CRAIGMILLAR CASTLE

Often overlooked due to the magnificence of the more famous Edinburgh Castle, also of substantial historic significance is the Craigmillar Castle. A mere 3 miles from the centre of Edinburgh, the previous home to the Preston family it dates from the mid-15th century.

Its famed residents include King James V , the Earl of Hertford and Mary, Queen of Scots (1542 - 1587), who sought refuge there after the murder of her secretary David Rizzio at Holyrood Palace. It was Craigmillar where Mary's nobles, including the Earl of Bothwell and William Maitland plotted the demise of her second husband Lord Darnley.

ARTHUR’S SEAT

A 350 million-year-old rocky volcanic outcrop, now a public park has seen many visitors but King Arthur. The name may indeed be a corrupted version of the Gaelic "Ard na Saigheid" which means "height of the arrows."

The climb to Arthur's Seat may not seem attractive to the faint hearted but the views atop make it worthwhile. On a clear day one can stretch their sights across the city to the River Forth, beyond to Fife and the mountains of the Trossachs in the distance.

Even from the roads and pathways, far below the top of Salisbury Crags, the views are excellent. Spread beneath, are views of Holyroodhouse, the Parliament building, up the Royal Mile to the castle and most buildings along the way.

There are remains of prehistoric forts people gather to see the sunrise on midsummer and midwinter's day. There’s also St Margaret's Well and the ruins of St Anthony's Chapel dating. The single-track, Queen's Drive, goes clock-wise around the perimeter of the hill and has plenty of parking spaces.

SOUTH QUEENSFERRY (QUEENSFERRY)

On the south shore of Firth of Forth about 16kilometres west of Edinburgh is South Queensferry, today a yachting centre with electronics and whisky industries. It was made a Royal Burgh in 1636 and has several monuments dating back from this period like Laburnum House, the Hawes Inn, the Tolbooth Tower, the Black Castle and the Old Parish and Plewlands House.

EDINBURGH ZOO

One of Scotland's most popular attractions, after the Edinburgh Castle, the Edinburgh Zoo attracts over 650,000 visitors a year. A mere 3 miles to the west of Edinburgh’s city centre is over 82 acres of parkland with over a thousand rare species adding to its charm. With over a 1000 species, it is the largest collection of wildlife in Scotland from the tiny poison arrow frogs to massive white rhinos, and everything in between including tigers, gorillas, sea lions and giraffes.

It is the only zoo in the UK with polar bears and koalas, and the first zoo in the world to house breed penguins.

You can plan a range of activities at the zoo from free hilltop safari rides to keeper talks and hands-on animal encounters.

DEEP SEA WORLD

Situated beneath the marvelously world famous Forth Rail Bridge at North Queensferry in Fife, if you want to swim with the sharks visit Deep Sea World, UK's only shark diving destinations.

It also proudly boasts of the world's largest underwater safari tunnel, a massive 112 meters in length. Also one of Europe's largest collections of sand tiger sharks it has an amazing collection of exotic poisonous frogs, including the deadly golden dart frog and an incredible piranha exhibit.

If this catches your fancy it is open for visitors from 10am to 5pm on weekdays, and 10am to 6pm on weekends