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Edinburgh and the Lothians trail

Edinburgh/Dun Eideann

We recommend that you start your tour of Scotland in Edinburgh, the capital City of Scotland. Human settlement in the Edinburgh area dates back at least to the Bronze Age. Edinburgh Castle is on top of Castle Rock and human habitation of the site of the extinct volcano goes back to the ninth century BC. The castle has been dated back to the twelfth century and continued to be a royal place of residence until 1603 and the union of the crowns. St Margaret's chapel is the oldest building in the castle and Edinburgh dating back to the twelfth century. Other buildings in the castle mostly date from the sixteenth century.

Edinburgh is a vibrant City and the medieval City stands alongside Georgian and modern architecture. It is the location for the Scottish Parliament/Parlamaid na h-Alba the devolved national legislature of Scotland. The building in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh was designed by Catalan architect Enric Miralles and the Parliament took up residence in 2004. It is open to the public and has guided tours. The City has excellent travel links to with air, rail, bus and road links. More on Edinburgh/Dun Eideann

Craigmillar Castle

This is a well preserved fourteenth century castle with fifteenth and sixteenth century extensions. It has a fourteenth century tower house surrounded by a fifteenth century courtyard and defensive walls and gardens. Mary Queen of Scots stayed at the castle which is located about three miles southeast from Edinburgh City Centre in Craigmillar. More on Craigmillar Castle

Craiglockhart Castle

A ruined fifteenth century tower, house although some suggest earlier. Originally four stories there is only the first and part of the second now remaining. The site is located in the grounds of the Craiglockhart Campus of Napier University on Conlinton Road about two miles southwest from central Edinburgh. More on Craiglockhart Castle

Lauriston Castle

A sixteenth century tower house and has nineteenth century additions. The last owner of the castle, Mrs Reid, left the property to the Nation in 1926 with instructions that it be left as it was at the time of her death. The house and gardens are open to the public and located and is located in Davidsons Mains at 2a Cramond Road South, EH4 northwest of the City Centre overlooking the Forth. More on Lauriston Castle

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