Everything you need to live today's busy lifestyle to the full can be found in Corstorphine itself, including shops, banks and a chemist. Schools are well catered for locally with Carrick Knowe Primary, The Royal High School and Daniel Stewart's, as well as the Melville College independent secondary.For a wider selection of high street names, you need look no further than the nearby Gyle shopping centre, while local sports and leisure facilities range from the Carrick Knowe Golf Course and Edinburgh Zoo, to the Murrayfield Ice Rink and the famous Murrayfield Stadium, spiritual home of Scottish Rugby Union. Then all the wonderful retail therapy, entertainment and cultural opportunities of Edinburgh's historic and dynamic city centre are just five miles away. Scotland's capital city is second only to London as the UK's premier visitor destination. And little wonder. In 1995 Edinburgh was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, having around 4,500 listed buildings, Medieval and Georgian architecture which are considered to be amongst the finest examples of their kind anywhere in the world and a history that goes back to at least the first century AD. Not for nothing has Edinburgh been called the Athens of the North. And over the centuries it has inspired writers as diverse as Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Walter Scott, Ian Rankin and J.K.Rowling. Today Edinburgh is one of Europe's most dynamic and successful cities. However you choose to spend your time from soaking up the history, art and culture to indulging in sport, shopping and socialising it literally spoils you for choice. The Edinburgh festivals, including the International, Art, Book, Film and Science, are all globally famed. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is, in fact, the world' s largest arts gathering. Edinburgh is also home to all five of Scotland's National Galleries, many important museums and libraries, an internationally renowned university and the country's parliament, as well as two professional football clubs. A little further afield you'll find award-winning beaches, professional horse racing, championship golf courses, stately homes, dramatic castles and miles of glorious countryside to explore.