The tour commenced yesterday afternoon with a visit to Linlithgow Palace, a former Royal Palace of the Scottish Royal Family which was accidently destroyed by fire in the 17th century and never restored. This building has a pleasant situation on the edge of a loch (lake).
View from atop Linlithgow
At Linlithgow Palace
This morning, we departed our Edinburgh lodgings at 9.15am and drove to the car park at Palace of Holyroodhouse. We parked and then embarked on a walking tour of Edinburgh taking in the following:
- Palace of Holyroodhouse and adjacent ruined abbey.The former is an official Royal residence and offers a wealth of history, paintings, architecture, furniture and royal artifacts. The abbey dates from the 12th century and is an impressive ruin.
Abbey at Holyrood
- Scottish Parliament building. Being a Saturday, parliament was not in session but we were able to enter the interior and view the debating chamber.
- Burns monument.
- Calton Hill with two old observatories, National Monument, views of Firth of Forth and Edinburgh.
- Edinburgh Castle. This was extremely busy with visitors today and we had to endure a long queue to view the Crown Jewels.
Edinburgh Casle
- Light lunch at at the pub where the role model for Jekyll and Hyde lived.
- St. Giles Cathedral and Thistle Chapel.
Royal Mile
- Mercat Cross.
- Chessell’s Court.
- Hidden, replica 17th century garden.
Hidden Garden
We then connected with the car again and drove down to the village of Roslin to visit the famous 15th C Rosslyn Chapel and nearby Roslin Castle (ruins) both of which having connections with the Sinclair family.
Roslin Castle
