Resembling a church spire taken from a Continental European cathedral, the Gothic-inspired Scott Monument is one of Edinburgh's most recognizable landmarks. Not everyone appreciated the monument when first erected a few years after Scott's death in 1832, but it is now difficult to imagine the city's Princes Street Gardens without it. In the center of the 60m-tall (200-ft.) spire is a large seated statue of Sir Walter Scott and his dog, Maida. You can climb 287 steps to the top for a worthwhile view: Look east and you can clearly see the Burns Monument, dedicated to Robert Burns and designed by Thomas Hamilton in 1830, along Regent Road.