Edinburgh

What's on in Edinburgh

April/May/June

As daffodils and spring blooms sprout up across Edinburgh, themes of regrowth and innovation are explored in the Bank of Scotland Imaginate festival (7-14 May) for the under-17s. Offerings include a dance experience for tiny tots from Australia, an enchanting puppetry show from Scotland and a performance work about Iceland, as seen through the eyes of sheep, from Italy.

The Edinburgh International Film Festival (20 June-1 July) is bringing back a number of major awards that were scrapped last year, including Best British Feature, Best Performance in a British Film and Best International Film. Also being reinstated by new festival director Chris Fujiwara are the popular and glamorous red-carpet premieres.

Enjoy countryside pleasures at the Royal Highland Centre during the four-day Royal Highland Show (21-24 June), which is jam-packed with attractions to lure all the family. Look forward to live bands, a huge range of contemporary craft stalls, country pursuits such as terrier racing and falconry, prize-winning Highland cows and an enticing food hall. The showground is reached easily from Edinburgh via Lothian Buses’ dedicated show service.

The Trocks

See Scotland by Train


Until 24 June

Drawn from National Museums Scotland’s beautiful collection of vintage railway posters are these dramatic and scenic depictions of rail travel in Scotland over the past 100 years. nms.ac.uk/our_museums/national_museum.aspx
Image credit: 1952 by Terence Cuneo © NRM Pictorial Collection - Science and Society Picture Library

Gardening Scotland

Gardening Scotland

3-5 June

Held at the Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, Gardening Scotland’s national celebration of gardening and outdoor living is the place for the green-fingered to source top-quality plants, catch up on gardening trends and ask for expert advice. Highlights include a bonsai exhibition, botanical art display and The Big Back Garden.

gardeningscotland.com

Midnight Tango

Midnight Tango

27-30 June

Professional Strictly Come Dancing performers, Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace, join forces with 10 of the best tango dancers in the world for this elegant and electrifying show, set in a late-night bar in downtown Buenos Aires. edinburghplayhouse.org.uk

Madonna

Madonna

21 July

The original queen of pop performs in Scotland for the first time ever when she brings her 2012 world tour to Murrayfield Stadium. In this, her ninth concert tour, expect tracks from her new album, MDNA, as well as choice hits from her extensive back catalogue. livenation.co.uk/Madonna

5 things to see and do in Edinburgh

5 things to see and do in Edinburgh

  1. The Scotsman Steps

    Turner Prize winner Martin Creed has led a huge effort to renovate the 1899 stairwell built for the former offices of The Scotsman newspaper. Each of the 104 steps, which connect The Scotsman Hotel with Waverley station, have been clad in a different marble, meaning the passageway is now a public artwork as much as a means of getting from A to B.

  2. Arthur’s Seat

    The most famous of the seven hills surrounding Edinburgh offers superb views over the city, in particular the castle and the Old Town. This extinct volcano, thought to resemble a crouching lion, is easily reached from Holyrood Park, where you can follow a footpath close to the ruin of St Anthony’s Chapel before heading up the well-signposted path to the summit.

  3. Edinburgh Bus Tours

    One of the best ways to see the sights of Edinburgh is on an open-top bus tour, where hop-on, hop-off tickets allow you to stop and visit the famous attractions as you pass them. Three routes are available: City Sightseeing, which covers all the major attractions, Edinburgh Tour, which focuses on historical sights, and Majestic Tour, which takes you to royal gems such as Holyrood and Royal Yacht Britannia.

  4. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

    Spring is probably the most exciting time to visit the famous gardens, as this is when the magnificent rhododendron collection bursts into colour. Elsewhere within the 70-acre landscaped grounds, you’ll find plants of the primrose family and small, colourful orchids in the Alpine House and primulas and Himalayan poppies in the woodland areas.

  5. Camera Obscura

    This popular attraction, built around a Victorian rooftop chamber, allows you to see live moving images of Edinburgh projected through a giant periscope. Doubling its floor space for 2012, its new features include Bewilderworld and The Puzzling Zone, where you can get sucked into a swirling Vortex Tunnel. Lose yourself in the Mirror Maze and become huge or tiny in the disorientating Ames Room.

Near the station

Lady JoJo’s Boutique, 11 West Port, 22 Grassmarket, EH1 2JA

Lady JoJo’s Boutique, 11 West Port, 22 Grassmarket, EH1 2JA

Vintage Hollywood glamour, in the form of leopard-print circle dresses, satin pencil skirts and corsets, is available at this boutique in the heart of the Old Town, which specialises in garments from the 1950s and ‘60s and by vintage-inspired designers. Image courtesy of Cristina Carra Caso photography

One World Shop, St John’s Church, Princes Street, EH2 4BJ

One World Shop, St John’s Church, Princes Street, EH2 4BJ

Scotland’s biggest Fair Trade outlet enjoys an attractive location on the leafy terrace of St John’s Church, with views across Princes Street Gardens. Buy handmade crafts, textiles, jewellery, furniture, clothing, stationery and more.

Valvona & Crolla, 19 Elm Row, EH7 4AA

Valvona & Crolla, 19 Elm Row, EH7 4AA

Called the “deli from heaven” by epicure Lloyd Grossman, Scotland’s oldest delicatessen and Italian wine merchants stocks its own-baked bread, great cheeses, salamis and meats, oils and vinegars, port and dessert wines, cakes and coffee.

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