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Venerable, dramatic EDINBURGH , the showcase capital of Scotland, is a historic, cosmopolitan and cultured city. The setting is wonderfully striking; the city is perched on a series of extinct volcanoes and rocky crags which rise from the generally flat landscape of the Lothians, with the sheltered shoreline of the Firth of Forth to the north. "My own Romantic town", Sir Walter Scott called it, although it was another native author, Robert Louis Stevenson, who perhaps best captured the feel of his "precipitous city", declaring that "No situation could be more commanding for the head of a kingdom; none better chosen for noble prospects."
The centre has two distinct parts, divided by Princes Street Gardens , which run roughly east-west under the shadow of Castle Rock . To the north, the dignified, Grecian-style New Town was immaculately laid out during the Age of Reason, after the announcement of a plan to improve conditions in the city. The Old Town , on the other hand, with its tortuous alleys and tightly packed closes, is unrelentingly medieval, associated in popular imagination with the underworld lore of schizophrenic Deacon Brodie, inspiration for Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , and the bodysnatchers Burke and Hare. Edinburgh earned its nickname of "Auld Reekie" for the smog and smell generated by the Old Town, which for centuries swam in sewage tipped out of the windows of cramped tenements.
Set on the crag which sweeps down from the towering fairytale castle to the royal Palace of Holyroodhouse , the Old Town preserves all the key reminders of its role as a capital, plus a brand new parliament building rising up opposite the palace. A few hundred yards away a tantalizing glimpse of the wild beauty of Scotland's scenery can be had immediately beyond the palace in Holyrood Park , an extensive area of open countryside dominated by Arthur's Seat , the largest and most impressive of the volcanoes.
In August and early September, around a million visitors flock to the city for the Edinburgh Festival , in fact a series of separate festivals that make up the largest arts extravaganza in the world. Among the many museums, the exciting new National Museum of Scotland houses ten thousand of Scotland's most precious artefacts, while the National Gallery of Scotland and its offshoot, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art , have two of Britain's finest collections of paintings.
On a less elevated theme, the city's distinctive howffs (pubs), allied to its brewing and distilling traditions, make Edinburgh a great drinking city. The presence of three universities , plus several colleges, means that there is a youthful presence for most of the year - a welcome corrective to the stuffiness which is often regarded as Edinburgh's Achilles heel.
Beyond the city centre, the most lively area is Leith , the city's medieval port, whose seedy edge is softened by a series of great bars and upmarket seafood restaurants, along with the presence of the former royal yacht Britannia , now open to visitors.
Although Edinburgh occupies a large area relative to its population - less than half a million people - most places worth visiting lie within the compact city centre, which is easily explored on foot. This is divided clearly and unequivocally between the maze-like Old Town , which lies on and around the crag linking the castle and the Palace, and the New Town , laid out in a symmetrical pattern on the undulating ground to the north.
Edinburgh International Airport (tel 0131/333 1000) is at Turnhouse, seven miles west of the city centre; regular Airlink shuttle buses (£3.30) connect to Waverley Bridge in the town centre; taxis charge around £15 for the same journey. Conveniently situated at the eastern end of Princes Street in the New Town, Waverley Station (timetable and fare enquiries tel 0845/748 4950) is the terminus for all mainline trains. There's a second mainline train stop, Haymarket Station , just under two miles west on the lines from Waverley to Glasgow, Fife and the Highlands, although this is only really of use if you're staying nearby. The bus terminal for local and intercity services is on St Andrew Square, two minutes' walk from Waverley Station, on the opposite side of Princes Street.
If you're planning to visit during August, book accommodation well in advance if you don't want to end up in bed and breakfast 30 miles away.
The centre of the city is taken over by the Edinburgh Festival at this time, which adds extra zest to the atmosphere, and a host of additional entertainment from opera to street theatre, but bear in mind that the whole city will be busier and cafes, pubs and restaurants more crowded.
This is not a time to try to get round by car: the city is no stranger to gridlock, and most parts of town are easily accessible by bus or on foot.
Though the large hotels in the centre of Edinburgh are expensive, if you are visiting outside the summer months there are sometimes bargain deals to be had, particularly at weekends when there are fewer business visitors.
Buy The List, Edinburgh and Glasgow's fortnightly events guide, for the most comprehensive information on what's going on while you're in the city.
Like Rome, Edinburgh is built on seven hills, and there are plenty of green spaces around the city if you want to get away from the traffic. Try the Meadows (although you probably don't want to walk through at night), Calton Hill (ditto), and for a touch of the countryside, Blackford Hill, the Braids or the Pentlands (there's an artificial ski slope at Hillend).
The Botanic Gardens to the north of the New Town have splendid glasshouses and spectacular views of the Old Town, as well as a beautiful art gallery.
If you want to go a little further afield, nip on a bus out to Cramond on the Firth of Forth, to see the Roman remains and take a long walk along the coast, with views of Fife on the other side. Or visit the mysterious 15th-century Gothic Rosslyn chapel - with its links to the Masons and Knights Templar - at Roslin, this time to the west of town, near Penicuik.
There are dozens of golf courses in and around Edinburgh. Several are public (including Braid Hills, Silverknowes, Craigentinny and Portobello) and you'll have plenty of opportunities (weather permitting) to indulge your passion.
Like much of the rest of Scotland, Edinburgh has a temperate maritime climate, which is relatively mild despite its northerly latitude. Winters are especially mild given that Moscow and Labrador in Newfoundland lie on the same latitude, with daytime temperatures rarely falling below freezing, or 0C (32F). Summer temperatures are comparatively cool, with daily upper maxima rarely exceeding 23C (73F). The proximity of the city to the sea mitigates any large variations in temperature or extremes of climate. Given Edinburgh's position between the coast and hills it is renowned as a windy city, with the prevailing wind direction coming from the south-west which is associated with warm, unstable air from the Gulf Stream that gives rise to rainfall. Winds from an easterly direction are usually drier but colder. Rainfall is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year. Vigorous Atlantic depressions - sometimes called European windstorms can affect the city between October and March.
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