Home Walking tours by city Edinburgh
Self-Guided Walking Tours in Edinburgh
Edinburgh is built on an extinct volcano and the glacial tail behind it, which is why the Old Town runs downhill in a single ridge from the castle and the closes drop away on both sides like ribs.
Almost no other city has its geology this legible. The Royal Mile is the crag-and-tail ridge; the New Town is a Georgian grid laid on the drained loch below; Arthur's Seat is the volcano itself, inside the city limits. Walking is the only way to feel that vertical structure, and the closes off the Mile — narrow, steep, easy to miss — are where the Old Town actually lived.
Takes about a minute. Edinburgh is already filled in — choose your time, pace and interests and the route is planned around them.
What to build a Edinburgh walking tour around
Edinburgh Castle
On a volcanic plug that has been occupied since at least the Iron Age, making it one of the longest continuously fortified sites in Europe.
The Royal Mile
Exactly a Scots mile — slightly longer than the English one — from the castle down to Holyrood, lined with closes named for who once lived down them.
Arthur's Seat
A 251-metre extinct volcano inside the city. Forty-five minutes up, and the view takes in the Forth and, on a clear day, the Highlands.
The New Town
James Craig's 1767 grid, built to relieve the desperately overcrowded Old Town. Together the two towns form a single UNESCO site.
Greyfriars Kirkyard
Where the National Covenant was signed in 1638, and where a good many Harry Potter name-hunters now go looking for gravestones.
Dean Village and the Water of Leith
A milling community for 800 years, five minutes from Princes Street, on a river walk that runs 20 km across the city.
Three routes worth walking in Edinburgh
The Royal Mile and its closes
Castle to Holyrood, dropping into Advocate's Close, Mary King's Close and the wynds most people walk straight past.
Old Town to New Town
Down the Mound, across Princes Street Gardens and into Craig's grid — 250 years of urban planning in a fifteen-minute walk.
Arthur's Seat and Holyrood
The palace, the parliament, then the climb up Salisbury Crags and the volcano — a genuine hill walk that starts in a capital city.
Practical notes for walking Edinburgh
- Terrain and surfaces
- Steep, and unavoidably so. The Old Town is stairs, closes and cobbles; the New Town is flat but you have to climb out of it. Arthur's Seat is a proper hike.
- Best time to walk
- May, June and September. August is the Festival — extraordinary, and the city is at three times its normal density.
- Driving here
- Old Town driving is difficult and largely restricted. Excellent driving country beyond: the Forth bridges, East Lothian coast, the Borders abbeys.
- Size
- Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom — population about 540,000.
Neighbourhoods worth a route of their own
Not just walking
The same route planner covers Edinburgh on foot, at a run, by bike, by car and with wheelchair-accessible routing that avoids steps and kerbs rather than simply relabelling the walking route. Pick the way you are getting around and the stops, distances and timings are planned for it.
Start one now for Edinburgh: driving tour · wheelchair-accessible route · cycling tour
Or read more: self-guided driving tours · accessible tours · audio tours
Questions about walking Edinburgh
How steep is the Royal Mile?
It drops about 100 metres over a mile, so walking down is easy and walking up is work. Most routes start at the castle for that reason.
Is Edinburgh manageable with limited mobility?
The New Town and Princes Street are flat and accessible. The Old Town is genuinely difficult — closes are stepped, cobbles are large and uneven, and there are few alternatives to the gradient.
What is a self-guided walking tour?
A route you walk on your own schedule, with the commentary delivered to your phone instead of by a guide. There is no meeting point and no group — you start when you want, stop as long as you like at anything that interests you, and skip anything that does not.
How is this different from a guided walking tour?
A guided tour runs to someone else's schedule and someone else's route, and it covers what the guide covers. This builds the route around the time you actually have, the pace you want to walk at and the things you said you were interested in — and it will wait as long as you like at any stop.
Can I do a driving tour instead of walking?
Yes. Walking, running, cycling, driving and wheelchair-accessible routing are all supported, and each uses routing built for that mode — a driving tour follows roads and sensible parking, a walking tour uses paths and crossings.
Other cities
- Self-guided walking tours in Budapest
- Self-guided walking tours in Athens
- Self-guided walking tours in Dublin
- All 43 city guides
A 24-hour pass is $6.95 and covers unlimited tours. Joining someone else’s tour is free.