Edinburgh is a city built on volcanoes. A castle sits on one, a mountain-sized park rises from another, and between them a medieval Old Town faces a Georgian New Town across a valley of gardens and railway lines. Here are the facts and stories behind Scotland's capital.
10 curiosidades sobre Edimburgo
- Un cohete gótico para un novelista: el Scott Monument de Princes Street, terminado en 1844 e inaugurado en 1846, mide unos 61 metros y es uno de los mayores monumentos del mundo dedicados a un escritor. Una escalera de caracol de 287 peldaños sube a la plataforma más alta.
- A designer who never saw it finished: the monument's architect, George Meikle Kemp, was self-taught and entered the competition under the pseudonym John Morvo. He drowned in the Union Canal on a foggy evening in March 1844, months before the spire was completed.
- A writer and his dog: under the monument's canopy sits a statue of Sir Walter Scott in white Carrara marble by John Steell, with his deerhound Maida lying at his side.
- A station named after a book: Waverley, Edinburgh's main railway station, takes its name from Scott's Waverley novels.
- Una galería con una reina en el tejado: el edificio de la Royal Scottish Academy, en el Mound, lo diseñó William Henry Playfair y se construyó entre 1822 y 1826 como Royal Institution. Una estatua de la reina Victoria de John Steell corona su pórtico norte.
- A castle on a volcano: Edinburgh Castle stands on Castle Rock, the plug of an extinct volcano. Its oldest building, the small St Margaret's Chapel from the 12th century, is also the oldest surviving building in the city.
- A gun that tells the time: since 1861 the One O'Clock Gun has been fired from the castle every day except Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day. It was a time signal for ships in the Firth of Forth.
- Dos ciudades, un solo Patrimonio Mundial: el casco antiguo medieval y la ciudad nueva georgiana, planeada por James Craig tras ganar un concurso en 1766, fueron inscritos juntos por la UNESCO en 1995.
- Un festival que empezó sin invitación: en 1947 ocho compañías de teatro se presentaron sin invitación al primer Festival Internacional de Edimburgo y actuaron de todos modos. Su evento al margen se convirtió en el Edinburgh Festival Fringe, hoy el mayor festival de artes del mundo.
- A mountain in the middle of town: Arthur's Seat, another extinct volcano, rises to 251 metres in Holyrood Park, a short walk from the Royal Mile.
La historia de Greyfriars Bobby
Edinburgh's most famous dog was a Skye terrier called Bobby. When his owner, a police night watchman named John Gray, died in 1858 and was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, the story goes that Bobby refused to leave the grave and kept watch there for 14 years. Bobby died in 1872, and a year later a small bronze statue of him was set up at the corner of Candlemaker Row. Some historians doubt parts of the tale, but the statue's nose has been rubbed shiny by visitors, and his own grave lies just inside the kirkyard gate.
La Royal Mile, explicada
The Royal Mile is the chain of streets that runs down the ridge from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the King's official residence in Scotland. It is roughly one Scots mile long, a little longer than an English mile. On both sides, narrow alleys called closes and wynds lead off between tall stone tenements. At the bottom, opposite the palace, stands the Scottish Parliament building by Enric Miralles, opened in 2004.
Qué comer en Edimburgo
- Haggis, neeps and tatties: spiced sheep's offal with oatmeal, served with mashed turnip and potato. It is the centre of every Burns Supper on 25 January.
- Cullen skink: una sopa espesa y cremosa de eglefino ahumado, patata y cebolla de la costa noreste, perfecta para un día frío.
- Cranachan: un postre de nata montada, frambuesas, miel, copos de avena tostados y un chorrito de whisky.
- Shortbread y tablet: galletas de mantequilla y un dulce desmenuzable y muy azucarado parecido al fudge.
- Whisky: Edimburgo tiene bares con cientos de botellas, así que pide un dram de una región que aún no hayas probado.
Antes de ir
- Book Edinburgh Castle tickets online in advance, especially in summer. Arrive before one o'clock if you want to see the gun fired.
- En agosto la ciudad acoge el Fringe y varios festivales más a la vez. El alojamiento se llena con meses de antelación.
- La escalera del Scott Monument es estrecha y empinada, y las galerías superiores son angostas, así que no es ideal si no te gustan los espacios pequeños.
- Para una vista clásica de la ciudad sin una gran subida, sube a Calton Hill, al final de Princes Street hacia el este, mejor al atardecer.
Descubre Edimburgo con World City Trail
Nuestra búsqueda del tesoro en Edimburgo convierte estos lugares en un juego en tu móvil. La ruta une 10 paradas y dura unas tres horas, con unos 56 minutos a pie. Por el camino visitas el Scott Monument y la Royal Scottish Academy.
En cada parada resuelves un acertijo y escuchas una historia breve, a tu ritmo. Puedes empezar cuando quieras y jugar en español, inglés, alemán, francés, italiano o neerlandés.
Juega a la búsqueda del tesoro de Edimburgo →
Datos comprobados en octubre de 2026.