Itinerary

The Mound is an artificial slope in central Edinburgh, Scotland, which connects Edinburgh's New and Old Towns. It was formed by dumping around 1,501,000 cartloads of earth excavated from the foundations of the New Town into Nor Loch which was drained in 1765 and forms today's Princes Street Gardens. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

The Witches' Well, a cast iron fountain and plaque, honors the Scottish people who were burned at the stake between the 15th and 18th centuries. It's an easy site to miss for people only focusing on the castle that looms ahead. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

Edinburgh Castle is a historic fortress which dominates the skyline of Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, from its position on the Castle Rock. Archaeologists have established human occupation of the rock since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

Leaving Castle Hill, our walk now takes us down to the Lawnmarket, which is the oldest part of the Old Town. The original settlement here developed both within the shadow and protection of the Castle. The Lawnmarket's name derives from "land market" where produce from the surrounding countryside was sold. A cloth market was also established here in 1477, one of 15 market sites chartered by James III within the city. This vibrant and colourful market continued to trade here until around the late 1700s. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

The origins of St Giles' date back to about 1130 when a parish church was built to serve Edinburgh during the reign of King David I. The church was originally granted to the Lazarites, and its dedication was to St Giles as the patron saint of lepers (and subsequently of Edinburgh itself). Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

Mary King's Close is a historic close located under buildings on the Royal Mile, in the historic Old Town area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It took its name from one Mary King, a merchant burgess who resided on the Close in the 17th century. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

Surgeons' Hall Museums are owned by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and consist of the History of Surgery Museum, the Wohl Pathology Museum and the Dental Collection. The museum has been open to the public since 1832, making it one of Scotland's oldest museums. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

The Greyfriars Bobby Fountain in Edinburgh includes a life-size statue of Greyfriars Bobby created by William Brodie in 1872. It was paid for by a local aristocrat, Baroness Burdett-Coutts, and unveiled on 15 November 1873. It stands near the south (main) entrance to Greyfriars Kirkyard. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a number of notable Edinburgh residents are interred at Greyfriars. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

Dating back to the 1300s, The Grassmarket, Edinburgh was populated with cattle fairs and stables when around the 1670s the market became a trading point for goods. This is where it gets a bit macabre and grim, The Grassmarket was also a traditional place of public execution. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

First recorded in 1160, it was originally named for one of the earliest gates of the medieval city, “bow” meaning “arch”. When the stone King's Wall round the city was built in the fifteenth century, the West Bow was the only approach from the West through, winding up the hill towards the Lawnmarket. Here you will have to look around to find the answer to our challenge to advance to the new location and learn the story of this place.

It is used primarily for performances of opera and ballet, large-scale musical events, and touring groups. After its most recent renovation in 1994, it seats 1,915. It is one of the major venues of the annual summer Edinburgh International Festival and is the Edinburgh venue for the Scottish Opera and the Scottish Ballet.

The Royal Scottish Museum began life as the Industrial Museum of Scotland, founded in 1854 to reflect Victorian ideals of education. Renamed the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, it opened in its first bespoke buildings, in Chambers Street in 1866.

New College was founded as the theological college of the Free Church of Scotland. It opened for classes in Edinburgh's New Town on 1 November 1843 before moving to the Mound soon after. Rev Dr Thomas Chalmers laid the foundation stone for the current building on 3 June 1846*.

The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art first opened in August 1960 at Inverleith House in Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden. It moved to its present site at Modern One on Belford Road in 1984. In March 1999, the National Galleries of Scotland opened Modern Two across the road from Modern One.

The 'Scottish Academy' was founded in 1826 by a group of eleven artists. It was created with the aim of creating an academy of fine arts instructing students at no charge, to present an annual exhibition open to all artists of merit and maintain a library devoted to the fine arts.

Old College is a building of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located on South Bridge, and presently houses parts of the University's administration, the University of Edinburgh School of Law, and the Talbot Rice Gallery. Originally called the "New College", it was designed by Robert Adam to replace a number of older buildings.