3 Days in Edinburgh: Castles, Volcanoes and Hidden Villages

This three-day route groups Edinburgh by elevation and valley so you are not climbing up and down between the Old and New Towns three times in a single afternoon. Book your timed morning slot for Edinburgh Castle online before you travel as explained in our practical briefing.

Day 1: Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile Closes, Victoria Street & Calton Hill

• 09:15: enter Edinburgh Castle with the first timed slot of the morning. Head straight up to Crown Square for the Scottish Crown Jewels, the Stone of Destiny, the Great Hall and tiny St Margaret's Chapel.
• 11:30: walk down the upper Royal Mile, ducking into Lady Stair's Close (Writers' Museum) and Advocate's Close, then visit the carved oak Thistle Chapel inside St Giles' Cathedral.
• 13:00: Curve down colourful Victoria Street into the Grassmarket for a pub lunch of haggis or Cullen skink and a whisky at The Bow Bar, followed by a walk through Greyfriars Kirkyard.
• 15:00: cross The Mound into the free Scottish National Gallery (for Raeburn, Turner and Botticelli) and stroll through Princes Street Gardens beneath the Gothic spire of the Scott Monument.
• 17:30: walk up Calton Hill at the east end of Princes Street for sunset over the Dugald Stewart Monument and the Old Town skyline, followed by dinner and a pint in the 1863 ceramic-tiled Café Royal Circle Bar.

Day 2: Arthur's Seat, Palace of Holyroodhouse & National Museum of Scotland

• 08:30: start at the foot of the Royal Mile in Holyrood Park and hike up Arthur's Seat (or walk the cliff path of the Salisbury Crags) while the morning light is clear over the Firth of Forth.
• 11:00: tour the Palace of Holyroodhouse (Mary, Queen of Scots' apartments and the ruined Gothic nave of Holyrood Abbey), then walk up the quieter lower half of the Royal Mile (the Canongate), stepping into the hidden 17th-century walled garden of Dunbar's Close.
• 13:30: lunch around Chambers Street or Nicolson Street near the university.
• 14:30: spend two hours inside the free National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street (do not miss the Victorian Grand Gallery, the Lewis Chessmen, Scottish history floors and the Level 7 Rooftop Terrace view of the Castle).
• Evening: a literary pub crawl, ghost tour of the underground Real Mary King's Close, or dinner on Broughton Street.

Day 3: Georgian New Town, Dean Village, Stockbridge & Leith Shore

• 09:30: start in the Georgian New Town at Robert Adam's Charlotte Square, then walk down into the river gorge of Dean Village to photograph 19th-century Well Court across the Water of Leith weir.
• 10:45: follow the wooded Water of Leith Walkway downstream past St Bernard's Well into Stockbridge; detour along cobble-paved Circus Lane and stop for coffee and scones on St Stephen Street (or the Sunday Stockbridge Market).
• 12:30: walk ten minutes north to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh for its palm house borders and skyline terrace view.
• 15:00: take the bus or Edinburgh Tram down to Leith to tour the Royal Yacht Britannia and finish your trip with a Scottish seafood dinner beside the water at The Shore.