Explore Edinburgh Castle, containing more legend and lore than anywhere else in Scotland. Stroll down the Royal Mile, reputed to be the city's oldest street, to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official Scottish residence of the Queen and former home of Mary Queen of Scots.
Comprising five linked streets, the Royal Mile is lined with upscale restaurants, coffeehouses, pubs and souvenir and woollens shops. Visit Camera Obscura, a building that projects live images of the city on to a white viewing table through a pinhole periscope and documents the history of photography and holography.
St Giles Cathedral on High St was built in 1120 and you can study the secrets of the "water of life" as you sample some at the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre.
Down the steep, narrow Advocate's Close, Dom is a superb artist-run gallery in a restored 15th century tenement at No 8, Edinburgh's oldest house.