Category: Edinburgh

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W Edinburgh hotel

A large building with a unique curved golden coloured roof design.

Each visit to Edinburgh I try to walk up Calton Hill. It is my favourite lookout over the city centre. Having not visited for nearly ten years it mostly looked the same. The skyline of Edinburgh city centre is dominated by the neoclassical Georgian stone terrace rooftops and chimneys. Standing out from this is the relatively new W Edinburgh hotel. A 12 story 5 star hotel in St James Square opened in November 2023. This striking modern architecture is a bold ribbon structure of metal ribbons that twist around the building. Depending on who you ask some locals many likening its shape to the poop emoji or walnut whip. 



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Dugald Stewart Monument

Black and white cityscape of Edinburgh, showcasing its historic architecture and skyline against a dramatic sky.

Walking up Calton Hill is a must each time I visit Edinburgh. It has the best views of the city in my opinion. Dugald Stewart Monument is a memorial to the Scottish philosopher Dugald Stewart. Made of stone it was completed in 1831. Having visited Edinburgh many times I wasn’t sure how much photography I would do. It was a lovely surprise to find that the City Observatory had been restored and open as a Collective, a visual arts charity. In previous years the observatory was closed and so this higher view point wasn’t accessible. You can actually see the wall surrounding the observatory in the foreground of this photograph. I did consider waiting until these two people moved off the wall. In the end I included them to give the image a sense of scale.

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National Gallery of Scotland

National Gallery of Scotland

The Scottish National Gallery is located on The Mound in the centre of Edinburgh. As you can see from the above night photograph this is a neoclassical building and was designed by William Henry Playfair. It was first opened to the public in 1859. When I took this photograph early this year there was a lot of construction work happening on Princes Street, which is why it wasn’t photographed straight on as I couldn’t get to that point in the road.

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Art Galleries and Dean Village, Edinburgh

Art Galleries and Dean Village, Edinburgh

This skyline of Dean Village is taken from the Edinburgh Residence Hotel just before dawn on a winter’s morning. The tower on the left of the frame is from an old church which is now the home of the Belford Hostel, behind this is the Gallery of Modern Art, hiding behind the trees. On the right, you can see the two towers of the Dean Gallery.