Castles and Palaces

Edinburgh and the surrounding area is rich in history and has several castles and palaces. Some are extremely busy (Edinburgh Castle has almost 2 million visitors each year) while others are much less crowded (Craigmillar Castle for example has under 40,000 visitors a year).

If you are planning a visit to one of the castles and palaces, check first if you need to book a slot. If you plan to visit regularly, it might be cheaper to buy a Historic Scotland membership.

Castles

The most famous castle is of course Edinburgh Castle, but Edinburgh also has Craigmillar Castle, Merchiston Castle and Lauriston Castle. Merchiston Castle (also called Merchiston Tower) and Lauriston Castle are tower houses rather than conventional castles with drawbridge and ramparts. Merchiston Tower and Lauriston Castle were owned by Archibald Napier, father of John Napier who invented logarithms. Merchiston Tower is now part of the main Napier University building.

Palaces

Edinburgh has two royal palaces and there is another one close by. Holyrood Palace has been a royal residence for centuries. (You can see images in the Holyrood page that also includes the Parliament. The Royal Family still stay there when they visit Edinburgh. In the past, the Royal Family also lived in the Royal Palace within Edinburgh Castle. A few miles from Edinburgh you can find Linlithgow Palace where Mary Queen of Scots was born.