New Town, Edinburgh

The Royal Botanic Garden, situated to the north of the city center, is the second oldest botanical garden in the British Isles. Within the magnificent 70-acre/28ha site, there is an herbarium and Great Britain's biggest palm house, a tropical house with exotic orchids, a collection of cacti and succulents, an alpine house, a terraced moorland garden, a heather garden with all the calluna vulgaris species that grow in the Highlands, an extensive arboretum with some rare giant trees (from the Himalayas, North America and China), a woodland garden with colorful azaleas, hydrangeas, camellias, saxifrage and rhododendrons, an aquatic house with tropical water plants such as the pink water lily from India and the huge South American water lily (Victoria Regis), a rock garden and the Exhibition Hall which regularly plays host to touring exhibitions.

The Museum of Antiquities owes its existence to the eccentric 11th Earl of Buchan (1749-1829). However, since 1891 the collection has shared the Portrait Gallery's premises. With three floors of exhibits, interest will probably focus on the Neolithic tools (4000-2500 B.C.), a reconstruction of Skara Brae, a Late Neolithic village, early Pictish sculptures (10th-seventh century B.C., the Pictish silver hoard from St Ninian's Isle, the Hunterston Brooch, an eighth century Celtic ornament, Roman finds including parts of the Antonine Wall and the Treasure of Traprain fifth century B.C. which was discovered in 1919, Scottish costumes and an extensive collection of early Scottish silver and gold.

Not far to the east along Chambers Street lies the Royal Museum of Scotland, currently housed in a Victorian-style building that was built between 1861 and 1888, although it is hoped that a new extension will be completed by the end of the 1990s. The airy entrance hall with fountains playing between Asiatic sculptures and Mediterranean-style palm trees is ringed by gallery arches. It must rank as one of the most successful cast iron constructions on Scottish soil. The plans were drawn up by Captain Francis Fowke of the Royal Engineers along the lines of London's Crystal Palace. The museum is divided into archaeological, ethnographic, natural history, geological and technological departments and exhibits range from primitive art to the space age. On the ground floor the Hall of Power offers visitors the opportunity to generate energy, while other exhibitions cover the evolution of man, insects, birds and mammals, the achievements of the Industrial Revolution (steam engines, locomotives, lighthouses, bridge construction etc.) and the early days of photography. The library is situated on the first floor together with displays of European art from the 15th to the 19th century, ancient Egypt, costume, timepieces and the work of modern goldsmiths. The second floor concentrates on Chinese and Islamic art, minerals, fossils and the development of scientific instruments.Changing exhibitions of costumes and textiles are usually drawn from their outstanding collection. The content is mainly Scottish in nature.

The City Art Centre in Market Street (1-4) which runs parallel to Princes Street is an important municipal art gallery. As well as a permanent exhibition of about 3,000 paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures, mainly by Scottish artists from the 17th to the 20th C such as Hornel, Lorimer, Fergusson, Peploe and Elizabeth Blackadder, it is also a venue for major touring exhibitions.

To the west and about halfway along Princes Street The Mound cuts through to Edinburgh's old town.

The Classical facade on the north side of Charlotte Square - near the west end of Queen Street - was completed in 1791 by Robert Adam and many people regard it as his finest work.Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, was born at no. 16 and Joseph Lister, who first discovered the importance of antiseptics in medicine, lived at no. 9.

The imposing Royal Bank of Scotland on the east side of the square was built in 1772 by William Chambers as a home for Sir Lawrence Dundas, the first Viscount of Melville. A memorial to the Viscount of Melville stands on the square as well as an equestrian statue of the Earl of Hopetoun.

An image of idyllic village life is created by Dean Village, northwest of Princes Street (Queensferry-Belford Road-Bells Brae). This picturesque little spot lies in a wooded gorge carved by the meandering waters of the Water of Leith, which during the Middle Ages supplied the water power for Edinburgh's flour mills. Weavers and tanners soon followed. Inscriptions and house signs from the 17th C recall the bakers' guild, while St Bernard's Wall by Leith Walkway is an attractive example of Classical landscaping. The round temple with a statue of Hygieia was erected in 1789 by Alexander Nasmyth.

To the southwest by Belford Road, the Neo-classical National Gallery of Modern Art, which was opened in 1984, displays paintings by Henry Matisse, George Braque, Paul Klee, Otto Dix and Pablo Picasso ("Mother and Child" from the "Blue Period"), surrealistic works by Rene Magritte, Joan Miró, Max Ernst and Giacometti, contemporary paintings by Bruce McLean, Callum Innes, John Bellany, Kate Whiteford and Gwen Hardie and sculptures by Barlach, Epstein, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Matthew Smith, George Rickey and David Hockney. The "Scottish Colorists", such as Peploe, Cadell, Hunter and Fergusson, are also represented.

Calton Hill provides a panoramic view of the city that should not be missed. The hill itself is of volcanic origin. To the west lie Princes Street and the castle, to the south the old town is silhouetted against Arthur's Seat, while in the east and north the Firth of Forth and the docks at Leith are clearly visible. At the foot of the hill stands the Royal High School (13th century) where Sir Walter Scott was once a pupil.

The Malcolm Innes Gallery specializes in works by Scottish artists from the 19th and 20th centuries including Elisabeth Cameron, Brian Rawling and Louise Wood.

Waverley market is spread out over three floors. A craft center and the usual variety of stores are found in the mall.