Gardens and parks

Edinburgh has a fair selection of parks. If you are looking to escape the festival to an oasis of calm or just looking for a good walk read on.

Princes Street Gardens (West and East)

The most accessible and obvious park to head for if you are on Princes Street, and just five minutes walk from the High Street. Join the office workers, tourists, mini-golfers, old folk, teenagers with their carry oots of beer, dossers, lovers, loungers and soak it all up. As well as the place to admire Edinburgh castle perched up on its rock, you can buy tickets to the gardens at Hogmanay and at the end of the Festival in August to watch the fireworks - always massively popular. There is also a childrens' play park in the West End and in the Spring/Summer there are elaborate floral displays (especially at the entrance to West Princes Street Gardens at the foot of the Mound).

Arthur's Seat, Salisbury Crags, and Holyrood Park

Just keep walking all the way down the High Street and you will end up in this dramatic, hilly park. The park is named after the queen's adjacent Edinburgh residence, the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The ruddy cliff face, Salisbury Crags, and lion-like hill, Arthur's seat, can be seen from all over the city. With its myriad footpaths, mini loch and ruin on the hillside (St. Anthony's Chapel, which dates back to the 15th century), it is a great place to ramble.

Botanic Gardens

A verdant oasis in Edinburgh's New Town area and Scotland's answer to Kew gardens is not only a place to learn about exotic flora, but its lush surroundings make it the perfect place to wile away a sunny afternoon. There is no admission charge and it is cleverly landscaped so that you can get lost in its few acres. Budding botanists will be glad to find everything is meticulously tagged and that there are frequent lectures for green-fingered types. Squirrels are common and foxes frequently spotted slinking along its verdant aisles. Tip: go immediately after a rain shower: the flora is at its most fragrant, and people most scarce.

Water of Leith

This 12-mile walkway is a hidden-away, green corridor through the city. The walkway (and cycleway) starts at the outlying village of Balerno on the edge of the Pentlands, then moves to Currie, Juniper Green and Colinton and into the heart of Edinburgh.

Calton Hill

The top of Calton hill is an excellent and usually quiet place to come on any day, with its grassy slopes and panoramic views of the city, including down the length of Princes street (the main shopping thoroughfare) and Edinburgh castle. There is a good view North of the ruddy-coloured cliffs of Salisbury Crags and the undulating slopes of Holyrood Park. It is also littered with historical monuments.

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