Two million besiege Edinburgh Castle

EDINBURGH Castle has attracted two million visitors in a year for the first time.

The busiest ‘paid-for’ attraction in Scotland has reported a 15 per cent increase in ticket sales and is seeing 800,000 more visitors than it had five years ago.

The heritage agency responsible for the castle said the TV show Outlander, set and filmed in Scotland and hugely popular in the United States, was a factor.

The weaker pound is also attracting more overseas visitors to the UK.

Visitor numbers have soared at Edinburgh Castle every year since 2012, when they were badly hit by the London Olympics.

Reaching two million visitors could propel the castle into the league table of Britain’s top ten attractions. It would go alongside the likes of popular London draws such as the British Museum, Tate Modern, the National Gallery and the Natural History Museum.

The National Museum of Scotland, a largely free attraction, said in mid-November it had attracted two million visitors for the first time.

And Historic Environment Scotland (HES) revealed all ten of its most popular sites, including Stirling, Urquhart, Doune and St Andrews castles, have also had record years.

It said there was growing interest from around the world in attractions with links to iconic figures from Scottish history such as Robert the Bruce, Mary, Queen of Scots and the Stuart kings. This year, Edinburgh Castle offered the first chance for visitors to catch a glimpse of the Galloway Hoard, Britain’s single biggest discovery of Viking treasures, during a £2million fundraising campaign to secure them for the nation.

Stephen Duncan, director of commercial and tourism at HES, said: ‘The Year of Heritage, History and Archaeology has given us a fantastic platform to highlight Scotland’s historic environment.

‘The connections of the castle to Robert the Bruce, the Stuart kings and Mary, Queen of Scots and the impact of dramatisations such as Outlander illustrate a long and romantic history, which attracts visitors from home and abroad.

‘Globally, we’ve seen more visitors arriving in Britain and Edinburgh thanks to the strength of our air connections to other countries.

‘Many of these visitors will have chosen to visit Edinburgh Castle due to its place as an international symbol of the city and of Scotland.’

Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland, said: ‘Edinburgh Castle is one of the most awe-inspiring landmarks in the world.

‘Sat high up on volcanic rock overlooking Edinburgh in all its magnificence, it is no surprise that it has broken through the two million visitor mark.

‘In our recent survey, Edinburgh Castle was voted the best castle in Scotland by the British public and I’m not at all surprised.’