Why Edinburgh is really two cities — and most visitors only explore one

Sharing is caring!

Most visitors to Edinburgh spend their time in the maze of closes and wynds that make up the medieval Old Town. And it’s magnificent. But cross Princes Street — the grand boulevard that divides the city — and you step into something entirely different: a planned Georgian masterpiece that deserves just as much of your attention.

Two worlds, one city

Edinburgh’s New Town is no accident. It was designed from scratch in the 1760s when the old city had become dangerously overcrowded. The medieval Old Town, built on a volcanic ridge, had grown upward instead of outward — families were stacked in tenements twelve storeys high, sharing a single close with merchants, lawyers, and livestock.

The solution was radical: build an entirely new city on the land to the north, connected by a man-made bridge. The result is one of the finest examples of Georgian urban planning anywhere in Europe — and it’s right there, on the other side of the park, waiting for you.

The 23-year-old who designed a city

The man behind the New Town was James Craig, an Edinburgh architect who won the city’s design competition in 1766. He was twenty-three years old. His plan was elegant in its simplicity: three grand streets running east to west, with garden squares anchoring each end.

The execution made it extraordinary. The proportions, the pale sandstone, the way the streets frame views of the castle — Craig created something that has barely changed in 250 years. Charlotte Square, at the western end and designed by Robert Adam, is widely regarded as the finest Georgian square in Britain. Stand in its central garden on a clear morning and it’s easy to understand why.

Where the Scottish Enlightenment played out

The New Town was more than a residential development. It became the intellectual engine of a revolution. David Hume, one of the greatest philosophers in history, moved here. Adam Smith finished The Wealth of Nations in a New Town townhouse. James Hutton — the father of modern geology — walked these very streets.

The coffee houses and drawing rooms of George Street hosted conversations that shaped modern economics, philosophy, and science. We’ve written more about this extraordinary intellectual legacy: how Edinburgh gave the world capitalism, geology, and modern philosophy.

Love Edinburgh? 43,000 Scotland lovers get stories like this every week. Subscribe free →

Princes Street Gardens and the Scott Monument

Between Old Town and New Town lies Princes Street Gardens — a long sweep of green that was once a loch. The Nor’ Loch was drained when the New Town was built, and the valley below the castle was transformed into public parkland. It remains one of the most dramatic urban green spaces in Europe.

Dominating the gardens is the Scott Monument, a Gothic spire rising 61 metres above the park. Built to honour Sir Walter Scott, it’s climbable — all 287 steps — and the view from the top takes in the castle, the gardens, and both halves of this divided city at once. Read our guide to the Gothic tower hiding Edinburgh’s best views.

What the New Town looks like today

The New Town is lived-in, working Edinburgh. George Street is lined with restaurants, independent shops, and bars that fill up on Friday evenings. The lanes running parallel — Thistle Street and Rose Street — are quieter and more local: wine bars, second-hand bookshops, neighbourhood cafés.

The Scottish National Gallery sits at the foot of the Mound, free to enter and home to a collection that rivals galleries twice its size: Raphael, Titian, Vermeer, and the finest collection of Scottish paintings anywhere in the world.

Beyond the formal grid, Stockbridge — the neighbourhood tucked into the valley just northwest of the New Town — is where Edinburgh’s independent spirit lives on. Farmers’ markets, canal walks, vintage shops. Our piece on why locals choose Stockbridge over the Royal Mile explains exactly why.

The view most visitors never see

Start at Charlotte Square in the morning. Walk east along George Street, dipping down the lanes on either side. End at the Scott Monument and look back across the gardens to the castle on the ridge. That view — Georgian symmetry in the foreground, medieval skyline rising behind — is the most underrated sight in Edinburgh.

Most visitors, rushing between the castle and the Royal Mile, never see it. Which means it still feels, even in peak summer, like a secret worth discovering.

Is Edinburgh’s New Town worth visiting?

Absolutely. The New Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside the Old Town, and for good reason. It contains some of the finest Georgian architecture in Europe, world-class free museums, and a relaxed, lived-in atmosphere that contrasts beautifully with the busy Royal Mile. Most visitors who make the effort to cross Princes Street are glad they did.

What is the difference between Edinburgh’s Old Town and New Town?

The Old Town is Edinburgh’s medieval core — narrow closes, volcanic rock, tenements, and a history stretching back to the 12th century. The New Town was built from the 1760s onwards as a planned Georgian extension, with wide streets, formal squares, and elegant sandstone terraces. Both are UNESCO-listed and both reward exploration.

When was Edinburgh’s New Town built?

Construction began in the late 1760s following James Craig’s competition-winning plan of 1766. The first houses were built from 1767. Development continued in phases through to the 1830s, by which time the New Town had grown to include Stockbridge, the Western New Town around Melville Street, and the Eastern New Town around Calton Hill.

Edinburgh will always dazzle on the Royal Mile. But the city’s other half — quieter, more refined, just as layered with history — is there whenever you’re ready to look across Princes Street and step into it.

Sharing is caring!