Edinburgh Guest Houses

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, although it didn’t actually come under Scottish rule until the late fifteenth century. The city of Edinburgh is noted for its long established intellectual life and association with the eighteenth century period known as the Enlightenment through figures such as David Hume and Adam Smith. Edinburgh city has vibrant night life and for being the site of the annual Edinburgh festival, a feast of new comic and theatrical talent from around the UK as well as many, already famous faces. Edinburgh is built on a hill and many of its streets are quite steep.

The 1707 Act of Union made Scotland part of the United Kingdom, which it still is. The city is divided into Edinburgh old town, and what is referred to as the new town, the Georgian area of the city. In the middle of the eighteenth century, George the Third, king of England and monarch of the United Kingdom tried to ingratiate himself with the city by commissioning whole streets of new buildings. The now famous Princes Street, George Street and Frederick Street were named after the monarch and his two sone and are wonderful examples of the Georgian architecture that permeates that area of the city

The native population of Edinburgh is around 500,000 but during August, which is the month of the Edinburgh Festival, the city is bursting at the seams with artists taking part in the Festival and the thousands of visitors who come to see the plays, concerts and comedy acts.There is plenty for the visitor to see in and around Edinburgh and there is an excellent public transport and hackney cab system, so it is not difficult to get around.

If you are visiting Edinburgh then you really shouldn’t miss a visit to Edinburgh Castle. The castle was built over centuries and its Great Hall was first built in 1511 but has undergone significant changes and restroration since the back end of the nineteenth century. The castle has a long military history and still in use as an army barracks. Buildings that belong to the castle include St. Margaret’s Chapel which dated back to the 12th century but was abandoned 300 years later and then rediscovered and restored in the mid nineteenth century. Another must see, especially for history fans is the Royal Palace in Crown Square, notable for the fact that it is where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James V1 and later died there in 1560. The Honours of Scotland Exhibition is placed within the Royal Palace and you can see the crown that was commissioned by James V in 1540 and the sceptre given to James 1v in the fourteen nineties.

Edingburgh has it all, the Festival, which is the biggest thing of its kind in the world, one of the largest collection of historical buildings, and surrounded by some of the wildest and most beautiful countryside anywhere in Europe.