One of the surviving symbols of the Canongate district's former independence is the Canongate Tolbooth. Built in 1591, it served successively as a collection point for tolls (taxes), a council house, a courtroom and a jail. With picturesque turrets and a projecting clock, it's an interesting example of 16th-century architecture. It now houses a fascinating museum called the People's Story, which covers the life, work and pastimes of ordinary Edinburgh folk from the 18th century to today.
People's Story
Old Town
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.84 MILES
Edinburgh Castle has played a pivotal role in Scottish history, both as a royal residence – King Malcolm Canmore (r 1058–93) and Queen Margaret first made…
6.68 MILES
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2.09 MILES
Built on Clydeside, the former Royal Yacht Britannia was the British Royal Family's floating holiday home during their foreign travels from the time of…
24.17 MILES
One of Scotland's great country houses, Traquair House has a powerful, ethereal beauty, and exploring it is like time travel. Odd, sloping floors and a…
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
1.85 MILES
Edinburgh's gallery of modern art is split between two impressive neoclassical buildings surrounded by landscaped grounds some 500m west of Dean Village…
0.21 MILES
The Scottish Parliament Building, on the site of a former brewery and designed by Catalan architect Enric Miralles (1955–2000), was opened by the Queen in…
1.47 MILES
Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden is the second-oldest institution of its kind in Britain (after Oxford), and one of the most respected in the world…
25.88 MILES
Completed in 2002, the Falkirk Wheel is a modern engineering marvel, a rotating boat lift that raises vessels 115ft from the Forth & Clyde Canal to the…
Nearby Old Town attractions
0.01 MILES
You can't miss the colourful facade of Huntly House, brightly painted in red and yellow ochre, opposite the Tolbooth clock on the Royal Mile. Built in…
0.03 MILES
The attractive curved gable of the Canongate Kirk, built in 1688, overlooks a kirkyard that contains the graves of several famous people, including…
0.05 MILES
Tucked away at the end of an Old Town close, this walled garden has been laid out in the style of the 17th century, with gravel paths, neatly trimmed…
0.07 MILES
A fantastic literary resource housed in award-winning modern architecture off Canongate, the poetry library hosts regular exhibitions and is a source of…
0.15 MILES
The neoclassical Burns Monument (1830), a Greek-style memorial to Scotland's national poet Robert Burns, stands on the southern flank of Calton Hill. It…
0.21 MILES
The Royal Mile narrows at the foot of High St beside the jutting facade of John Knox House. This is the oldest surviving tenement in Edinburgh, dating…
0.21 MILES
On the southern side of Calton Hill stands the modernist facade of St Andrew's House, built between 1936 and 1939 and housing the civil servants of the…
8. Scottish Parliament Building
0.21 MILES
The Scottish Parliament Building, on the site of a former brewery and designed by Catalan architect Enric Miralles (1955–2000), was opened by the Queen in…