Above the Old Town, Edinburgh Castle dominates the city and is at the epicentre of Scottish history. Tour guides tell of former royal residents, showing visitors the crown jewels and Stone of Destiny, as well as the dingy Vaults below.
The castle hosts the annual Edinburgh Military Tattoo and the traditional end-of-festival fireworks at the Edinburgh International Festival (both in August). Its museums, crown jewels and historic battlements are worth visiting all year round.
Alongside various military museums, the castle houses Scotland's Crown Jewels - probably the oldest Royal Regalia in Europe (Oliver Cromwell having been unable to emulate his destruction of the English Crown Jewels, as the Scottish regalia were smuggled out of the castle before he could get his hands on them) - and now the Stone of Scone, returned after 700 years in Westminster Abbey. At 1pm daily the Royal Artillery fires the famous "One O'Clock Gun", by which the whole of Edinburgh takes its time.
Edinburgh Castle forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh, and was awarded its preservation status in 1995.