian Road, Old Town) offers theatre performances. The Festival Theatre (Nicolson Street, Old Town) frequently hosts opera and ballet.
- 01Edinburgh International Festival
Founded in 1947 and still seen as more "high-brow" than any of its offspring.
- 02Edinburgh Military Tattoo
One of the iconic images of Edinburgh for millions worldwide is the yearly Tattoo, kilted pipers skirling below the battlements of Edinburgh Castle.
From Wikivoyage: Edinburgh, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Edinburgh has a great selection in all price ranges, cosmopolitan cuisines, and caters for diets such as vegan, halal and GF. Good areas for value food are Elm Row at the top of Leith Walk, Rose and Thistle streets flanking George St, along South Bridge including the "Little Cairo" around the Central Mosque, Forrest Rd by Greyfriars Bobby, Tollcross and Lothian Rd, and west end from Queensferry St to Haymarket…
From Wikivoyage: Edinburgh, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Edinburgh
- Airports
- Edinburgh (EDI), 11 km · Glasgow (GLA), 78 km · Glasgow Prestwick (PIK), 100 km
- Stations
- Edinburgh Waverley railway station, 100 m · Haymarket railway station, 2 km
- Glasgow → Edinburgh67 km · quickest by road, 1h 34m · £7–9
- Prestwick, South Ayrshire → Edinburgh102 km · quickest by road, 2h 28m · £11–15
- Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear → Edinburgh148 km · quickest by road, 3h 11m · £17–23
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Edinburgh
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Edinburgh. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inNorth Sea ferries no longer sail to Rosyth, so sailing from the continent means travelling via Newcastle, Hull, Harwich or the Channel ports.
- Get inFerries from Northern Ireland dock at Cairnryan, near Stranraer on the west coast.
- Get aroundIt passes through New Town along Princes Street and Shandwick Place to Haymarket, then takes an off-road track through the western suburbs.
- Go nextHere are some highlights within a day trip.
From Wikivoyage: Edinburgh, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 01129 km
- 02138 km
- 03164 km
- 04222 km
- 05225 km
If you know how people move in Edinburgh – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Edinburgh
- Midlothiancouncil area of Scotland10 km
- Musselburghtown in East Lothian, Scotland, UK8.5 km
- Old Townname popularly given to the oldest part of Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh700 m
- New Towncentral area of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK700 m
- Royal Milesuccession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland400 m
- Portobellocoastal suburb of Edinburgh in eastern central Scotland, UK4.7 km