Watch this short video put together by Edinburgh:Inspiring Capital about why Edinburgh is a great city to study in! 

Steeped in history and with a thriving cultural scene, Edinburgh strikes the perfect balance between traditional and contemporary living.  A safe and compact location, it is regularly voted as the UK’s favourite city and one of the best places in Europe in which to live and work. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the city’s hub combines the medieval Old Town - a warren of cobbled streets beneath an imposing hilltop castle - with the Georgian New Town and award-winning modern architecture including the new Scottish Parliament building.

The College sits at the heart of the city, within the Old Town. Cutting-edge and contemporary but with a long and established history dating back to the 18th Century, the College - like the city - strikes the perfect balance of tradition and forward-thinking.

A city of learning . . .
Edinburgh truly is a city of learning. It has more bookshops per person than any other city in Britain and, in 2004, was the first city in the world to be named by UNESCO as a City of Literature. As well as its celebrated literary heritage of Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson, Edinburgh boasts contemporary writers such as Alexander McCall Smith, author of the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, and crime writer Ian Rankin while JK Rowling began writing her Harry Potter stories in an Edinburgh café.  With over 50,000 students from the many universities and colleges, the city boasts an unparalleled range of opportunities for intellectual exchange and student-friendly activities.

A rich cultural mix . . .
Edinburgh is a cosmopolitan city celebrated for its vibrant creative and cultural environment. The city’s rich cultural mix finds expression in some of the finest museums, galleries and libraries in Europe. Scotland’s national art collections hold a magnificent selection of European art from Renaissance painting and sculpture to modern and contemporary work. Edinburgh is also the home of the National Museums of Scotland, which house a vast range of artefacts from Celtic jewellery to the preserved remains of the world’s first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep. The National Library of Scotland, one of Britain's five copyright libraries, hosts a hugely important collection of books and manuscripts. There’s a thriving retail and leisure scene, with plenty of restaurants and cafés, bars and clubs, not to mention one of the finest performance scenes outside London.

Radical thinking . . .
Edinburgh has a long and influential literary and intellectual history. Once known as Athens of the North, Edinburgh lay at the centre of the 18th century Scottish Enlightenment, which contributed to a revolution in European thought. For centuries it has attracted generations of artists and writers, scientists and philosophers.

The Festival city . . .
During the summer months Edinburgh is just as vibrant as in term time. In August, it becomes the arts capital of the world, home to the Edinburgh International Festival and its younger and more chaotic sibling the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Throughout the year there is an annual calendar of festivals, starting with a Hogmanay Festival to welcome in the New Year, and moving on through the Science Festival, the International Film Festival, the Jazz and Blues Festival, the summer arts festivals including the International Book Festival, the Television Festival, and the Edinburgh Mela - Scotland’s biggest intercultural festival. For lovers of the visual arts, the Edinburgh Art Festival is a summer highlight.

Many who visit Edinburgh understandably never wish to leave.

Click here to read an article from The Journal in which Edinburgh personalities, past and present, talk about what makes Edinburgh so special and why it is the best city in Britian to live in.