A single downhill line through a thousand years of the Old Town, followed by one honest uphill.
Segments
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Edinburgh CastleCastle Esplanade → Crown Square
Cobbled ramps and stone stairs
Start on Castle Rock, occupied since at least the Iron Age and crowned by a royal castle since the reign of Malcolm III in the 11th century. Inside are the Honours of Scotland — the Scottish crown jewels, dating from the 15th and 16th centuries — the tiny Norman St Margaret's Chapel, and views straight down the street you are about to walk. Allow about 90 minutes.
About this place
Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcolm III in the 11th century, and the castle continued to be a royal residence until 1633. From the 15th century, the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as a military garrison. Its importance as a part of Scotland's national heritage was recognised increasingly from the early 19th century onwards, and various restoration programmes have been carried out over the past century and a half.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗Photo: Enric · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Down the Royal Mile and its closesCastlehill → High Street
Cobbled street
The Mile is not one street but several, running downhill in a straight medieval line. The real discovery is sideways: duck into the closes and wynds — steep, shoulder-width alleys off both sides — where the tenement city stacked itself up to eleven storeys. Mary King's Close, sealed under the City Chambers, can be visited underground. About 45 minutes, more if you wander.
About this place
The Royal Mile is a series of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The term originated in the early 20th century and has since entered popular usage.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗Photo: Kim Traynor · CC BY-SA 3.0
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St Giles' CathedralHigh Street → Parliament Square
Cobbled street
The High Kirk of Edinburgh, begun in the 14th century and extended into the early 16th, sits halfway down the Mile under its distinctive crowned steeple. This was John Knox's church and the pulpit of the Scottish Reformation. Don't miss the Thistle Chapel, a small riot of carved stone. About 30 minutes.
About this place
St Giles' Cathedral, also known as the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is one of three cathedrals in Edinburgh, Scotland. The existing building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alterations were undertaken in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the addition of the Thistle Chapel. St Giles' is closely associated with many events and figures in Scottish history, including John Knox, who served as the church's minister after the Scottish Reformation. The cathedral is administered by the Church of Scotland.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗Photo: Carlos Delgado · CC BY-SA 3.0
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Canongate to Holyrood PalaceParliament Square → Palace of Holyroodhouse
Cobbled street and pavement
The Mile's lower half, the Canongate, is quieter and older-feeling, and delivers you to the Palace of Holyroodhouse — the official residence of the monarch in Scotland, standing at the opposite end of the Mile from the castle. Mary, Queen of Scots' chambers are here, and the roofless ruin of Holyrood Abbey sits alongside. The modern Scottish Parliament faces it across the road. About 90 minutes.
About this place
The Palace of Holyroodhouse, also known as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the monarch of the United Kingdom in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood has served as the principal royal residence in Scotland since the 16th century, and is a setting for state occasions and official entertaining.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗Photo: 瑞丽江的河水 · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Into Holyrood ParkPalace of Holyroodhouse → Dunsapie Loch
Park paths and road
The city stops at a gate. Holyrood Park is a piece of highland dropped into the capital — hills, lochs, glens and basalt cliffs, with the great curved wall of Salisbury Crags overhead. Follow the park round to Dunsapie Loch, the launching point for the gentlest way up. About 45 minutes.
About this place
Holyrood Park is a public park in central Edinburgh, Scotland about 1 mile to the east of Edinburgh Castle. It has an array of hills, lochs, glens, ridges, basalt cliffs, and patches of gorse, providing a wild piece of highland landscape within its 650-acre (260 ha) area. The park is associated with the Palace of Holyroodhouse and was formerly a royal hunting estate. The park was created in 1541 when James V had the ground "circulit about Arthurs Sett, Salisborie and Duddingston craggis" enclosed by a stone wall.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗Photo: David Monniaux · CC BY-SA 3.0
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Up Arthur's SeatDunsapie Loch → Arthur's Seat summit
Grassy slope and rocky path
The main peak of an ancient extinct volcano, rising to about 251 m above the city — Robert Louis Stevenson called it a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bold design. From the east, above Dunsapie Loch, it is a steady grassy pull with a rocky final scramble to a summit that gives back the whole route: the Mile, the castle, the Forth and, on a clear day, Fife. About 45 minutes up.
About this place
Arthur's Seat is an ancient extinct volcano. It is the main peak of a group of hills in Edinburgh, Scotland, which form most of Holyrood Park. Robert Louis Stevenson described it as "a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bold design". It is situated just to the east of the city centre, about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east of Edinburgh Castle. The hill rises above the city to a height of 250.5 m (822 ft), provides panoramic views of the city and beyond, is relatively easy to climb, and is popular for hillwalking. Though it can be climbed from almost any direction, the easiest ascent is from the east, where a grassy slope rises above Dunsapie Loch. At a spur of the hill, Salisbury Crags has historically been a rock climbing venue with routes of various degrees of difficulty. Rock climbing was restricted to the South Quarry, but access was banned altogether in 2019 by Historic Environment Scotland.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗Photo: Kim Traynor · CC BY-SA 3.0
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