Scott Monument

The view from the top is really something else. Must-go if you can walk up all those stairs! The garden around it is free to enter and also gorgeous, especially in the height of summer and the deep of winter. Lovely place for a walk or a chat. Perfect for a visit between other attractions of you're a tourist. Doesn't take long, reasonably priced, and located right in Princes Street next to the train station and the main bus stops. My favourite monument in Scotland! ❤️

Scott was a marvellous architect,his sense of planning and dedication to build this enormous Gothic structure was remarkable.Near to the Princess road ,it is an integral part of the city ,visitors can easily reach by tram or by bus.

What a Monument. The way it is designed and built, hats if to the designer and for their brain. Greate tribute. Lovely place to spend and have a picnic 😊. Lots of shopping places and food courts. Prefer time to visit is evening.

It is very crowded because of the festival… It is a very important symbol of Edinburgh… It can be seen from almost all parts of the city…Every time I come, I look at it with admiration and find myself planning my next time... So many people have witnessed so many memories that you can notice it in every corner...amazing

The Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument erected to writer Sir William Scott. It is situated on Princes Street right across from Jenner’s. The monument has 64 different figures displayed, not counting Scott and his dog, from Scott’s novels. The monument was inaugurated on August 15, 1846, but there is a lot of rich history behind where the design came from and how it was paid for as in the process of being developed the budget was blown and a person who won the contest for the design (George Kemp) was a joiner who applied for the contest under a false name. Other interesting obstacles include that the heavy marble that was used to build the monument came from Italy so they had trouble finding hoists to move such heavy stones. And before the monument was finally built, Kemp died under mysterious circumstances. There are stories that he was killed by a rival opponent who was upset that they didn’t win the design contest or he drank and died by falling into the Union Canal on his way home. The monument was left unfinished and Kemp’s son finally finished the project. Now, if you have some time and you want to have an entirely-claustrophobic and terrifying, adrenaline-charged experience and burn a few calories, pay the £3 or whatever the price is now and ascend the half inch spiral staircase to the top to the pinnacle of death for amazing views of Edinburgh. This trip is not for the faint of heart or anyone with a robust girth. If you climb this stairwell, I assure you that you’ll only want to do this once in your lifetime. This isn’t an excursion that you’ll want to do again.