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11. Visit Fingal’s Cave
Geometry is tricky enough for most of us when equipped with all the gadgets – trust Mother Nature to get it right without any of the gear! So astonishing is the structure of this cave’s interior – think strangely perfect hexagonal columns – that Felix Mendelssohn was inspired to write the Hebrides Overture after visiting it, and luminaries like Jules Verne, William Wordsworth and John Keats were all drawn to it, too. Since the lava flow that created these pillars is similar to that of Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway, they’ve been linked in a legend that sees them as two ends of a bridge built for a giant’s ancient battle. You can see the cave from the outside via a boat cruise, or tackle the columns on foot from the island of Staffa.
12. Mary King’s Close
When it comes to Edinburgh, sights like Edinburgh Castle don’t need to be mentioned here: it’s known, it’s majestic, it’s a must. For a macabre alter-view, however, the lesser-known Mary King’s Close deserves a visit, especially if you have a taste for the macabre. Unsanitary living conditions in medieval Scotland were a fertile breeding ground for the Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death, and in this confined neighborhood, the results were particularly felt. Myth has it the streets were sealed up and those within left to perish; in any case, it was not re-discovered until workmen digging on the streets above it, which now held The Royal Exchange, accidentally drilled down into its long forgotten and narrow streets.
