Loanhead

Craiglockhart Castle

Craiglockhart · 4.3 miles

Craiglockhart Castle is a ruined tower house in the Craiglockhart district of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Duddingston Loch

Duddingston Village · 4.3 miles

A freshwater loch of roughly eight hectares lies on the southern edge of Holyrood Park, just south of Arthur’s Seat and a short walk from the village of Duddingston. It is one of the last two natural lochs remaining within the city limits of Edinburgh, the other being Lochend Loch, and the only natural water body among the three lochs in the park. The loch’s history stretches back to the Bronze Age, when a hoard of swords, spears and other artefacts was deliberately deposited in its waters. The items lay undisturbed until a dredger recovered them in 1778; they are now displayed in the Early People gallery at the National Museum of Scotland. The scene of Henry Raeburn’s painting *The Skating Minister* was once a popular ice-skating venue, and the loch also hosted early curling activity. Records of curling date from at least 1761, with the Duddingston Curling Society formally established in 1795. William Henry Playfair’s Thomson’s Tower, built in 1824, still stands on the north side of the loch, marking the sport’s historic presence. Designated a bird sanctuary since 1925, the loch supports the most extensive common reed bed in the Lothians and a wildlife reserve at Bawsinch managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Mammals such as otter, hedgehog and water vole are regularly observed, while the western end hosts the region’s largest heronry, recorded with 27 nests in 2017. Anglers may obtain free coarse-fishing permits from the Holyrood Park Ranger Service, though fishing is restricted to the north shore and all catches must be released. Species commonly targeted include carp, perch, roach and pike.

Merchiston Tower

Church Hill · 4.3 miles

Birth place of John Napier (Inventor of logarithms)

The Meadows

Quartermile · 4.3 miles

Stretching across more than 60 acres south of Edinburgh’s city centre, The Meadows offers open grassland crossed by tree-lined avenues, a children’s playground, croquet and tennis facilities and several sport pitches. Step-free routes make the park accessible for wheelchair users, and the surrounding network of paths links the University of Edinburgh’s George Square campus, the Quartermile development and the residential areas of Marchmont, Summerhall, Sciennes and Newington. To the south-west the ground continues as Bruntsfield Links, where a public short-hole golf course is available. The site began as common land that supplied drinking water from the burgh loch until the early seventeenth century. Drainage work in the mid-1600s and again in 1722 transformed the marshy area into a landscaped park known then as Hope Park, with lime-tree avenues and a summer house. An 1827 Act of Parliament later protected the area from building. Throughout the nineteenth century the Meadows evolved from grazing ground to a public recreation space, gaining full public right of way in the mid-1800s. It hosted early football matches, including the first Hearts-Hibernian derby in 1875, and provided over 500 allotments for the Victory Garden scheme during the Second World War. The park continues to host community events, including the annual Meadows Marathon, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Sunday and occasional circuses. Remnants of the 1886 International Exhibition, such as the Prince Albert Sundial, remain visible near the western entrance. Facilities such as the playground and sports courts are available. Access is provided via the surrounding streets and public transport routes serving the Quartermile area.

National Museum of Scotland

Old Town · 5 miles

The National Museum of Scotland occupies two adjoining buildings on Chambers Street, beside the George IV Bridge in Edinburgh’s central area, close to the Old Town. Admission is free and the site is step-free, with on-site toilets and publicly listed opening hours. Visitors can reach the museum on foot from the city centre or by local bus routes that stop nearby. Formed in 2006, the museum combines the modern Museum of Scotland, opened in 1998, with the historic Royal Scottish Museum, whose construction began in 1861 and partially opened in 1866. The older block features a Victorian Venetian Renaissance façade and a cast-iron central hall that rises the full height of the structure; a major refurbishment completed in 2011 restored and extended the space. The institution brings together the national collections of Scottish antiquities, medieval artefacts and a broad international programme covering geology, natural history, science, technology and world cultures. Among the displays are the cloned sheep Dolly, an Egyptian gallery, a collection of Sir Elton John’s stage costumes, the Jean Muir fashion archive and a kinetic piece called the Millennium Clock. A Scottish invention, the early beheading device known as the Scottish Maiden, also appears. The museum’s galleries, refreshed in 2011, showcase roughly 8 000 objects, most of which had not been exhibited before. In 2025 the attraction recorded over two million visitors, confirming its status as a heavily frequented cultural venue.

Greyfriars Kirk

Old Town · 5 miles

Greyfriars Kirk stands in Edinburgh’s historic Old Town, set against the backdrop of the adjoining Greyfriars Kirkyard. The parish church of the Church of Scotland occupies a site once granted to a mid-15th-century Franciscan community, whose former friary was repurposed after the Reformation as a burial ground and the location for the present building, erected between 1602 and 1620. The interior presents an eight-bay aisled nave that blends Survival Gothic with Baroque touches; a later addition by Alexander McGill introduced a Palladian north porch after the 1718 explosion that destroyed the original tower. Notable interior elements include stained-glass windows by James Ballantine, a 17th-century monument to Margaret, Lady Yester, and an original copy of the National Covenant signed in 1638. The church’s history records use as Cromwellian barracks, a fire in 1845 that led to the first organ and stained glass in a Scottish parish since the Reformation, and a 1929 reunification of the Old and New Greyfriars congregations. Today the kirk remains active in community outreach through the Grassmarket Community Project and the Greyfriars Charteris Centre, and it maintains a weekly Gaelic service, continuing a tradition dating from the early 18th century. Visitors can reach the site on foot within the Old Town; the building offers step-free, wheelchair-friendly access. No admission fee or specific visitor facilities are detailed in the available information.