Edinburgh Photo Gallery - Calton Hill

Just a short walk from the historic centre and a reasonably easy climb, Calton is a volcanic hill offering panoramic views of the city, rising 106m at the eastern end of Prince Street. It was developed as a local version of the Acropolis with classical architecture. Welcome to "Athens of the North".

The 32m-high Nelson Monument was completed in 1816 in memory of Lord Nelson who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. You can pay to climb for even better views, but I chose not to since I planned to go up Arthur's Seat later, which is at an even higher altitude.

A time ball sits at the top for ships sailing nearby, which was added in 1853.

The Dugald Stewart Monument is beautifully placed with the historic centre in the background. Stewart was a Scottish philosopher who taught at the local university. The monument was commissioned by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and completed in 1831.

From here, there is a footpath along the western side of the park with benches to soak in the views.

The observatory has been restored into an art exhibition space called Collective. The building was designed by William Playfair and the renovation has allowed it to open to the public for the first time.

The National Monument takes the Parthenon's design and memoralizes the Scottish people who perished during the Napoleonic Wars. It's an unfinished tribute because of insufficient funding and we can only see 12 columns now.

Arthur's Seat rises on the other side, which is an even higher vantage point that is well worth the longer climb.

Views are really nice on all 4 sides of the park.