This article explores the world famous city of Edinburgh, Scotland. As well as being the capital city of that country, Edinburgh boasts incredible architecture, amazing tourist attractions, and some of the finest restaurants in Britain. Learn more about the incredible history of the city and plan your trip soon.

The history of Edinburgh
The capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, has a history going back to the Bronze age. The castle which dominates the skyline of this amazing city is perched upon an ancient volcanic outcrop which has been inhabited for thousands of years.

In 1603 Scotland’s first parliament met in Edinburgh in the Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle, and the city has been the epicentre of Scotland’s politics ever since. The suburb of Leith became an essential sea port and was eventually swallowed up by an expanding industrial Edinburgh, but Leith retains it’s identity to this day. The long history of Edinburgh is on show for all to see, the city today has an astounding five thousand plus listed buildings.

The ‘Old Town’

The historic centre of Edinburgh is known as the ‘old town’ and includes teh famous Royal Mile, which runs from the Castle gates down the castle hill towards the Scottish parliament building and Royal palace of Holyrood. This area is also the busiest tourist spot and you can often find street performers here, especially during the summer months, and the time of the Edinburgh Festival (more on that below).

The ‘New Town’

Due to the overcrowding of the Old Town of Edinburgh, an expansion plan was launched in the mid 1700’s which resulted in the New Town being built. The plan invited local architects to submit plans with a ‘winner’ being chosen for the final build. An architect by the name of James Craig won the competition and is responsible for much of the New Town you can still see today. This allowed the wealthier residents of Edinburgh to move away from the slums of the old Town.

The New Town of today is where you will find most of the shopping centre’s, restaurants and Edinburgh hotels. This is also where the main financial institutions have their headquarters.

Leith

The settlement of Leith has been instrumental in the development of Edinburgh as an industrial city. The port of Leith has supported industries such as whaling, fishing and trade for thousands of years and is still a fully functional port today. In 1920 Leith was formally integrated into the wider Edinburgh but is still very much it’s own place. Additionally, Leith is also where the gentlemanly game of golf was first played, several hundred years ago.

Edinburgh Zoo

Edinburgh Zoo attracts well over half a million visitors each year, both from overseas and domestic. It has been welcoming visitors since 1913 when it was set up by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. It was the first zoo anywhere in the world which housed penguins, and currently is the only zoo in Britain which has both koalas and polar bears in captivity.

Edinburgh Festival

The Edinburgh Festival takes place every summer, between the months of July and September, and has become known by name all over the globe. The festival is in fact a collection of several smaller festivals all happening around the same time, providing visitors with literally thousands of entertaining shows to go and see, both free and paid.

The festivals include the Fringe comedy festival (which is undoubtedly the most popular), The Film Festival, The International Festival, and The Art and Book Festivals. There is also a Science festival which takes place in the city earlier in the year. It has been said that the festival is so popular that it results in a doubling of Edinburgh’s population during the summer, and those of us lucky enough to have experienced it would have no argument with that!

Author Bio: This article has been produced by the Hotels in Scotland website as a background guide to Edinburgh for potential visitors. The website provides hundreds of accommodation option across Scotland, including a large selection of Edinburgh hotels available for online booking.

Category: Travel
Keywords: Scotland,Edinburgh,hotels,accommodation,history,tourism