Edinburgh Tour Details
Tour: City Sightseeing Edinburgh,
Start Point: Waverley Bridge
Duration: 60 minutes
Frequency: 15 - 30 minutes
Season: All Year round, except 25 December, Ticket Validity: 24 Hours
Commentary: Pre-recorded English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
Dutch, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Russian
plus 'Horrible Histories' Kid's Commentary.
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Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. It is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and is the seventh largest city in the United Kingdom.
Located in the south-east of Scotland, Edinburgh lies on the east coast of Scotland's Central Belt, along the Firth of Forth, near the North Sea. Owing to its rugged setting and vast collection of Medieval and Georgian architecture, including numerous stone tenements, it is often considered one of the most picturesque cities in Europe.
It has been capital of Scotland since 1437 (replacing Scone) and is the seat of the Scottish Parliament. The city was one of the major centres of the Enlightenment, led by the University of Edinburgh, earning it the nickname Athens of the North. The Old Town and New Town districts of Edinburgh were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. There are over 4,500 listed buildings within the city.
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. The number of visitors attracted to Edinburgh for the Festival is roughly equal to the settled population of the city. The most famous of these events are the Edinburgh Fringe (the largest performing arts festival in the world), the Edinburgh Comedy Festival (the largest comedy festival in the world), the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Other notable events include the Hogmanay street party (31 December), Burns Night (25 January), St. Andrew's Day (November 30), and the Beltane Fire Festival (30 April).
The city is one of Europe's major tourist destinations, attracting around 13 million visitors a year, and is the second most visited tourist destination in the United Kingdom, after London.
Edinburgh is home to a large number of museums and libraries, especially ones that are considered the main national institutions, the most important are the Museum of Scotland, the Royal Museum, the National Library of Scotland, National War Museum of Scotland, the Museum of Edinburgh, Museum of Childhood and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Outside festival season, Edinburgh continues to support a number of theatres and production companies. The Royal Lyceum Theatre has its own company, while the King's Theatre, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, and Edinburgh Playhouse stage large touring shows. The Traverse Theatre presents a more contemporary programme of plays. Amateur theatre companies productions are staged at the Bedlam Theatre, Church Hill Theatre, and the King's Theatre amongst others.
The Usher Hall is Edinburgh's premier venue for classical music, as well as the occasional prestige popular music gig. Other halls staging music and theatre include The Hub, the Assembly Rooms and the Queen's Hall. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is based in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh is home to Scotland's five National Galleries. The national collection is housed in the National Gallery of Scotland, located on the Mound, and now linked to the Royal Scottish Academy, which holds regular major exhibitions of painting. The contemporary collections are shown in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, and the nearby Dean Gallery. The Scottish National Portrait Gallery focuses on portraits and photography.
The council-owned City Arts Centre shows regular art exhibitions. Across the road, The Fruitmarket Gallery offers world class exhibitions of contemporary art, featuring work by British and international artists with both emerging and established international reputations. Edinburgh is also home to several of Scotland's galleries and organisations dedicated to contemporary visual art.
Edinburgh Viewpoints
The varied terrain of the city includes several summits which command sweeping views over Edinburgh.
To the southeast of central Edinburgh stands the eminence known as Arthur's Seat, overlooking Holyroodhouse and the Old Town beside it. The crag is a collection of side vents of the main volcano on which Edinburgh is built. The volcano slipped and tipped sideways, leaving these vents as the highest points for kilometres around. Arthur's Seat is now part of Holyrood Park, originally owned by the monarch and part of the grounds of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. It contains the United Kingdom's largest concentration of geological SSSIs, as well as providing the people of Edinburgh with spectacular views of and from Arthur's Seat and somewhere to relax after a long day in the city. It is not surprising that it was in Edinburgh that James Hutton revolutionised scientific geology.
To the northeast, overlooking the New Town, is Calton Hill. Recently shortlisted as one of the best views in Britain, it is topped by an assortment of buildings and monuments: two observatories, Nelson's Monument (a tower dedicated to Admiral Horatio Nelson), the old Royal High School (once almost the home of a devolved Scottish Assembly), and the unfinished National Monument, which is modelled on the Parthenon from the Athenian Acropolis and is nicknamed "Edinburgh's Disgrace". The nickname of the city, "Athens of the North", also hails partly from this monument. Calton Hill plays host to the Beltane Fire Festival on April 30 each year.
The Royal Observatory rests on Blackford Hill, the third and Southernmost viewpoint of the city.
Shopping in Edinburgh
Edinburgh has a wide variety of shops, from upmarket department stores to a vast array of charity shops in the West End and Stockbridge. Princes Street plays host to an extremely wide range of stores, from "pound-shops" to Jenners. Most of the national-level chain stores such as Boots and New Look are located in the "uptown" district of Princes Street. Multrees Walk makes up the upmarket shopping district in Edinburgh- with Harvey Nichols anchoring the development. Multrees Walk includes brands such as Louis Vuitton, Emporio Armani, Mulberry and Calvin Klein. The street leads on to the St. James' Centre, which caters in discount clothing, homewares and books as well as hosting the Edinburgh branch of the upscale department store chain, John Lewis.
About City Sightseeing City Tours
City Sightseeing do more than just Edinburgh City tours. They are a global sightseeing bus brand, started by Ensignbus, which operates tour bus rides around keyword plus various cities in the UK and worldwide.
Typically the tours consist of an open top double-decker bus. As the bus travels around the town or city, either pre-recorded or live commentary is provided. City Sightseeing buses are recognisable due to their distinctively decorated red livery. Tickets and offers are transferable between the worldwide tours.
Edinburgh City Tours at Computicket from City Sightseeing |
