Things to Do in Edinburgh: 10 Places Worth Your Time
Ten places we would actually send a friend to, in the order we would see them.
1Edinburgh Castle
Photo: Igor Passchier / Pexels, Pexels License
Yes, it is expensive, and yes, you should go. The rock alone would justify the climb, but inside you also get the Honours of Scotland, the giant medieval gun Mons Meg and the sombre Scottish National War Memorial. The views over the New Town towards the Firth of Forth are the bonus nobody mentions on the ticket.
Time
2 to 3 h
Setting
Both
Best time
First slot of the day
Getting there
Top of the Royal Mile, on foot
Tip: Book online, since summer slots sell out and walking up without a ticket can end in a walk back down. The one o'clock gun is fired from these walls, so being here just before 1 pm makes for a loud lunch break.
Adults £23.50 online, £26 in person. Open daily 9.30 am to 6 pm from April to September, until 5 pm from October to March. Last entry one hour before closing; closed 25 and 26 December.
Almost exactly a mile of cobbles runs downhill from the castle gate to the palace, and most of Edinburgh's history happened within sight of it. The tartan shops are forgettable. What makes the street are the narrow closes slipping away on both sides, and the crown spire of St Giles' Cathedral halfway along.
Time
1 to 2 h
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
Early morning, before the tour groups
Getting there
Castle to Holyrood, downhill
Tip: During the Fringe the upper street becomes one long crush. Some people love the circus and others flee it, so if you are in the second camp, stick to the parallel Cowgate and rejoin the street after dark.
The King's official residence in Scotland stands at the bottom of the Royal Mile, and it feels far more lived-in than the castle. The draw is the 16th-century apartments of Mary, Queen of Scots, reached by a tight spiral stair. Behind the palace, the roofless nave of Holyrood Abbey is the moodiest corner in town.
Time
1 h 30 min to 2 h
Setting
Indoor
Best time
Morning, then Arthur's Seat
Getting there
East end of the Royal Mile
Tip: The palace closes on some dates and the schedule shifts with the season, so look at the closure list before building a day around it. Buying ahead saves £4.
Adults £22 in advance, £26 on the day. Usually Thursday to Monday from 9.30 am, until 4.30 pm or 6 pm; daily in summer.
How many capitals let you climb an extinct volcano between lunch and dinner? The summit stands 251 m above sea level in Holyrood Park, and the view takes in the castle, the Forth and on clear days a good part of Fife. It is a proper hill rather than a stroll, with a rocky top that gets slick in the wet.
Time
1 h 30 min to 2 h 30 min
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
A dry evening or the first hour of light
Getting there
Holyrood Park, behind the palace
Tip: Bring a windproof layer even on a warm day, as the top is far more exposed than the Royal Mile. Short of time? Salisbury Crags give you most of the panorama for half the effort.
The best free thing in the city. Under the white iron arches of the Grand Gallery, the collections run from Scottish history to natural science and world cultures, and Dolly the cloned sheep stands stuffed and slightly smug in her glass case. Children tend to refuse to leave.
Time
2 to 3 h
Setting
Indoor
Best time
Any rainy afternoon
Getting there
Chambers Street, Old Town
Tip: Pick two floors and leave the rest. Trying to cover the entire building in one visit is how good afternoons turn into sore feet.
General entry free; some special exhibitions charge. Daily 10 am to 5 pm, closed 25 December.
Ten minutes of mild climbing buys the postcard view: the Dugald Stewart Monument in front, the Old Town skyline and the Balmoral clock behind. The unfinished columns of the National Monument look like a piece of Athens that got lost, and the telescope-shaped Nelson Monument drops its time ball as the castle gun fires at one o'clock.
Time
45 min to 1 h
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
The hour before sunset
Getting there
East end of Princes Street
Tip: Stay for the sunset and bring something warm. Photographers gather around the Dugald Stewart Monument, so walk the far side of the hill for a clear shot and a bit of space.
The hill is free and always open. Nelson Monument daily 10 am to 3.30 pm.
A short curving street of painted shopfronts that drops from the Old Town down to the Grassmarket. It takes minutes to walk and an unreasonable amount of time to photograph. Climb the steps to Victoria Terrace above the shops for the angle everyone wants.
Time
30 min
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
Before 10 am
Getting there
Between George IV Bridge and the Grassmarket
Tip: Come early, before the shops open and the crowd thickens, then carry on to the Grassmarket for breakfast with the castle looming overhead.
Twenty minutes from Princes Street, the city simply disappears. For more than 800 years this hollow on the Water of Leith was a milling district, with up to eleven mills running at once, and its stone tenements and turreted Well Court now sit quietly above the water.
Time
1 h to 1 h 30 min
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
Morning, when the houses catch the sun
Getting there
West of the New Town, on foot
Tip: People live here, so keep your voice down. Follow the river path downstream to Stockbridge, which turns a photo stop into the nicest walk in the city.
A soot-black Gothic rocket in Princes Street Gardens, built to honour the novelist Sir Walter Scott and among the largest monuments to any writer anywhere. At its foot sits Scott himself with his dog Maida, carved from a single 30-ton block of Carrara marble. Climbing it is a tour, not a free-for-all.
Time
1 h
Setting
Both
Best time
Clear days for the view
Getting there
Princes Street Gardens, by Waverley
Tip: The top platform is 287 steps up narrowing spiral stairs. Skip it if you dislike tight spaces, as the monument looks better from the gardens anyway.
Calm, green and just north of Stockbridge, with a skyline view from the lawn that rivals Calton Hill and no entry fee at all. The restored Victorian Palm Houses have reopened with their own tickets, while the other glasshouses stay closed for ongoing work.
Time
1 h 30 min to 2 h
Setting
Both
Best time
Spring or a bright autumn afternoon
Getting there
Inverleith, north of Stockbridge
Tip: Parts of the garden are restricted during restoration, so check what is accessible on the garden's site. Pair it with Stockbridge for lunch.
Garden entry free; Palm Houses ticketed. Daily from 10 am: until 5 pm February to October, 4 pm in November and January, 3.30 pm in December. Closed 25 December and 1 January.
