Edinburgh & The Borders, Scotland — Bella Via Travels
Scotland
Edinburgh & The Borders
A capital city like no other
Edinburgh is built on drama — a castle on a volcanic plug, a medieval Old Town that tumbles down the Royal Mile, a Georgian New Town of extraordinary elegance, and Arthur's Seat rising behind it all like a reminder that the wild is never far away.
The Old Town is a labyrinth of closes and wynds, each one hiding a courtyard, a pub or a view. The Royal Mile runs from the castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and the closes that lead off it — Advocates Close, Riddle's Court, White Horse Close — are among the most atmospheric streets in Europe.
The New Town, built in the eighteenth century to a grid plan of extraordinary ambition, is one of the finest examples of Georgian urban planning in the world. Charlotte Square, Moray Place and the Dean Village are all within walking distance of Princes Street, and all are largely unchanged.
The Scottish Borders to the south are a different Scotland entirely — rolling hills, ruined abbeys, the rivers Tweed and Teviot, and a literary landscape haunted by Walter Scott. Bella Via designs Edinburgh itineraries that combine the city with the quieter pleasures of the Border country.
“Edinburgh in August is extraordinary, but Edinburgh in January — empty, cold, the castle lit against a dark sky — is when the city shows you what it really is.”
What to Expect
The Bella Via Experience in Edinburgh & The Borders
The Royal Mile & Old Town
A medieval street of extraordinary atmosphere, with closes and wynds leading off it to courtyards, pubs and views that have barely changed in centuries.
The Scottish National Gallery
One of the finest collections of European painting in Britain, housed in a neoclassical building on the Mound — and free to enter.
Melrose & The Border Abbeys
Four ruined abbeys in the rolling Border hills — Melrose, Jedburgh, Kelso and Dryburgh — each with its own character and its own beauty.
Arthur's Seat
An extinct volcano rising 251 metres above the city centre — a 45-minute walk from the Royal Mile to a view that takes in the Forth, the Fife coast and the Highlands.
Edinburgh is a city that rewards those who look beyond the obvious and stay long enough to find their own version of it. We will help you do exactly that.