Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city, has so much to offer. We’ll visit unmissable top sights such as the castle and the Palace of Holyrood to discover stories of murder and intrigue from history and ‘meet’ royal superstars like Mary Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie. We’ll also introduce you to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and to all the city’s best-known authors, enlightenment thinkers, rogues and eccentrics.
The 16 episodes in our City Break Edinburgh series bring you all the background history and culture you need to fully understand this dramatic city. In short, here is all the research you’d do yourself if only you had the time.
Each episode centres around a podcast, available here or on all the usual providers. The blog posts here on the website include a summary of the main information, plus pictures, useful links and ideas for further reading. So, let’s go. We think that might be ‘Tiugainn’ in Scots Gaelic.
EDINBURGH : HISTORY & CULTURE

Episode 1: Introduction to Edinburgh

Episode 2: Edinburgh Castle – The Heart of the City

Episode 3: The Palace of Holyroodhouse

Episode 4: The Royal Mile

Episode 5: Auld Reekie – The Old Town

Episode 6: Enlightenment in the New Town of Edinburgh

Episode 7: The Two Scottish Parliaments

Episode 8: best Edinburgh parks and walks

Episode 9: Edinburgh’s History Museums

Episode 10: Leith And The Royal Yacht Britannia

Episode 11: Edinburgh Literature and Writers

Episode 12: More Edinburgh Writers

Episode 13: Edinburgh’s Witches, Cemeteries and Ghosts

Episode 14: Edinburgh Art and Artists

Episode 15: The Culinary Delights of Edinburgh

Episode 16: Edinburgh Anthology
MORE READING ABOUT EDINBURGH
Useful websites for tourists
Forever Edinburgh
All About Edinburgh
Visit Scotland
Edinburgh International Festival
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
4 useful guidebooks
Lonely Planet Pocket Edinburgh
Pocket Rough Guide to Edinburgh
Only in Edinburgh A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects by Duncan J D Smith
Edinburgh on Foot A Pocket Walking Guide by Richard Hallewell
4 useful history books
A History of Edinburgh by Christopher McNab
Edinburgh, A History of the City by Michael Fry
Edinburgh Curiosities by James U Thomson
Horrible Histories Edinburgh by Terry Deary
2 Anthologies
Edinburgh, A Traveller’s Reader by David Daiches
Book Lover’s Edinburgh A Guide and Companion by Allan Foster
6 novels set in Edinburgh
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
The Naming of the Dead by Ian Rankin (plus all his other novels!)
44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith (plus over a dozen novels in the series)
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell
One Day by David Nicholls
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
Miscellaneous
Selected Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson Edited by Ernest Mehew
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
Johnson and Boswell in Scotland Edited by Pat Rogers
Scottish Art by Murdo Macdonald
PODCASTS TO GET YOU STARTED



OTHER CITY BREAK IDEAS














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