الثقافة والتصميم والعمارة

The fortress on its volcanic rock holds the Crown Jewels of Scotland, St Margaret’s Chapel and wide views over the city. Buy timed tickets online.

The medieval spine from the Castle to Holyrood. Step off it into the narrow closes and courtyards on either side.

The crown-spired High Kirk, with the carved Thistle Chapel inside.

The King’s official residence in Scotland, with the ruined abbey behind and Arthur’s Seat above.

Guided tours through buried 17th-century streets beneath the Royal Mile.

An old churchyard of carved tombs with views to the Castle; Greyfriars Bobby’s statue stands at the gate.

Scotland’s story from geology to Dolly the sheep, in a Victorian Grand Gallery joined to a sandstone 1990s wing. Free; go up to the roof terrace for the view.

Playfair’s temple of art on the Mound, with Raeburn, Titian and Vermeer, and newer Scottish galleries opening onto Princes Street Gardens. Free.

A red sandstone Gothic palace with a gilded frieze of Scottish history in its Great Hall. Free.

Two galleries facing each other across lawns, with sculpture in the grounds; a short walk from Dean Village. Free.

Medical history in Playfair’s 1832 building; fascinating but graphic in places.

Contemporary art in the restored City Observatory on top of Calton Hill.

Enric Miralles’s building, opened in 2004: upturned-boat roofs, oak and concrete, and the “thinking pods” of the MSP offices. Free 45-minute guided tours run Monday, Friday and Saturday on sitting weeks, and Monday to Saturday in recess.

Robert Adam’s 1791 north side is one of the most admired Georgian palace-fronts in Europe.

Greek Revival on a hilltop: the reason Edinburgh was called the “Athens of the North”.

A Victorian Gothic spire to Sir Walter Scott in Princes Street Gardens; narrow stairs climb to the top.

Michael Hopkins’s tented roof beside the Parliament; inside, a science centre on the planet’s story.

A former milling village of stone and timber houses in a steep river gorge, minutes from the West End.