Edinburgh Castle — iStephencdickson (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Ready-made walk · Edinburgh

Edinburgh Essentials: The Royal Mile in an Hour

6 stops · ~1 hr 45 min · 1.1 km

Highlights

A compact stroll down the top of the Royal Mile, from Edinburgh Castle past the tall tenement of Gladstone's Land and the Writers' Museum to St Giles' Cathedral. Spot the Heart of Midlothian set into the cobbles, then finish above the hidden streets of Mary King's Close.

The stops, in walking order

iStephencdickson (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Stop 1: Edinburgh Castle
~3 min here
Edinburgh Castle is a historic fortress occupying Castle Rock, a volcanic remnant that has hosted human settlement since at least the Iron Age.
iTony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK (CC BY 2.0)
Stop 2: Gladstone's Land
~3 min here
Gladstone’s Land is a tall surviving tenement, restored as a furnished visitor attraction by the National Trust for Scotland.
iStefan Schäfer, Lich (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Stop 3: Writers' Museum
~1 hr here
The Writers’ Museum is set inside Lady Stair’s House in Edinburgh, and its rooms bring together the lives of Robert Burns, Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson.
iFrank Winkelmann (CC BY 3.0)
Stop 4: Heart of Midlothian
~3 min here
The Heart of Midlothian is a heart-shaped mosaic made from coloured granite setts outside St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.
iThe Real Mary King's Close at en.wikipedia (Public domain)
Stop 5: Mary King's Close
~3 min here
Mary King's Close is an underground historic close beneath Edinburgh City Chambers, and it now forms a visitor attraction.
i瑞丽江的河水 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Stop 6: St Giles' Cathedral
~15 min here
St Giles' Cathedral is a Gothic church, and its story reaches far beyond worship.