Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden
A haven of green space in the heart of the city, the Edinburgh Royal Botanic Gardens are a wonderful spot for a stroll, a coffee, a shop or a meal! With 72 acres of garden to explore and thousands of plants, trees and fungi to marvel at, this is a wonderful spot to make part of your visit to Edinburgh. It is definitely one of the best free things to do in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh Royal Botanic Garden
Beloved by residents and visitors of all ages, the Royal Botanic Gardens are a well maintained, easy to access site which is free to enter – a bonus to your wallet! Founded in 1670, the garden moved to it’s current location in the early 1820’s and has remained there for 200 years. Now a fixed part of the Inverleith area, the gardens sit north of Princes Street and are part of the Georgian New Town. They are easily walkable from many parts of town (around a mile from Princes Street) but Lothian Buses also run services that stop directly at the two entrances, as does one of the open top bus companies.
The Botanics also runs an in-depth programme of exhibitions, lectures, courses, workshops and volunteer opportunities making this a place you can truly immerse yourself in. Or simply pop in for a walk and a takeaway coffee from The Terrace Cafe as you watch the squirrels scamper around. There’s also The Gateway Cafe with stunning views over the garden that offers a more formal environment for a lovely lunch.
Regular events are also hosted here including a Christmas Light Trail (which Lucy and her family hold to be the best one in the city) with food and drink scattered along the routes of music, lights and shows projected onto buildings, trees, even the water sometimes!
The Terrace Cafe regularly hosts pop up speciality food vans
At the East Gate entrance to the Royal Botanic Gardens, the John Hope Gateway hosts the Gateway Cafe upstairs as well as a truly fabulous shop full of gifts, garden items and mementos of your trip here. Plus it’s a great way to support the Botanic Gardens charity that runs this garden as well as their other three sites in Scotland (Benmore, Dawyck and Logan).
The gorgeous shop at the Botanic gardens
If you’d like to read more about the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh why not take a look at :
The Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh website
Royal Botanic Gardens by Visit Scotland