Map view
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, and was founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants
- The RBGE's living collection consists of more than 13,302 plant species, while the herbarium contains in excess of 3 million preserved specimens
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow
Best time to visit: March-Aug
Cost: $
- Museum and art gallery in Glasgow, originally opened in 1876
- The museum has 22 galleries, housing a range of exhibits, including Renaissance art, taxidermy, and artifacts from ancient Egypt
The Dry Dam Path to Saint Anthony's Chapel and Arthur's Seat, Holyrood Park
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Holyrood Park is a royal park in Edinburgh, that has an array of hills, lochs, glens, ridges, basalt cliffs, and patches of gorse, providing a wild piece of highland landscape
- The park is associated with the royal palace of Holyroodhouse and was formerly a 12th-century royal hunting estate. The park was created in 1541 when James V had the ground enclosed by a stone wall
Edinburgh Castle
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Historic castle in Edinburgh that stands on Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear
- There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and the site continued to be a royal residence until 1633
- From the 15th century, the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as military barracks with a large garrison
- Its importance as a part of Scotland's national heritage was recognised increasingly from the early 19th century onwards
Urquhart Bay Woods and Loch Ness Circular
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands, that takes its name from the River Ness
- Loch Ness is best known for claimed sightings of the cryptozoological Loch Ness Monster, also known as "Nessie"
- Popular interest and belief in the animal's existence have varied since it was first brought to the world's attention in 1933
Ben A'an, Loch Lomond
Best time to visit: March-Aug
Cost: $
- Ben A'an is a hill in the Trossachs area of the highlands, where the the summit is largely treeless and comprises several rock outcrops and crags
- Even though Ben A’an is not particularly high, it offers panoramic views of the surrounding lochs, glens, straths and mountains
National Museum of Scotland
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Museum in Edinburgh, formed in 2006, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum, with international collections covering science and technology, natural history, and world cultures
- The galleries begin with prehistory to the early medieval period and later
Arthur's Seat
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Ancient volcano which is the main peak of the group of hills in Edinburgh, which form most of Holyrood Park
- The hill rises above the city and provides panoramic views of the city and beyond
Stirling Castle
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: March-Aug
Cost: $
- One of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland
- The castle sits atop an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation
- It is surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs, giving it a strong defensive position
- Its strategic location, guarding what was, until the 1890s, has made it an important fortification in the region from the earliest times
- Most of the principal buildings of the castle date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
Holyrood Palace
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Official residence of the British monarch in Scotland, Holyroodhouse has served as the principal royal residence in Scotland since the 16th century, and is a setting for state occasions and official entertaining
- The 16th-century historic apartments of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the State Apartments, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public throughout the year, except when members of the royal family are in residence
River Nevis and Ben Nevis Mountain Circular
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Highest mountain in Scotland, the United Kingdom and the British Isles, with a summit of 4,411 feet (1,345 m) above sea level
- The summit, which is the collapsed dome of an ancient volcano, features the ruins of an observatory which was continuously staffed between 1883 and 1904 - The meteorological data collected during this period is still important for understanding Scottish mountain weather
Balmoral Castle
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Large estate house in Aberdeenshire, and a residence of the British royal family
- The estate and its original castle were bought from the Farquharson family in 1852 by Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria
- Balmoral remains the private property of the monarch and is not part of the Crown Estate
- It was the summer residence of Queen Elizabeth II, who died there in 2022