Castle view from Inverleith House
A lawn before the Georgian house where Edinburgh's whole skyline, castle, spires and domes, lines up above the trees.
Mike Shaw — CC BY-SA 4.0 · M J Richardson — CC BY-SA 2.0 · M J Richardson — CC BY-SA 2.0 · M J Richardson — CC BY-SA 2.0
The best view of Edinburgh Castle is not in the Old Town at all. It is from a lawn about a mile north of it, in front of Inverleith House, where the whole skyline of spires, domes and castle rock lines up above a screen of old trees. The garden it sits in was founded in 1670 as a physic garden near Holyrood Palace and moved to this site in the 1820s, which makes it Britain's second-oldest botanic garden, spread across roughly 28 hectares. The detail that matters most for a family budget: entry to the entire garden is free, no ticket and no booking. Inside the walls are several small worlds side by side. The Rock Garden is a hill of boulders and narrow paths with thousands of alpine plants flowering in the gaps, and for many visitors it is the finest corner of the place. The Chinese Hillside rebuilds a slice of Yunnan and Sichuan with streams, a paved trail and a little waterfall, part of what the garden calls the largest collection of wild-collected Chinese plants outside China. Beyond them lie the Woodland Garden, whose rhododendrons blaze in April and May, a duck pond that families gather around, and an arboretum that turns orange and gold in October. Most paths are tarmac, so a pushchair rolls easily between the East and West Gates, although the Rock Garden itself is steps and stone and does not suit one. One warning before you arrive and feel cheated: the famous Victorian Glasshouses, the reason many people come, have been shut for years under the huge Edinburgh Biomes restoration. Only the two Palm Houses, the octagon of 1834 and the 1858 dome that is still the tallest glasshouse in Scotland, reopen from 2 October 2026, with timed entry slots that are best booked online in advance because capacity is limited, at £4.95 for adults (£5.50 with the optional donation) and free for children 15 and under. Every other glasshouse stays closed, so do not promise the children a rainforest under a roof. Late spring and early summer are the best time, when the days are long and the garden stays open until 17:00. In July and August the lawns fill with families but never crowd the way the Royal Mile does, and that is exactly the point: two hours of air and space after the festival noise. In winter the gates close at 16:00, and at 15:30 in December, and the garden is bare under grey rain, so give it your time only for the ticketed Christmas at the Botanics light trail. Take bus 8, 9, 23 or 27 from the centre to the East Gate, or walk 25 minutes through Stockbridge; the West Gate has the John Hope Gateway visitor centre with a cafe, toilets and a shop.
A lawn before the Georgian house where Edinburgh's whole skyline, castle, spires and domes, lines up above the trees.
A hill of boulders and narrow paths with thousands of alpine plants flowering in the gaps; the finest corner here, but steps and stone, not for pushchairs.
A slice of Yunnan and Sichuan with streams, a small waterfall and plants collected in the wild in China.
20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh EH3 5LR
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Edinburgh CastleThe castle sits on the plug of a volcano that went cold millions of years ago, a24 minutes walk4.5Yes, because entry is free and the garden itself is the pleasure: the castle view, the Rock Garden, the Chinese Hillside and lawns big enough for a whole family. If tropical plants under glass are the goal, the answer is no; only the two Palm Houses return from 2 October 2026 with timed slots booked in advance, and the rest stay shut for years.
Very: the main paths are tarmac and the walk between the two gates is nearly level, with a duck pond, a cafe and toilets at the John Hope Gateway. Only the Rock Garden is steps and boulders, so skip it with the pushchair or carry the little one.