The culturally and historically rich capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh is bounded by the Firth of Forth and the Pentland Hills. There is something for every interest and sites and activities too numerous to mention. Some of the most popular attractions include The National Museum of Scotland, with over 20,000 exhibits spread over 36 galleries, the Museum of Childhood, full of toys and objects both past and present, Dynamic Earth, the only place in Scotland where you can travel through time and around the planet, and Edinburgh Castle, sitting majestically at the top of the Royal Mile, where a gun has been fired daily at 1 p.m. since1861. The best preserved castle in Edinburgh is the Craigmillar Castle, built around 1400. Dirleton Castle boasts gardens first cultivated in the 16th century and featured in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s longest herbaceous border. Featured in Dan Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci Code, Rosslyn Chapel, founded in 1446 is both mysterious and beautiful. The National Galleries of Scotland showcase 65,000 art objects from Rembrandt to Picasso, the Royal Botanic Gardens, founded in 1670, offer 72 tranquil acres of what is considered one of the finest gardens in the world, and the award-winning Scottish Seabird Centre features a range of state-of-the-art cameras to view the lives of the many seabirds in the area. Walkers will want to tour the Real Mary King’s Close, a world-class attraction of underground streets where people lived between the 17th and 19th centuries and Old Town, with many preserved medieval and Reformation-era buildings. Amazing panoramic views all across the city are found at Scott Monument, the 200-foot-high Victorian Gothic monument to honor of Sir Walter Scott.