Edinburgh 5-day Itinerary

The brooding castle looming over the city is the iconic image of the Scottish capital and notches up more than a million visitors each year. Tick it off for the views alone: to the north the Firth of Forth and the Kingdom of Fife, to the south the Pentland Hills.

The fortress and royal palace, with dungeons and a 12th-century chapel, forms a sprawling complex that also includes the National War Museum.

If you can, time your visit to coincide with the one o’clock gun, which has been fired almost every day since 1861 – apart from Sundays, Good Friday, and Christmas Day.

If you can’t make it to a distillery, this is the next best thing.

Fully guided tours educate and inspire visitors about Scotch whisky, covering all aspects of production, geography and appreciation. You can experience the whisky-making process and pick up some fascinating snippets of history along the way. Tours also include a nosing and tasting, as well as a glimpse of the largest Scotch whisky collection in the world (3,384 bottles of Scotch Whisky).

If you’re not up for the full, tutored tour, the whisky sommelier in the downstairs bar ‘Amber’ will select your perfect dram from over 450 whisky varieties. They can also advise on a Scottish cheese or tapas accompaniment.

Far beneath the medieval streets of Edinburgh’s Old Town is one of its grittiest and most atmospheric, labyrinthine attractions.

As the capital’s elegant New Town was being built, many of the cramped, plague-ridden streets and tenements in the Old Town were simply bricked over. This is a real glimpse of 17th-century life rather than a Disneyesque experience.

Actors in character along the way include Mary King herself (an independent woman and successful merchant), a maid, a doctor, a poet – all weaving tales of daily life. It’s dark, it’s damp, it’s Les Miserables Scottish-style – with a touch of gallows humour.

At the bottom of the Royal Mile, in what was once the oldest inn in Edinburgh, this cosy seafood restaurant dishes up succulent seafood platters and small dishes – think crab Scotch Eggs with wasabi mayo, charred octopus, monkfish satay along with three types of oyster (Caledonian, Loch Fyne and Carlingford) freshly shucked at the bar.

Once the home of Mary Queen of Scots, today it’s used as a residence when the British Monarch is visiting. Rebuilt during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Palace of Holyroodhouse is an elegant pile at the bottom of the Royal Mile with a ruined abbey, art gallery and obligatory gift shop.

Mooch around the Royal Apartments, still used for official business, and snoop around Mary Queen of Scots’ chambers for a fascinating peek into the life of the monarchy past and present.

During the summer (1 May-30 Sept) you can book a private half-hour tour of the gardens, exploring their history and seeing parts of the grounds normally closed to the public.

Up until recently, many large-scale museums were dull, dusty and stuck in the past. Now, though, they strive for the wow factor, and the state-of-the-art National Museum of Scotland, which reopened in 2011 after a £47 million revamp, is a prime example.

The Grand Gallery is an airy atrium housing the four-story Window on the World installation, while 16 other spellbinding galleries explore Scotland’s history, culture, art and design, fashion, science and technology. There are also galleries devoted to Ancient Egypt, East Asia and Pacific Islanders.

This pretty 19th-century gardener’s cottage, with its carefully tended kitchen garden, is chef Dale Mailley’s earthy field-to-fork, rustic communal dining spot.

The world’s first purpose-built portrait gallery, one of the highlights of this neo-Gothic palace is the Great Hall decorated with an ornate frieze of famous Scottish figures.

Chef Stuart Ralston’s innovative tasting menu is an exciting leap in the dark, simply a list of seasonal ‘harvest’ ingredients.

One of the most famous ships in the world, this luxury yacht served the British Monarchy for over 44 years in multiple capacities, from official state visits to family holidays, travelling over a million nautical miles.

Now an immaculately-kept museum, you can tour five different decks, including the Bridge, the State Apartments and the crew’s quarters.

You can stop for an afternoon cream tea where the Queen herself would have sat in the Royal Gallery.

Grand, neoclassical Modern One, and Modern Two opposite – once a 19th-century orphanage – showcase an impressive permanent collection, changing exhibitions and Moore and Hepworth-studded sculpture park.

A tranquil haven, this bucolic 70-acre site was established in the 17th century, with highlights including the striking state-of-the-art visitor centre, Chinese Hillside and Victorian Palm Houses.

Put on the map by Dan Brown’s novel ‘The Da Vinci Code’ this elaborately carved 15th-century chapel, just outside Edinburgh, is linked to the legend of the Holy Grail.

A contemporary sculpture park, in the grounds of gracious Bonnington House, on the edge of Edinburgh is peppered with works by Charles Jencks, Cornelia Parker, Antony Gormley and Anish Kapoor.

The quaint seaside town of North Berwick (45 minutes by car or 30 minutes by train from Edinburgh) is a must for nature lovers and tweeters, and a great day out for any visitor to the region.

Bass Rock, a striking 10m-high monolith 2km off the shore, is home to the largest colony of gannets in the Northern hemisphere.

First, stop by the state-of-the-art Scottish Seabird Centre to learn about the colony and other wildlife in the area, then book onto one of their boats trip out to the Rock to bird-spot. The 3-hour guided tour allows you to alight at the rock itself (age 16+ only); other 1-hour tours involve cruises around it, spotting birds and other local wildlife.

After grab fish and chips on the harbour from the Lobster Shack and ice cream on the shore. If you’re there for dinner, book in to local chef Dean Banks’ relaxed seafood restaurant Dulse.