Edinburgh New Town

The Old Town is the medieval city strung along the Royal Mile, all cramped closes, tenements and centuries of layered history. The New Town, built from 1767, is a planned Georgian grid of broad avenues, elegant townhouses and formal gardens, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The New Town was built to relieve the overcrowded medieval Old Town, which had grown dangerously insanitary by the 18th century. A design competition in 1766 was won by the young architect James Craig, and building started in 1767.

Work on the first phase began in 1767, so the New Town is over 250 years old. It went up in stages across several decades, with its best-known Georgian streets and squares finished by the early 19th century.

George Street runs through the heart of the New Town, with Charlotte Square at its west end and St Andrew Square to the east. Princes Street, Edinburgh's famous main shopping thoroughfare, forms the southern edge.