Listen Now

A wander down Berlin's most elegant street, Unter den Linden, to see its baroque splendour, its iconic buildings - think cathedrals, the opera house and the poignant war memorial, the Neue Wache - and maybe visit a museum or two on an island which is packed full of antiquities and art. Here is a little history, plus lots of tips on how to make the most of a day here in the heart of Berlin.   Useful links   https://www.berlinerdom.de  (Berlin Cathedral) https://www.staatsoper-berlin.de/en (The State Opera Unter den Linden) https://www.hedwigs-kathedrale.de (St Hedwig's Cathedral)  https://www.visitberlin.de/en/neue-wache-memorial (War Memorial) https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/museumsinsel-berlin/home (Museum Island) https://www.humboldtforum.org/en (Humboldt Forum) https://www.visitberlin.de/en/berlin-tourist-info-centres  https://www.germany.travel/en/home.html   City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Berlin series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!   

On a first trip to Berlin you'll probably head straight for the Parliament or the Brandenburg Gate.  We're doing the same, and handily, they are close together and near to lots of other top sites. We bring you a little history to explain why these two iconic monuments represent everything dear to today's Berliners - lessons from history and the freedom enjoyed in the capital today - and explain what to look out for when you visit.   Reading Berlin, the Story of a City by Barney White-Spunner Useful links  https://www.bundestag.de/en/visittheBundestag https://www.visitberlin.de/en/berlin-tourist-info-centres  https://www.germany.travel/en/home.html City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Berlin series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!     

There's nowhere like Berlin. A turbulent history, an unrivalled cultural richness, green and modern and laid back all at once, truly a city break destination with plenty for everyone. Here is an overview of the series, offering some geographical, historical and cultural details to set the scene for the remaining 19 episodes when we will tour all the main sites, telling you the stories behind them and bringing them to life. Reading City Lit Berlin edited by Heather Reyes                                                                                  Berlin, A Literary Guide for Travellers by Paul Sullivan and Marcel Krueger Useful links https://www.visitberlin.de/en/berlin-tourist-info-centres  https://www.germany.travel/en/home.html

A tour of Edinburgh through the eyes of the travellers, poets and novelists who captured its essence.  London, compared to Edinburgh, wrote Charlotte Bronte, is as 'prose compared to poetry.'  Well, we bring you lots of both, from centuries past and right up to the present day.     Useful links: https://edinburgh.org City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Edinburgh series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!   

A chance to dream of wonderful Scottish produce (think highland beef, Scottish salmon, raspberries), to unravel some mysteries (What are rumbledethumps? Or clootie dumplings?), to discover what’s in Scotch broth and what Burns wrote in his ‘Address to a Haggis’ and to reminisce about a proper Edinburgh afternoon tea in the 1920s.  We may even mention the deep-fried Mars bar. Useful links: https://foodanddrink.scotsman.com https://www.johnniewalker.com/en-gb/visit-us-princes-street https://edinburgh.org City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Edinburgh series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!   

A tour of Edinburgh's galleries and a chance to get to know some of Scotland's best-known artists and paintings.  That includes portraits of royalty and Enlightenment thinkers, plus the great and the good from more recent times: Sir Chris Hoy, Ian Rankin, Muriels Spark and Gray. We also cover Scottish landscape painting and scenes from rural life in the past: Pitlessie Fair, Neil Gow, (18th century touring fiddler extraordinaire), an ice-skating vicar and The Monarch of the Glen.     Useful links: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/scottish-national-gallery https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/scottish-national-portrait-gallery https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/scottish-national-gallery-modern-art https://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/venue/city-art-centre   https://www.rct.uk/visit/the-queens-gallery-palace-of-holyroodhouse https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/georgian-house https://www.rbge.org.uk  (Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh) https://edinburgh.org City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Edinburgh series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!   

Not an episode for the faint-hearted!  We have collected together a host of Edinburgh's stories on witches, grave-robbers, spectres and apparitions.  Is it the 'majestic gloom' of Edinburgh's dramatic setting?  The dark unknowns of the Old Town's tenements and wynds?  Or the city's long history of violent murders, plagues and hangings?  For whatever reason, Edinburgh is known as 'the city of ghosts' and here is a selection of the tales which explain why.   Recommended Reading: Ghostly Tales and Sinister Stories of Old Edinburgh by Alan J Wilson, Des Brogan and Frank McGrail Useful links: https://greyfriarskirk.com/visit/kirkyard https://edinburgh.org   City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Edinburgh series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!   

'It's impossible to live in Edinburgh without sensing its literary heritage everywhere' said J K Rowling and that's why we need a second episode on Edinburgh writers.  We bring you the 15th century William Dunbar, writing 'The Thistle and the Rose' for the wedding of James IV and Margaret Tudor; and Ian Rankin, who says each of his novels is 'another piece of the jigsaw that is modern Scotland'; and everyone in between. Reading Book Lovers' Edinburgh by Allan Foster Useful links   https://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/venue/writers-museum https://edinburgh.org City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Edinburgh series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!   

Edinburgh was the first city to be designated a UNESCO City of Literature and whole books have been written about its writers and their legacy. The city's Writers' Museum is dedicated to 'the big three', Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. Here's a rundown of the life and works of each, plus ideas for where else to 'find' them in Edinburgh today. Enjoy! Useful links     https://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/venue/writers-museum https://edinburgh.org City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Edinburgh series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!   

A short bus ride from Edinburgh city centre will take you to Leith, the city's port, or you can go on foot along the mile-long Leith Walk from Princes Street.  You'll find a working harbour, a range of pretty cafes, restaurants and galleries, a definite whiff of seafaring, past and present, and one of Scotland's most visited attractions, the Royal Yacht Britannia.     Useful links     https://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk https://edinburgh.org City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Edinburgh series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!     

This is our round-up of Edinburgh's history museums.  We point you towards lots of goodies; the original National Covenant document, (4000 signatures opposing Charles I and his liturgical reforms), the dog collar and feeding bowl which belonged to Greyfriar's Bobby, the Lewis chess pieces, the Democracy for Scotland tent .....  Or maybe you just want to hear about the wealth of medical horrors and intrigues at the city's two medical museums. It's all here. Useful links     https://www.nms.ac.uk/national-museum-of-scotland https://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/venue/museum-edinburgh https://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/venue/peoples-story-museum https://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/auld-reekie-retold https://museum.rcsed.ac.uk https://www.ed.ac.uk/visit/museums-galleries/anatomical https://edinburgh.org City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Edinburgh series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!       

Suggested walks, starting in the Old Town, with tales from Cowgate and the Grassmarket, Greyfriar's Bobby and J K Rowling's Hogwarts.  In the New Town, plenty more squares, circuses and crescents and some idyllic detours, north through Stockbridge to the Botanic Gardens or west into Dean Village. There's Dorothy Wordsworth on Arthur's Seat, the explanation for 'Scotland's disgrace' on Calton Hill and a 'Democracy Trail' around sights of political and historical significance.    Recommended reading Scotland's Democracy Trail by Stuart McHardy and Donald Smith  Useful links https://www.introducingedinburgh.com/princes-street-gardens https://www.rbge.org.uk (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh) https://edinburgh.org https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk/edinburgh City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Edinburgh series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!     

Update: From now on, City Breaks episodes will go out on a fortnightly basis.  Episode 08 of the Edinburgh series will be made available next week, on January 26th and the remainder of the Edinburgh series will follow at two week intervals.  The Edinburgh series will be followed by a new, as yet, mystery series.  Suggestions welcome!  You can e mail us at: citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk 

The highlight of this episode is a visit to the Scottish Parliament, Holyrood.  But first, the colourful story of who ruled Scotland over the centuries, the Scottish kings, the ongoing tussles with England, the Act of Union and subsequent rebellions and finally the Scotland Act of 1998 which led to the founding of the new parliament where a speaker could proudly announce that 'the Scottish Parliament, which adjourned on the 25th March 1707, is reconvened.'    Recommended read Scotland's Democracy Trail by Stuart McHardy and Donald Smith  Useful links https://www.parliament.scot   https://www.parliament.scot/visit/virtual-tour https://edinburgh.org City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Edinburgh series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!   

Four travel bloggers share their inspirational city break ideas, covering everything from the quirky to the practical. The seven cities featured range over three continents, including cycling the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and making the most of Bangkok's markets, not forgetting five historical gems from Europe.  Something, we hope, for every taste and budget. Have a listen!      Useful links  our website: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk to find us on twitter: @citybreakscast to e-mail us: citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk This week's guest websites https://sandinmysuitcase.com https://www.letsgosomewhereelse.co.uk https://www.theglobetrottingteacher.com https://www.strayidler.com/home_en.html  

A visit to Edinburgh's New Town, with its elegant Georgian streets and squares, to linger a little in the Georgian Museum and to hear tales of the Scottish Enlightenment when, said the editor William Smellie, you could stand at the Mercat Cross and 'in a few minutes, take 50 men of genius and learning by the hand.'  And the women?  Well, society hostesses Mrs Apreece and Mrs Waddington were much admired, one 'for the vivacity of her conversation' and the other 'for her remarkable beauty and the grace of her manners’   Useful links https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/georgian-house    https://edinburgh.org https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk/edinburgh City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Edinburgh series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!      

We visit Edinburgh's Old Town, or 'Auld Reekie' as the poet Robert Fergusson called it. Thankfully, Daniel Defoe's 18th century warning that when walking the streets at night you risk 'having Chamber Pots of Ordure thrown upon your head' no longer applies.  We visit two informative museums - The Real Mary King's Close and Gladstone's Land - and then bring you the story of the city's most infamous resident, Deacon Brodie, pious citizen by day, but at night, 'a gambler and a thief, dissipated and licentious.' Useful links https://www.realmarykingsclose.com https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/gladstones-land https://edinburgh.org https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk/edinburgh City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Edinburgh series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  It helps others to find us.    

The Royal Mile in Edinburgh is 'one of the fairest streets I ever saw', wrote James Howell in the 17th century.  We explore it from top to bottom, highlighting what to look out for and giving a little of the street's turbulent history: proclamations and drunken celebrations at the Mercat Cross, Jenny Geddes hurling a chair at the Reverend James Hannay in St Giles' Cathedral and John Knox raging against idolatry and 'the monstrous regiment of women.' Useful links https://stgilescathedral.org.uk https://www.scottishstorytellingcentre.com/john-knox-house https://edinburgh.org https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk/edinburgh City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Edinburgh series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  It helps others to find us.  

Six more intriguing city break ideas from guest travel bloggers.  This month, we cover a couple of European favourites, take in both NYC and Mexico City, venture to Abu Dhabi and go on our first 'virtual trip' to the Jewish Quarter in Prague.  As ever, loads of ideas for what to see, do, eat and drink along the way.  Have a listen and be inspired.      Useful links  our website: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk to find us on twitter: @citybreakscast to e-mail us: citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk This week's guest websites https://whereangiewanders.com https://travelaroundthegalaxy.com https://kasiawrites.com/insta-links

Tales from the history of Holyrood in Edinburgh: King David's escape from death while out hunting in the 12th century, inspiring him to found the abbey of the holy rood (cross), a royal wedding designed to unite the thistle and the rose in 1503 and all the drama of Mary Queen of Scots and her life at the palace.  (Think intrigues, religious unrest, murders and her eventual flight to England)  Hear stories about the later Stuart monarchs and find out what to look out for when you visit the Palace of Holyroodhouse and its beautiful grounds.   Useful links https://www.rct.uk/visit/palace-of-holyroodhouse https://edinburgh.org https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk/edinburgh City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time!  Check our website to find more episodes from our Edinburgh series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  It helps others to find us.