Edinburgh Castle is visited annually by approximately one million people and is the most popular ancient monument in Scotland. Contrary to what many people think this is NOT where the Queen stays when she visits Edinburgh. The Royal Palace of Holyrood House serves as the Queen's official residence when in Scotland. Another Royal Residence is Balmoral Castle, although this is mainly used for private family functions i.e. summer holidays in August and September.

The soaring, Gothic monument to the memory of Sir Walter Scott (who died in 1832) was built in Princes Street Gardens in 1840-46. Scott created and popularized historical novels in a series called the Waverley Novels..

The sandstone for the monument came from a Lothian quarry which, as time has proved, was soft and liable to corrosion from the atmosphere in "Auld Reekie" as Edinburgh was once called. The stonework has blackened over the years and currently has a "piebald" effect from recent repairs. The building rises 200.5 feet and has 287 steps to the top. The views from the top of the Edinburgh skyline (if you can make it up all those stairs) are tremendous. There is a statue of Scott below the arches of the monument, made of white Carrara marble. The monument is decorated with 64 statuettes, illustrating many of the characters from Scott's novels, placed there in the 1870s, some years after the monument had been completed.

Greyfriar's Bobby. John Gray was an Edinburgh policeman during the 1850s. His companion and police watch-dog was a Skye Terrier named Bobby. Gray died of tuberculosis in 1858 and was buried in Greyfriars Kirk graveyard. Bobby soon took up residence on his master's grave. Various people took pity on the dog. James Brown, the church gardener, provided Bobby with food and water. James Anderson, who lived nearby, would try to coax Bobby into his house during bad weather, but the dog would howl to be let out so eventually a shelter was built for him near the grave. Bobby's expression of devotion quickly made the small dog a local celebrity in Edinburgh.
The little Skye Terrier remained at Gray's grave for the rest of his life...a total of 14 years. Because Bobby was a stray, there was some question as to whether he should be allowed to wander the streets of Edinburgh without a license. If nobody had been willing to pay, then the penalty for Bobby would have been death. The Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Sir William Chambers, was so impressed by Bobby's devotion that he agreed to purchase the license...and did so for every year thereafter.
On Bobby's death on January 14, 1872, the small dog was interred next to his master. A year later, a bronze statue was erected to Bobby at the crest of Candlemakers Row, just outside the entrance to the graveyard. The monument was unveiled on November 15, 1873. Bobby's statue is the most photographed in Scotland.