Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Started in 1670 as a patch of medicinal herbs near Holyrood Palace — today its living collection spans more than 13,302 plant species.
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The second-oldest botanic garden in the UK after Oxford, founded by Robert Sibbald and Andrew Balfour. Its living collection runs to 13,302 plant species across 34,422 accessions, while the herbarium holds over 3 million preserved specimens. Edinburgh is the main site and headquarters of four specialist gardens spread across Scotland.
What to look for
- The living collection — 13,302 species and 34,422 accessions in one place
- The herbarium building, storing over 3 million preserved plant specimens
- Any reference to the 1670 physic garden origins, tracing a direct line to medicinal plant cultivation
Edinburgh is the headquarters garden; the three other specialist sites are at Dawyck, Logan, and Benmore.
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is one of 28 sights worth the detour in Edinburgh, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Edinburgh pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Edinburgh
- Edinburgh CastleAttacked 26 times over 1,100 years — research calls it the most besieged place in Great Britain.
- Holyrood PalaceScotland's working royal residence since the 1500s — the actual rooms where Mary, Queen of Scots lived are open to walk through.
- The National (Scottish National Gallery)Since 1912, two near-identical neoclassical buildings have stood side by side on The Mound — visitors have been walking into the wrong one ever since.
- National Museum of ScotlandDolly the sheep, one of Elton John's extravagant suits, and a Victorian cast-iron hall — all under one free roof on Chambers Street.
- Murrayfield StadiumScotland's largest stadium opened in 1925 with a Grand Slam win — 70,000 people watched it happen.
- St Giles' CathedralA prayer book read here in 1637 caused a riot that sparked a rebellion pulling three kingdoms into war.