Edinburgh: The Castle, the Royal Mile & Scotland’s Capital — Our City Break
Overview — the honest take
Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful capital cities in Europe, and a complete change of gear from the wild coasts and glens we usually write about — so we did it properly, as a city break. A castle on a volcano, a medieval Old Town of steep closes tumbling down the Royal Mile, an elegant Georgian New Town, a royal palace at the foot of a real mountain, and some of the best eating out in Scotland. You could spend a week and not run dry; here’s our honest first taste of it.
Where it is
Edinburgh sits on the south shore of the Firth of Forth in the east-central Lowlands — an easy run from Linlithgow, Stirling and the Kelpies to the west, and the East Lothian coast to the east. The Old and New Towns together are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is the obvious place to start, and rightly so. It stands on Castle Rock, the plug of an extinct volcano, and has been a royal fortress for the best part of a thousand years. Inside are the Honours of Scotland (the Scottish crown jewels), the Stone of Destiny, the tiny St Margaret’s Chapel (the oldest building in the city, from around 1130), and the One O’Clock Gun that still fires over the town each day. The views from the ramparts, right down the length of the Royal Mile and out over the Forth, are magnificent.
The Royal Mile & the Old Town
From the castle, the Royal Mile runs downhill through the medieval Old Town to Holyrood. This is the Edinburgh of the imagination: tall tenements, St Giles’ Cathedral, and dozens of narrow closes and wynds diving off to either side, each with its own name and history. Duck down one and the crowds vanish; this is where the real, layered, sometimes dark old city still lives — the world of Deacon Brodie and Burke and Hare. It’s made for wandering with no fixed plan.
Holyrood & the Queen’s Gallery
At the foot of the Mile stands the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the King’s official residence in Scotland and the palace of Mary, Queen of Scots — the place where her secretary Rizzio was famously murdered in front of her. Beside it, the Queen’s Gallery shows treasures from the Royal Collection, and across the way is the modern Scottish Parliament. And rising straight up behind the palace is the great green hill of Arthur’s Seat — an actual extinct volcano, and the finest city walk in Britain.
Craigmillar Castle — the quiet one
For a break from the crowds, Craigmillar Castle on the southern edge of the city is a wonderful surprise: one of the best-preserved medieval castles in Scotland, and gloriously uncrowded next to its famous neighbour. It has its own Mary, Queen of Scots connection — the “Craigmillar Bond,” the plot to be rid of her husband Darnley, was hatched here. Well worth the short trip out.
Eating out & where we stayed
A city break is as much about the good living as the sights, and Edinburgh delivers. We ate extremely well — the city is stuffed with excellent restaurants, cosy pubs and proper coffee houses — and made a base in a handsome Georgian townhouse to come back to. After weeks of wild-camping and camp-stove cooking, a fine dinner and a soft bed in the middle of the capital felt like a real treat.
Nearby & day trips
- North Berwick & the East Lothian coast — beaches, Tantallon and the Bass Rock, a half-hour east.
- Linlithgow & the Kelpies — Mary’s birthplace and the giant horses, just west.
- Stirling — the castle and the Wallace Monument, under an hour away.
Sources
- Edinburgh Castle (HES) and Wikishire (the castle, Old & New Towns, Holyrood, Craigmillar).
- Everything first-hand is from our own city break in Edinburgh.