Scotland
Just a few miles outside Edinburgh lies this glorious historic estate and its surrounding 1000 acres of ancient oak woodland. Seven walking and biking trails run along the River Esk. Thanks to a £7-million revamp, the Restoration Yard cafe, restaurant and emporium, housed in an old stables, is another draw, as is Fort Douglas, a vast adventure playground of turreted tree houses and wooden walkways.
Drivers, enter via King’s Gate (EH22 1ST); walkers and cyclists, via Town Gate.
6.34 MILES
Edinburgh Castle has played a pivotal role in Scottish history, both as a royal residence – King Malcolm Canmore (r 1058–93) and Queen Margaret first made…
4.99 MILES
Many years may have passed since Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code and the subsequent film came out, but floods of visitors still descend on Scotland's…
7.15 MILES
Built on Clydeside, the former Royal Yacht Britannia was the British Royal Family's floating holiday home during their foreign travels from the time of…
20.29 MILES
One of Scotland's great country houses, Traquair House has a powerful, ethereal beauty, and exploring it is like time travel. Odd, sloping floors and a…
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
7.31 MILES
Edinburgh's gallery of modern art is split between two impressive neoclassical buildings surrounded by landscaped grounds some 500m west of Dean Village…
5.63 MILES
The Scottish Parliament Building, on the site of a former brewery and designed by Catalan architect Enric Miralles (1955–2000), was opened by the Queen in…
7.23 MILES
Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden is the second-oldest institution of its kind in Britain (after Oxford), and one of the most respected in the world…
5.59 MILES
This palace is the royal family's official residence in Scotland but is more famous as the 16th-century home of the ill-fated Mary, Queen of Scots. The…
1. National Mining Museum Scotland
2.74 MILES
This museum inside the Lady Victoria Colliery – the former heart of Midlothian's mining industry, 9 miles south of Edinburgh – paints a vivid, moving…
2.76 MILES
This 17th-century Palladian villa in Musselburgh, 6 miles east of Edinburgh, is a riot of rococo glamour. Guided tours lead visitors through rooms rich in…
2.83 MILES
While ghost tours of Edinburgh's underground vaults and haunted graveyards have become a mainstream attraction, Gilmerton Cove remains an off-the-beaten…
3.52 MILES
If you want to explore a Scottish fortress away from the crowds that throng Edinburgh Castle, try Craigmillar. Dating from the 15th century, the tower…
4.34 MILES
Edinburgh’s quintessential secret garden, in the shadow of a 12th-century kirk, is one of the most peaceful green spaces in Scotland. Cultivated in the…
4.4 MILES
Poised on a promontory overlooking Duddingston Loch, this church is one of the oldest buildings in Edinburgh, with some interesting medieval relics at the…
4.89 MILES
The rocky peak of Arthur’s Seat (251m), carved by ice sheets from the deeply eroded stump of a long-extinct volcano, is a distinctive feature of Edinburgh…
4.99 MILES
Many years may have passed since Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code and the subsequent film came out, but floods of visitors still descend on Scotland's…