Destination: Edinburgh
Top Ten
1 Arthur's Seat
2 Dynamic Earth
3 Edinburgh Castle
4 Museum of Scotland
5 National Gallery of Scotland
6 The New Town
7 Palace of Holyroodhouse
8 Royal Botanic Garden
9 The Royal Mile
10 Scott Monument
7 Palace of Holyroodhouse

The Queen's official Scottish residence, set against the background of Arthur's Seat, stands at the eastern end of the historic Royal Mile.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse stands on the site of the original guest house for the medieval Holyrood Abbey, and is used today by Queen Elizabeth II as her home and office whenever she is in Edinburgh.

In 1501 James IV built a four-storey corner tower with gabled roof and balustrade, the existing northwest tower. Later additions were damaged and burned in 1544 and again in 1650. The palace attained its present form in 1671, when William Bruce designed an Italian-style courtyard quadrangle around which he built today's elegant structure. He fronted it by a tower matching the surviving medieval one, to which it is linked by a grand entrance screen. The State Apartments lie on the south side of the courtyard, a suite of grand rooms including the Royal Dining Room, the Morning Drawing Room and the Throne Room. Across the court, the north range contains the Picture Gallery, decorated with portraits of 111 Scottish kings and queens from King Fergus in the 4th century to James VII, imaginatively created to order by Jacob de Wet.

Holyroodhouse has historical associations with many monarchs, among them James II, James IV and Charles II (whose canopied bed is on show), while Bonnie Prince Charlie held receptions here in the heady early days of the 1745 Jacobite Uprising. The memory of Mary Queen of Scots is perhaps the most vivid; it was in her second-floor rooms that her Italian favourite, David Rizzio, was stabbed in 1566 by her second husband, Lord Darnley, and his fellow conspirators.



Phone: 0131 556 7371; recorded information 0131 556 1096
Open: Apr-Oct 9:30-5:15; Nov-Mar 9:30-3:45; closed Good Friday, 2 weeks early May, early Jun, late Jun to mid-Jul and 25-26 Dec. As the palace is a royal residence, opening times may be subject to change at short notice - please telephone to check
Bus: 1, 6
Accessible: Good
Admission: Expensive
Other: Arthur's Seat; Dynamic Earth; Holyrood Abbey; Holyrood Park; Royal Mile
Practical: Winter exhibitions from the Royal Collections, Nov-Mar
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