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4 ways to explore Edinburgh without leaving the house
If you’re itching to get out and explore the Scottish capital, here are some ways to take part from the comfort of your own home
With COVID-19 precautions meaning many of the city’s favourite businesses and establishments are still closed, you might be missing some of your favourite Edinburgh haunts and events. Thankfully, there are ways to explore all the city has to offer without walking out your front door.
Lockdown isn’t enough to stop Edinburgh doing what it does best: engaging, entertaining and educating the masses. Some of the best events, activities and sights in the city have now gone virtual, and here our some of our top picks.
Explore the famous castle
Edinburgh Castle is arguably the most famous landmark in the capital, if not in all of Scotland. And now, people from all over the world can take a trip through the castle’s hidden tunnels in a new 3D tour from Historic Environment Scotland (HES).
Created using the latest laser scan technology, the castle sheds light on the scale and history of the world-renowned fortress, as well as exposing all its fascinating nooks and crannies.
Speaking about the reasons behind the virtual tour, HES said they wanted to offer people the chance to “appreciate the scale and magnificence of Edinburgh Castle” from the comfort of your own home.
And best of all, no crowds. Even in real life, it’s hard to get this up close and personal with the capital’s historical monuments.
Get spooked with a ghost tour
One of the most popular Edinburgh pastimes for tourists and residents alike has always been the ghost tour. With such a rich and fascinating history, made evident by locations like the underground vaults in St. Mary’s Close, Edinburgh possesses an otherworldly magic that is hard to find in any other UK city.
But due to COVID-19, these tours were forced to stop. However, this hasn’t stopped all tour guides from giving us a good scare. Christina Evener, entertainer and tour guide at Edinburgh Walking Tours, has taken her iconic ghost tours online as a way to give people a boost: “I think it just gives people another thing to do,” says Evener. “Morale is low because people are not getting out and doing things.”
Evener shares some of the most chilling true stories from the darker side of Edinburgh’s history.
Be loud and proud at Pride 2020
As well as marking the start of summer, June is also celebrated as Pride Month: a time when members of the LGBTQ+ community celebrate together, support each other, and fight for change.
Pride is usually marked by large gatherings, marches and parties. But of course this year things have been a little different. However, that hasn’t stopped Edinburgh Pride from celebrating through virtual methods. From Drag Queen story time, to online raves, there are plenty of fantastic events for people to get involved with.
Feel cultured at the National Museum of Scotland
There is a huge amount of fantastic history and art to discover at one of Scotland’s most famous museums, and you can now explore its collection without even leaving your home. With some 20,000 objects to discover from ancient Egyptian sarcophagi to cloned sheep, you could spend hours making your way through all the museum has to offer.
You can even read in-depth about key pieces, and see detailed 3D versions of items, exploring them in more detail than would be possible in the museum itself.