Edinburgh

As a capital city and leading tourist destination, Edinburgh has a large number of well-planned tourist attractions. You will doubtless have seen adverts for the Edinburgh Dungeons and Dynamic Earth. You can hardly miss Edinburgh Castle, or the Camera Obscura, which is lit up at night to look exactly like a giant neon, well, put it this way - it's a big tower and it's pink. Tourist information offices can provide details of any of these. There are a couple of attractions which get a little less publicity however, such as the Museum of Childhood - an impressive collection of historic toys on the lower half of the Royal Mile which is free to enter. The Scott Monument is 3 pounds to get into, but you get an excellent view of Edinburgh from the top.

Art galleries

The largest galleries in Edinburgh are run by the National Galleries of Scotland. These include the National Gallery of Scotland and Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Neither of these have a collection to compete with the National Gallery in London, or with other national galleries. The modern art gallery collection also leans more towards the first half of the twentieth century than genuinely contemporary works. There are still some fairly interesting pieces however, and Scottish artists are covered better here than anywhere else in the world. Also, entrance is free, so it they are worth a look even if art isn't particularly your thing.

Parks

Edinburgh is full of parks. In particular three are close to the centre:

• Princes Street Gardens, which runs along the side of Princes Street, mixes laid out gardens with a large concert venue and plenty of grass for sunbathing (if only there was some sun).
• The Meadows is just to the south of the university. It is basically a large open area, great for cricket or football and not too bad for just sitting around.
• Holyrood park to the east of the city centre starts at the end of Holyrood House and the Scottish Parliament building, and takes in the whole of the Crags and Arthur's Seat. This is as close as you will get to countryside in the centre of a large city in Britain. Perfect for walkers who don't have the time, energy or bus fare to get out to the countryside proper.