Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden is a publicly accessible garden on the edge of the New Town to the north of the city centre containing trees, plants and flowers from across the world, all cultivated for the purposes of study and conservation. It contains more than 13,000 living specimens across the garden itself and a grand Victorian glasshouse dating from 1858.

Founded in 1670 near Holyrood Park, the Botanic Garden has since moved to a site near the old Nor Loch, now the location of Waverley Station, and then again to its current home in 1820. A peaceful spot away from the hustle of the city, it’s a destination visit site for various reasons. There are two dining areas – the Terrace Café in the heart of the Garden, whose lawn has a good view of Edinburgh Castle in the distance, and the Gateway Restaurant, a feature of the new education centre at the west entrance – while Inverleith House is a very highly regarded contemporary art gallery, and the former site of the city’s Gallery of Modern Art.