This alley off Edinburgh's Royal Mile contains remnants of the city's seedier history.

A verdant 17th-century-style garden hidden along Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.

This obscure walkway links Edinburgh’s Old Town with one of the city's prime vantage points.

Summer in Scotland begins with a spectacularly wild and colorful event rooted in ancient pagan traditions.

A former telephone box found new life as a photo booth and charity fundraiser.

A statue in the heart of Edinburgh honors a bear that served in the Polish military during World War II.

This cannonball embedded in the side of an Edinburgh house once served a surprisingly pedestrian purpose.

A labyrinthine network of chambers with a storied past hides below Edinburgh's South Bridge.

This otherwise ordinary close on the Royal Mile constituted the end of the world for Edinburgh’s poorest residents.

This 16th-century close preserves an unusual piece of Edinburgh's transportation history.

The bell that once tolled atop a lost Edinburgh gate now hangs for all to see.

This charming old building's loose connection with the Scottish Reformer is what saved it from demolition after it split apart.

This monument is dedicated to a young boy who survived a disaster that forced Edinburgh to reevaluate its building codes.

A book bound in the skin of an infamous criminal, along with countless other specimens.

A beautiful Greco-Roman structure houses a well once believed to have healing powers.

This historic pub has maintained much of its 1906 decor, including a small sequestered room for women, where orders were slipped through a tiny window.

Nestled among the living residents is the final resting place of an apothecary plague victim.

An American ghost town hides along a side street in Scotland's capital.

Accessible only at low tide, the deserted island is dotted with World War II ruins.

This allegedly haunted 16th-century tower house-turned-museum exhibits thousands of spectacular objects.

Long abandoned underground complex to keep royals safe from a nuclear war that never came.

An engraved stone in a village church claims to be the grave of a minuscule folk legend.

A locomotive that was captured as a prisoner of war is now recognized as a WWII memorial.

This small Spanish village still pays homage to the Spaghetti Western films that were shot there in the 1960s.