Best views in Edinburgh

Best views in Edinburgh

1. 
   SeeHistoric siteNew Town

   Calton Hill

   This is the stubby crag just east of Princes Street: a short stroll up it commands great views. The "National Monument", a memorial to Scots killed in the Napoleonic Wars, was an attempt to out-do the Parthenon in Athens but the money ran out with only the west facade built. Nelson's Tower was built 1807-16 in the shape of an upturned telescope in honour of the naval hero. A Time Ball on the mast drops at 1PM every day just as the One O'Clock Gun is fired from the castle - this gives a time signal to ships in the Firth before the sound rolls out to them, or it would if not obscured by drizzle and the ships in possession of reliable watches. It was operated by the adjacent City Observatory, superseded in 1896 by the Royal Observatory in the south of the city. City Observatory remained active until 2009 then was refurbished as the Collective Gallery exhibition space for modern art.

   103 m high
2. 
   DoSummit

   Arthur'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. Robert Louis Stevenson described it as "a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bold design".

   251 m high
3. SeeOld Town

   Camera Obscura

   World of Illusions

   Over 150 years old, the Camera Obscura projects light from the top of the tower onto a large dish in a dark room below, displaying a panorama of the city. The effect still works on overcast days or at night but is best in sunlight, when you can use a sheet of paper to "pick up" people seen in the streets and have them scurry in your hand. The tower also houses a gallery of optical illusions that wouldn't be out of place in Blackpool.

   Mon-Thu 9:30AM-7:30PM, Fri-Sun 9AM-9PM · Adult £24.95, conc £21.95, child (5-15 years) £17.95

4. 
   DoSummit

   Castle Rock

   Castle Rock is a volcanic plug in the middle of Edinburgh upon which Edinburgh Castle sits. The rock is estimated to have formed some 350 million years ago during the early Carboniferous period. It is the remains of a volcanic pipe which cut through the surrounding sedimentary rock, before cooling to form very hard dolerite, a coarser-grained equivalent of basalt.

   130 m high
5. DoSummit

   Salisbury Crags

   173 m high

6. DoSummit

   Dunsapie Crag

   Queen’s Drive

   146 m high

7. DoSummit

   The Nether Hill

   237 m high

8. 
   DoSummit

   Whinny Hill

   178 m high
9. SeeViewpoint

   North Viewpoint

10. DoSummit

    Crow Hill

    238 m high

11. DoSummit

    Haggis Knowe

12. SeeViewpoint

    Hike to Arthurs Seat

13. SeeViewpoint

    Photo trail

14. SeeViewpoint

    South Viewpoint

15. SeeViewpoint

    View over Dean Village

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Edinburgh (CC BY-SA 4.0). Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Place data from Overture Maps. Some descriptions from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).