Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

ABOVE: The Royal Botanic Garden' Edinburgh's East Gate. INSET BELOW: A directional sign on Inverleith Row, and an open-top sightseeing bus that stops near the East Gate.

Practical information

Hours: The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh opens at 10 a.m. daily except December 25 and January 1. Closing times are 7 p.m. April-September, 6 p.m. in March and October, and 4 p.m. November-February.

Admission: Free, but there's an admission fee to the Glasshouses unless you visit them on the guided tour.

Location: The RBGE is a mile north of the city center. It has two entrances: The West Gate on Arboretum Place for visitors who arrive by car, and the East Gate on Inverleith Row, which is accessible by public bus or the Majestic Tour "hop on, hop off" sightseeing bus. (To avoid searching for a parking place, I'd suggest arriving on foot or by bus.)

Facilities: The Botanics Shop has gifts, books, and garden items; it also sells tickets for the guided tours. The Terrace Café serves drinks, snacks, and light lunches year-round. Information booths are near the East and West Gates, and you'll find lavatories behind the shop near the West Gate and near the Glasshouses. The RBGE also has a reference library that is open to the public.

December, 2006 update: Guide Sally Heron reports by e-mail: "Plans are also forging ahead for the new Gateway Visitor Centre at the West Gate of the Garden. The shop will be moving its location to temporary quarters in the former Curator's house and garden by the East Gate after the New Year. We were fortunate to receive a substantial sum of money towards the Gateway from the Scottish Executive but we are still fund-raising of course. The Gateway is an exciting new project for the garden and should make a huge difference to our Education Programme and Visitor Services, making botanical science available to the public.

For more information, including directions and bus routes, see the page on Visiting the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh at www.rbge.org.uk.

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Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - Introduction

Guided tours

Practical information, Web links

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