• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Edinburgh Travel Guide

Ireland's Independent Travel Guide to Edinburgh

Main navigation

  • Places to Stay
  • What to see
    • Museums
    • Historic Sites
    • Family Attractions
    • Gardens and Parks
  • Things to do
  • Edinburgh Festivals
  • Book Guided Tours
  • Flights
  • Contact
  • Show Search
Hide Search

Calton Hill

Calton Hill, home of the Scottish Government and spectacular views of the surrounding landscape, is a well-known stop on many tourists’ itineraries because of its many architectural structures and monuments.

The Playfair Monument, designed by W.H. Playfair in honour of his uncle John Playfair, is a temple-like structure designed in the Greek Doric style that sits near the top of Calton Hill. This monument features one of the best views of Edinburgh Castle.

Nelson’s monument, built in honour of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, provides another spectacular view of the surrounding area. The monument was built to pay tribute to Nelson and his defeat of Spanish and French fleets during the Battle of Trafalgar. The monument sits at Calton Hill’s highest point and its design is a reflection of the prison buildings that were once located on the hill in the early Victorian era.

Another of Calton Hill’s historic memorials is the National Monument, which was constructed in remembrance of those who died for the United Kingdom during the Napoleonic Wars. The structure was modeled after the Parthenon, but the cost of construction was so great that the project was left unfinished. Despite its incomplete state, the monument is still a dominant structure within the Calton Hill landscape.

The City Observatory was another structure built to honour John Playfair. The observatory resembles a Greek temple and is home to a 15-centimeter (6-inch) refractor in the dome and 16-centimeter (6.4-inch) transit telescope in the east wing. The dome currently serves as a lecture theatre, but the observatory is unusable due to vandalism.

Primary Sidebar

Search hotels and more...

Destination

Check-in date

Check-out date

Booking.com

Quick Links

  • Quick Edinburgh Guide
  • Things to do in Edinburgh
  • Hotels Near Princes Street in Edinburgh
  • Cheap Edinburgh Hotels
  • Getting to Edinburgh by Plane
  • Getting to Edinburgh by Ferry
  • Eating Out in Edinburgh
  • Sporting Events
  • Shopping in Edinburgh
  • Going Out

Top 5 visitor attractions

  • Edinburgh Castle
  • The National Gallery
  • St Giles’ Cathedral
  • Edinburgh Zoo
  • National Museum of Scotland

Things to See

  • Edinburgh Old Town
  • Museums
  • Historic Sites
  • Family Attractions
  • Gardens and Parks

Things to do

  • Things to do in Edinburgh
  • Shopping Guide
  • Edinburgh Restaurants
  • Edinburgh Nightlife

Transport

  • Getting around Edinburgh
  • Getting to Edinburgh by Plane
  • Getting to Edinburgh by Ferry
  • Edinburgh Airport
  • Car Hire at Edinburgh Airport
  • Edinburgh Airport to City Centre
  • Edinburgh Airport Bus

Resources

  • Contact
  • Links
  • Useful Numbers
  • Sitemap