Visitors to the Royal Mile will often find themselves surrounded by the bustling crowds, street performers and tourists that throng the famous thoroughfare daily.
However, should they be looking for a bit of peace away from the masses there is a little oasis of calm close to the bottom at the Canongate that will help restore some tranquillity.
Dunbar's Close is a bit of a hidden treat; a pocket garden filled with vibrant green shrubbery, that is ideal for a bit of calm.
Dunbar's Close
Looking like it hails from a similar period to some of the historic buildings that surround it (such as the 17th century Canongate Kirk), the garden was actually created in the 70s by the Mushroom Trust – a charity dedicated to creating green spaces in Scotland.
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Commissioning landscape architect Seamus Filor, the project saw Filor take inspiration from the style, design and plants you would have found in an authentic 17th-century garden in Edinburgh's Old Town.
Paying ode to philanthropist Sir Patrick Geddes, and what the famous Scottish biologist referred to as the Old Town's “pocket gardens”, the picturesque result is well worth a visit.
It's free to enter and is open from 7 am until 4.30 pm daily.
Bakehouse Close
Not only that but those with a passing interest in the TV show Outlander can also head along to the nearby Bakehouse Close, a lesser-known filming in the capital that was where they shot one of the series' most famous scenes.
The historic close doubles as Carfax Close in the show, where Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) works at Alexander Malcolm’s print shop and where Claire (Caitriona Balfe) finally finds him after they've spent 20 years apart following her return to the future.
A truly pivotal scene it's one of the most important not only in the lives of Jamie and Claire but also the show itself
Considered to be a glowing example of how Edinburgh would have looked over 400 years ago, it's one of the many closes that peels off from the Royal Mile and was also likely the site of the Cock and Trumpet Tavern, where famous Sots writer Robert Louis Stevenson is even said to have enjoyed a drink or two.
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