text: Okay so every yelper and their dog has written a review about Edinburgh Castle But I still feel the urge to express my opinion that same urge that has got me into trouble many a timennLet me begin by saying that Edinburgh Castle as a landmark is truly beautiful I could not wish for any other entity to sit like a crown at the centre of the city I live No matter the view if you can see Edinburgh Castle it always remains impressive It LOOKS spectacularnnHowever my feelings on the rest of the Castle experience are rather a mixed bunch I will get it out now and agree with the others who complain about the price Some days you will be met with half hour queues only find out you have to pay half your travellers checks to get innnBut that is not my main complaint my main complaint is that I cannot get over the fact that I feel Edinburgh Castle is a little phony I feel like its presented as some symbol of Scottishness and at the very least a paradigm example of a Scottish castle It is at least not the latter of these Only part of the Great Hall and St Margarets Chapel date from the th century or before everything else is later a large part Victorian The Great Hall interior is Victorian bar the ceiling which is genuine medieval and very impressive It LOOKS medieval but its actually a Victorian romantic interpretation of a medieval hall Of course the Hall did need repairing after Cromwell ruined it but the fact its really a romanticised version of a castle is the feeling I feel pervades the whole site not just the building but also its presentation nnWhen I was in the Castle courtyard once a tourist came up to me and said excuse me could you tell me where the castle is Madam this IS the castle I think there are two common responses from tourists after visiting the first is that they love it in all its glory then expect all Scottish castles to resemble its grand facade its completeness its ideal castleness Or they are perplexed why does not it look anything the other castles we have seen around ScotlandnnThere is of course so much history surrounding the castle There has been a Royal Castle here since the th century It has seen many wars through the Lang Siege and the Jacobite Rebellions and all I actually find the war museum separate but based in the castle grounds to be one of the more interesting parts as I actually feel I learn something from it The rest of the castle just feels to be honest a bit boring A large part of it feels like a series of New Town villas a residue of the castles use as a military barracksnnThe castle also let us down in its use for several over priced restaurants and tourist gifts shops How many does it need With every other shop down the Royal Mile selling whisky and books about genuine Scottish ghosts does our premier historical site have to toonnHaving said it all this Edinburgh castle is worth a visit It has moments when it does impress and even if only for the sake of its vital role note in the past of Scottish history you can still feel the nostalgia I too have good memories of visiting as a child and I would not want to ignore those Just remain open minded and do a bit of reading around the side And expect to pay for the privilege Lots