MOST people would agree that the Royal Botanic Garden, in the Inverleith district, is one of the jewels of Edinburgh. It is the city's second most popular visitor attraction after the castle, with nearly one million visitors.
As Scotland's national botanic garden, extending to 72 acres, it contains a plant collection of unique botanical importance. It is administered by a board of trustees and funded by the Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department. Admission is free.
The garden is widely regarded as one of the finest botanic gardens in the world, with a long and fascinating history. It is an international scientific research institution, with vital research, conservation, public amenity and educational roles.
It has been on its present site since 1820. Its roots, however, go much deeper than that. It is a direct descendant of a physic garden, which was devoted to the cultivation of medicinal herbs, established near Holyrood Abbey in 1670.
On every day of the year (except 25 December and 1 January), visitors are to be found strolling beneath the trees. The more exotic plants are housed in 11 exhibition plant houses that create climatic conditions ranging from bone-dry desert to the dripping humidity of an equatorial rainforest. There is a very large and internationally renowned rock garden, while the garden's collection of 500 species of rhododendron is also famous.
On leaving the Royal Botanic Garden via Inverleith Row, turn right and within a few moments you will reach no. 8 Howard Place. This was the house in which Robert Louis Stevenson was born. Around the corner from Howard Place, at no. 10 Warriston Crescent, there is a wall tablet commemorating a visit by the Polish composer Frederic Chopin in 1848.
Portobello is Edinburgh's seaside suburb. The name is immutably identified in the mind of every Edinburgher with sand, salty breezes, buckets and spades, squealing children and ice-cream cones. There is a long and wide beach of first-class sand, and a modern indoor swimming pool at Bellfield Street. There is also a nine-hole municipal golf course within the public park.
Portobello Town Hall, at the hub of the High Street, is a handsome building employed for a variety of stage shows, meetings and other events.
Botanical
Gardens