New Town Architecture Walking Tour (Self Guided), Edinburgh

Prepare for your jaw to drop and your eyes to widen when you visit Edinburgh's New Town. This is the largest area of Georgian architecture in Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was once referred to as “the Scottish Enlightenment in stone”. Georgian architecture and urban planning transformed the city from the beginning of the 18th century. A competition was held for the design of the New Town which was given impetus by the squalid and cramped conditions of the medieval old town and houses that were falling into states of disrepair.

The New Town encompasses geometrically straight streets, delightful squares, crescents, grand houses and green spaces. The architecture is simply breathtaking and much of it has stood the test of time. The district was built in several stages between 1765 and the middle of the 19th century and retains a lot of its original Neo-classical and Georgian period character.

For even more history, spend some time in Georgian House in Charlotte Square. This elegant property was built in 1796 for John Lamont, a chief of the Clan Lamont, a Highland Scottish clan. The interior has been restored to show what a typical Edinburgh New Town House of the late 18th and early 19th centuries would be like. Walk into rooms decorated with period furniture.