10 things you should not miss in Edinburgh!

Dean Village is a village in the heart of Scotland's capital, Edinburgh. On a long walk you can explore this charming little village. The Water of Leith Walkway is a small hiking trail along the Leith River. Formerly Dean Village was known to house many flour mills whose mill wheels were powered by the flow of the Water of Leith. Today, there are no more mills for some of Edinburgh's most beautiful and charming buildings.

In 1760, a mineral water spring had been found here. The residents told it a healing effect. Especially the judge Lord Gardenstone, believed in it. That's why he asked the painter Alexander Nasmyth to design a building. The result was a kind of Greek temple with ten pillars and the statue of the health goddess Hygieia in between.

One of Edinburgh's most impressive sights is Edinburgh Castle. In the old walls there is so much to discover that you can spend almost a whole day there.

The castle is considered one of the major attractions in Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock. The Castle Rock is the basalt cone of an extinct volcano. This rock formation was formed some 340 million years ago and provided an ideal place for the construction of a defensive system very early on. In its history, Edinburgh Castle experienced numerous sieges and was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. The result of this is that today the castle shows the architecture of different eras: from the oldest preserved building, the medieval St. Margaret's Chapel from the 12th century to the modern buildings of the 2nd British Infantry Division from the present.

When visiting Edinburgh, the Edinburgh Castle should be on your bucketlist.

A gorgeous view of Edinburgh's city center can be seen from Carlton Hill. On the 103 meter high hill are some interesting buildings and monuments that can be visited. Completely misplaced and built as if by chance, is the National Monument. 12 columns, built on the model of the Athenian Parthenon. The originally planned construction could not be completed due to lack of funds.

Today, the monument serves as the setting for the Beltane Refractory Festival, held annually on April 30th. Also on Carlton Hill is the Nelson Monument, the City Observatory and the Dugald Stewart Monument. The latter was dedicated to a Scottish philosopher, the view of the city center with the Dugald Stewart Monument in the foreground was photographed a thousand times and is still worth seeing.

The Scots can really set up really good museums. One of them is the National Museum of Scotland. Here you can find everything. From the age of dinosaurs to art and design to technology and cloned sheep, you can find out almost everything in the many galleries about the treasures of this earth. The museum is very lovingly decorated and the architecture of the large gallery is absolutely impressive and offers the museum visitor a great introduction to the diversity of this museum. A visit there is suitable for every age group and impressive. If it rains I can just recommend to visit this museum.

The Royal Mile is the tourist road par excellence in Edinburgh. It is a succession of streets connecting Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace in the Old Town of Edinburgh. In fact, it is almost as long as a Scottish mile. From the castle down the hill you can visit some of the sights, such as St. Giles' Cathedral, John Knox House and the Scottish Parliament.

As a tourist you do not even get past the Royal Mile. To the left and right of the Royal Mile you can find small closes. These were small alleys in which the whole life of a medieval city took place until the plague spread and the closes were walled up with their residents. The city was further built and thus a city was built over the city. The most famous Close is the Mary King's Close. In April 2003, Mary King's Close was opened to the public for the first time. Meanwhile, there are guided tours offered and offer the opportunity to experience the mystical side of Edinburgh.

One of the most beautiful streets in Edinburgh is the colorful Victoria Street. It was once called Bow Street century, the course of today's form was adapted and in 1837 it was renamed after the coronation of and was the main access to the Old Town and Edinburgh Castle from the west.

In the early 19th Queen Victoria. Victoria Street served as the inspiration for Diagon Alley's J.K Rowling, where the sorcerers could buy everything on their Hogwarts list. In fact, Victoria Street has its own Ollivanders shop where you can buy official Harry Potter merchandise products. You should definitely plan a stop on Victoria Street with its great shops.

Learn more about one of the most touching stories in Edinburgh at Greyfriars Kirkyard. There, the faithful Skye Terrier Bobby spent the rest of his life at the grave of his deceased master, the policeman John Gray. He is said to have left his seat for 14 years only to get something to eat at lunchtime in the nearby pub. He is said to have start his daily way with the shot of the one-o'clock cannon.

After his death, he was secretly buried in the kirkyard, because actually animal burials were not allowed there. In front of the pub stands a life-size statue of the faithful Skye terrier. Incidentally, it is not really appreciated that the terrier's small snout is rubbed and it should not bring any luck, so just enjoy the touching story of this remarkable little dog.

Scots love to be out in the fresh air and as soon as the weather is somehow reasonably okay they go to the parks and meet there. One of the most famous parks is Princes Street Gardens. Centrally located below Edinburgh Castle, they are popular with locals and tourists alike.

The park was created after the drainage of the Nor Loch. Nor Loch was a large lake in the center of the city, which for centuries was polluted by the run-down sewage of the higher-lying Old Town. Within the park, along the south side of Princes Street are many statues and monuments. The most striking is the Scott Monument, built in 1844 in honor of Sir Walter Scott in Gothic style. When the sun is shining do it like the locals do, lie down in the meadow and look at the sky and the castle.

You can also learn something about everything, such as optical illusions, light, color and ways of seeing. There are very powerful telescopes on the roof terrace and on the other floors there is a large variety of interactive exhibits. Since 1853 the highlight is the Camera Obscura, which is still used to organize a "virtual" city tour for visitors. A really exciting, funny and interesting museum that you should definitely take a look at.

Small tour in whiskey barrel complacent? In this museum on Castle Hill, you can do that and learn all about the production of Scottish whisky. On the tour you will learn a lot about the different Scotch Whisky regions and how the country and the landscape have an influence on the taste of the precious water of life.

The culmination of the tour is the tasting of a whiskey and a visit to the world's largest collection of Scotch whisky. With 3,384 bottles, it is one of the world's largest collections of Scottish whisky. The collection had been built by Brazilian whisky enthusiast Claive Vidiz for over 35 years, believing that it was only right that the collection return to their homeland. It was recently declared one of the "7 wonders of Scotch whisky".