The Edinburgh Festival
Each August the city fills with the world's largest arts festival. Stay on Calton Hill and you are close enough to walk to it all, and far enough to sleep through the night.
Each August
For three or four weeks every August, Edinburgh becomes the world's largest gathering of arts and performance. The Fringe fills every spare room in the Old Town with comedy, theatre and cabaret. The International Festival brings opera, dance and classical music to the city's grand halls. The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo lines the Castle Esplanade with pipes and drums each night, and the Book and Art Festivals add readings, talks and exhibitions across the New Town and beyond.
It is, by most measures, the busiest a city of this size ever gets. Where you stay matters more in August than at any other time of year.
Why Calton Hill
Most Fringe and International Festival venues cluster in the Old Town and New Town, ten to twenty minutes on foot from Rock House's gate. The Tattoo is a similar walk up to the Castle Esplanade. Close enough to see two or three shows in an evening without a taxi.
Yet the house sits behind its own gate, in a garden at the foot of the hill, away from the queues on the Mile and the noise of the Fringe's late-night streets. Guests come back each night to somewhere quiet, then climb five minutes up the hill for a last look at the city before bed.
What's On
Comedy, Theatre, Cabaret
The world's largest arts festival, an open-access sprawl of thousands of shows in venues from proper theatres to converted cupboards, spread through the Old Town and beyond.
Opera, Dance, Classical Music
Edinburgh's original festival, founded in 1947, bringing world-class orchestras, opera companies and dance to the city's largest and grandest halls.
Castle Esplanade
Massed pipes, drums and military bands performing nightly against the floodlit Castle, one of the most photographed spectacles in Scotland.
Readings & Talks
Author events and public conversations, now based at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, a short walk south of the Old Town.
Galleries City-Wide
Visual art exhibitions spread across the city's galleries, from the National Galleries to smaller independent spaces, running alongside the other festivals.
Above It All
No tickets, no venue, just the classic view and a quiet spot to watch the fireworks that close the festival season each year.
Winter
Edinburgh does not stop at August. Each winter, Edinburgh's Christmas fills Princes Street Gardens with a market, an ice rink and a big wheel, all within a short walk of the house. Hogmanay, Edinburgh's New Year celebration, is one of the largest in the world, centred on Princes Street and the Old Town, with a torchlight procession and street party leading up to a midnight fireworks display over the Castle.
Both put Rock House within easy reach of the action, with the same quiet retreat at the top of the hill to come back to.
A Traditional Vantage Point
Calton Hill has long been Edinburgh's favourite free viewpoint for fireworks, and its own festival besides.
Each spring, the hill hosts the Beltane Fire Festival, a torch-lit procession and performance marking the turn of the season with fire and drumming. Through the rest of the year it is simply the best free seat in the city: for the International Festival's closing fireworks concert each August and for the midnight display on Hogmanay, both launched from the Castle ramparts and both visible, in full, from the hill's slopes.
Planning Ahead
Practical notes for anyone planning a festival trip.
Timing
August is Edinburgh's busiest month of the year by a wide margin. Central, well-located accommodation is booked out early, often well before the festival programmes are even announced.
Group Size
Rock House suits larger groups or extended family, the Terrace Apartment suits couples or a small family, and the Photographer's Studio suits a couple or solo traveller wanting a quiet base. Book the whole property together for a group of up to 14.
Best Rate
Booking directly with us is always the best available rate, and it puts you in touch with the people who look after the house, which matters most in the busiest weeks of the year.
Good to Know
Edinburgh's festival season runs each August, when the Fringe, the International Festival, the Tattoo, the Book Festival and the Art Festival overlap across the city. Exact dates shift every year, so check each festival's own website once you are ready to plan around specific shows.
Most Fringe and International Festival venues sit in the Old Town and New Town, within 10 to 20 minutes on foot from Rock House. The Tattoo, on the Castle Esplanade, is about 20 minutes walk.
Yes. August is Edinburgh's busiest month by a wide margin, and central accommodation is booked out well in advance. Reserving several months ahead, and booking direct, is the safest route to the best rate and the dates you want.
Rock House, sleeping 8 across 4 bedrooms, suits larger groups or extended family taking in the festival together. The Terrace Apartment, sleeping 4, suits couples or a small family. The Photographer's Studio, sleeping 2, suits a couple or solo traveller who wants a quiet, compact base. The whole property can be booked together for groups up to 14.
Yes. Calton Hill is one of the city's favourite free viewpoints for the Edinburgh International Festival's closing fireworks concert in August and for the Hogmanay midnight fireworks, both launched from Edinburgh Castle.
Edinburgh's Christmas market fills Princes Street Gardens through the winter, a short walk from Rock House, and Hogmanay is one of the world's largest New Year celebrations, centred on Princes Street and the Old Town below the hill.
Keep Exploring
Book Direct
August fills up fast. Book direct for the best rate and a quiet base above the crowds.
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