Fuji Photo Trail
Hidden and not-so-hidden gems

Nice areas

Dean Village
Hyper-pretty riverside village

Musselburgh Beach
Long, quiet beach, with lots of beachcombing opportunities.

Newhaven Harbour

Portobello Beach
'Edinburgh's beach'. Very popular at all times of the year but gets hectic in summer.

The Shore
Trendy and scenic area of Leith

Water of Leith Walkway

Colinton

Historic attractions

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Zoo

Craigmillar Castle
Edinburgh's other castle. Looks like a proper castle. Has been used in films.

Georgian House
Old Georgian house you can look around and one of only two National Trust for Scotland properties in Edinburgh (the other is Gladstone's Land).

Holyrood Abbey
Ruined 12th century abbey. Entrance via Holyrood Palace.

Holyrood Palace
Royal palace, open to the public when there are no Royals home.

John Knox House

Lauriston Castle
Edinburgh's OTHER other castle.

Newhailes House
Old mansion with big grounds to explore.

Saint Anthony's Chapel
Ruined hillside chapel.

St Giles' Cathedral

Royal Yacht Britannia

Cammo Tower

Museums

National Museum of Scotland

Dynamic Earth
Geology exhibition, but a lot less boring than that sounds. Aimed at families.

Museum of Childhood

Museum of Edinburgh

Surgeons' Hall Museums
Museum of medical history.

Museum on the Mound
Museum about money run by the Bank of Scotland.

National Library of Scotland
Often has an exhibition on about an aspect of Scottish culture.

The People's Story Museum

The Writers' Museum

Museum of Magic, Fortune-Telling & Witchcraft

Museum of Scottish Fire Heritage

The Anatomical Museum
Only open on very specific Saturdays - check website

Cockburn Geological Museum

Royal Observatory Edinburgh

Art

Scottish National Gallery

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)

The Royal Scottish Academy

Fruitmarket Gallery
Small modern art gallery and bookshop

City Art Centre
Multi-level art gallery featuring Edinburgh scenes and artists

The Queen's Gallery
Royal art gallery with big exhibitions.

Parks & walks

Arthur's Seat
The big hill. Don't go at night without a torch, or during a thunderstorm. Seriously.

Easiest route to Arthur's Seat
Easiest way of getting to the top of Arthur's Seat starts here.

Salisbury Crags
Big scenic cliffs in front of Arthur's Seat. Don't go at night or with someone you don't trust around cliffs.

St Margaret’s Loch
Victorian man-made lake with swans, geese and ducks (and crows and sea birds and the occasional fox).

Princes Street Gardens

Calton Hill
Hill with various interesting follies / towers on top of it and great views.

The Meadows
Vibrant and busy (especially in summer) park.

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Inverleith Park

Archivist's Garden
Quiet landscaped garden off Princes Street

Cammo Estate

Braid Hills

Colinton Station & Tunnel
Nice leafy walk with colourfully-painted former railway tunnel.

Corstorphine Hill Walled Garden

Corstorphine Hill

Craigmillar Castle Park
Park and woodland surrounding the castle - great for walks.

Starbank Park
Nice park near Newhaven

Lochend Park
Park with a big lake in the middle, with eerie trees in the lake and plenty of bird watching opportunities

Figgate Park

Interesting or boutiquey shop areas

Victoria St / West Bow
Pretty street with quirky independent shops on it.

Stockbridge
Upmarket area with trendy cafés and independent shops

Morningside
Some posh boutiquey shops

Leith Walk
Popular street going from Edinburgh to Leith with a lot of interesting shops / cafés along it.

'Hidden Gems'

Circus Lane
'The most Instagrammed street in Edinburgh'

Dunbar's Close Garden
Quiet, hidden gardens managed by the Mushroom Trust.

Dr Neil's Garden
Scenic landscaped lakeside garden.

Innocent Railway Tunnel
Long tunnel filled with graffiti. Entry from the housing estate.

St Margaret's Well
Holy well, in a wall, behind a grate.

Scott Monument

The Magdalen Chapel
Beautiful tiny chapel

The Scotsman Steps
Interesting staircase where each step is made of a different stone.

Labyrinth
Meditative labyrinth (marked out on the ground, not a hedge maze)

Greyfriars Kirkyard
Historic church and cemetery with "Greyfriars Bobby" and "Tom Riddle's Grave"

Northern Lighthouse Board
Look up, it has a tiny lighthouse outside.

Adam Smith's Grave
Resting site of the 'father of Capitalism' Adam Smith.

Stones of Scotland
Outdoor circle of different types of stone from around the country.

St. Bernard's Well

Monument to Scottish American Soldiers featuring Abraham Lincoln

Meadows Yard Local Nature Reserve

Ross Fountain

Gladstone's Land
Old 1600s rooms you can look around and one of only two National Trust for Scotland properties in Edinburgh (the other is the Georgian House).

Weird and wonderful

Mary King's Close
Underground tour of Edinburgh's dark past

Masonic Museum
Within the Grand Lodge of Scotland so you probably want to check / book before turning up.

Camera Obscura & World of Illusions

Heart of Midlothian Mosaic
Heart in the pavement which traditionally people spit on due to its history as an execution site.

The Chocolatarium
Chocolate-based visitor attraction.

Cramond Island
You can walk to it if the tide's out. If it comes back, in you'll have to stay there overnight or swim back.

The Caiy Stane
Big standing stone in the middle of suburban housing

Corstorphine Hill Tower
Open for a few hours on Sunday afternoons during summer

Gilmerton Cove
Mysterious, man-made underground caves. Booking required. Has been closed since the 2020 lockdowns.

Muschat’s Cairn
18th century pile of stones, created to memorialise the life of a brutally-murdered young woman.

The Bore Stane
Historic stone with information

Barnton Quarry Nuclear Bunker
Nuclear bunker. Not yet open to the public, but it does have open days sometimes.

Wild West Street
Springvalley Gardens - street done up to look like the Old West. Yee haw

Gypsy Brae
Weird beach made up of discarded bricks.

Craigentinny Marbles
Marble sculpture in an otherwise unremarkable suburb

Rockstar North
Developers of Grand Theft Auto. You can't go in unless you work there. But you can look at the outside.

Wojtek the Soldier Bear Memorial

Ghost Tours
Various ghost tours leave from here

Inchcolm Abbey
Get a ferry here from South Queensferry

Food and drink

Holyrood Distillery
Small newish distillery with tour

Edinburgh Gin Distillery
Gin distillery tour

The Scotch Whisky Experience
Touristy whisky exhibition

Usquabae Whisky Bar And Larder
Whisky-focused bar

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society
For the whisky connoisseur

The Pitt
Trendy community shipping container street food and bar next to the water

The Sheep Heid Inn
Oldest pub in Scotland, complete its own bowling alley. The Queen sometimes goes here for her lunch.

Panda & Sons

Summerhall

The Auld Hoose

The Mosque Kitchen

The Blue Blazer
From reddit: "Very nice feel to it. Really cosy but often with quite loud music which bothers me some times also the staff can be a bit obnoxious when it’s busy."

Brass Monkey Drummond Street
From reddit: “Brass Monkey in the daytime is amazing. As you sip your pint, might as well lie down in a room full of cushions and watch a film projected onto the wall for free!”

Bramble Bar & Lounge
From reddit: "Best cocktail bar by far in my opinion. Pretty good value for what you get too, cocktails are all about £7 and are really good, and Hendricks and tonic is about £3. Is close to George Street but hasn't been touristy when I've been there. Very laid back and cool atmosphere inside - the kind of music you'd associate with cocktail bars back in the golden age, seats tucked into nooks and crannies."

Brauhaus
From reddit: "The best for beer, owner's very knowledgeable and they have a great selection. He also run's Nina's Mini Market round the corner which is the best off licence in Edinburgh. One of my favourites but always gets busy. Pretty relaxed atmosphere, also pretty pricey but that's because you're paying for a great selection of great beers - in my opinion it's good value. Not a big tourist bar as it's hidden away a bit. Gets a fair number of students (like me!) but it isn't a student-y bar."

BrewDog Edinburgh Lothian Road
From reddit: “Bottles are way too expensive but they do great beers on tap. Different atmosphere, they're more "hipster" if I could call it that, though I'm sure they don't like being pigeonholed...But really knowledgeable staff, always willing to offer advice.”

The Cambridge Bar
From reddit: “a small pub that does good burgers and good beer - small range but good if you're a real-ale type and kept very well. Currently on tap I'd recommend Goldeneye or IPA. Tends to be very busy serving the after-work crowd but OK other times.”

Cloisters Bar
From reddit: “another nice traditional pub I find it a little less cosy than the Bow, but they have a nice menu of real ale, friendly bar staff and a real (gas) fire place!”

Dragonfly
Cocktail bar

The Jazz Bar

Jolly Judge

Joelato
Fancy ice creams

Deacon Brodie's Tavern

The World's End

Colinton Inn

The Diggers aka Athletic Arms

The Cumberland Bar

Canny Man's
Iconic pub, famous for its extremely strict rules  e.g. no credit card payments, no backpacks etc (now a bit more relaxed)

Bennets Bar

Fuji Photo Trails

Fuji Photo Trail (Red) 1
The North Bridge from outside the Edinburgh and Scotland Information Centre
styleUrl: #icon-1535-F9A825
styleHash: -10f168ea
styleMapHash: [object Object]

Fuji Photo Trail (Red) 2
The view from Calton Hill
styleUrl: #icon-1535-F9A825
styleHash: -10f168ea
styleMapHash: [object Object]

Fuji Photo Trail (Red) 3
George Street, Frederick Street intersection looking North.
styleUrl: #icon-1535-F9A825
styleHash: -10f168ea
styleMapHash: [object Object]

The East End of Princes Street and the New Town from the Mound steps.

Edinburgh Castle from St Cuthberts Churchyard.

Charlotte Square.

Moray Place.

Dean Village and the Water of Leith.

Dean Village from the waterside.

St Mary's Cathedral from Grosvenor Crescent

Fuji Photo Trail (Blue) 1
The View up to the Castle from outside the Edinburgh & Scotland Information Centre
styleUrl: #icon-503-DB4436
styleHash: -748a7e9e

Fuji Photo Trail (Blue) 2a (West)
Views from the North Bridge.
styleUrl: #icon-503-DB4436
styleHash: -748a7e9e

Fuji Photo Trail (Blue) 2b (East)
Views from the North Bridge.
styleUrl: #icon-503-DB4436
styleHash: -748a7e9e

Fuji Photo Trail (Blue) 3
Lady Stairs Close.

Fuji Photo Trail (Blue) 4
Ramsey Garden from Ramsey Lane

Views from the Castle Esplanade.

Edinburgh Castle from the Grassmarket.

Victoria Street

View looking down the Royal Mile from St Giles.

Advocates Close.

White Horse Close

The Palace of Holyroodhouse with Arthur's Seat

Fuji Photo Trail (Green) Swanson Village

Fuji Photo Trail (Green) South Queensferry

Fuji Photo Trail (Green) Cramond Village

Fuji Photo Trail (Green) Blackford Hill