Arthur's Seat, Calton Hill, Historic Pubs and What to Eat

Few capitals let you climb a wild mountain pasture and descend twenty minutes later into a 200-year-old mahogany pub. Pairing Edinburgh's two great viewpoints (Arthur's Seat and Calton Hill) with a hearty Scottish lunch or single-malt whisky tasting gives you the best outdoor and indoor sides of the city.

How to climb Arthur's Seat (and the easier alternative)

Rising 251 metres above Holyrood Park at the eastern end of the Royal Mile, Arthur's Seat is the eroded main peak of a 340-million-year-old extinct volcano. You have three routes depending on your time and knees:

• The Classic Red Route from Holyrood Palace (60 to 90 minutes round trip): starts on the grassy meadow beside the Palace of Holyroodhouse and climbs steadily up the northern valley past the ruined 15th-century St Anthony's Chapel before a steeper rocky switchback up the final summit cone.
• The Gentle Dunsapie Loch Shortcut (30 to 40 minutes round trip): take a taxi to the elevated Dunsapie Loch car park on the eastern side of the park; from there, a grassy hillside path reaches the summit in 15 to 20 minutes with half the vertical climb.
• Salisbury Crags (Best sunset view without the summit scramble): the dramatic cliff edge facing the Old Town just below Arthur's Seat; the broad Crags crest path gives you the most direct eye-level view into the heart of Edinburgh.

Calton Hill and the National Museum Rooftop

If you want a world-class view with only five minutes of walking up stone steps from the east end of Princes Street, head up Calton Hill for the twelve Doric columns of the unfinished 1820s National Monument (modelled on the Parthenon), the circular Dugald Stewart Monument (which frames the postcard view down Princes Street to the Scott Monument and Castle) and the Nelson Monument. In rainy weather, ride the lift to the free Level 7 Rooftop Terrace of the National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street instead.

What to eat in Edinburgh and five historic pubs

1. Haggis, neeps and tatties: savoury minced sheep's pluck simmered with toasted pinhead oatmeal, onions and peppery spices, served over mashed swede turnip (neeps) and buttery potatoes (tatties) with whisky cream sauce (almost every pub in Edinburgh also serves an excellent vegetarian haggis made with lentils, oats and seeds).
2. Cullen skink and Scottish seafood: a rich northeast Scottish soup made from naturally smoked haddock, potatoes, leeks and cream; pair it with Loch Fyne oysters, West Coast mussels or langoustines down on The Shore in Leith.
3. Full Scottish breakfast and cranachan: start a hiking morning with square Lorne sausage, Stornoway black pudding, a potato scone (tattie scone) and eggs; finish dinner with cranachan, whipped cream layered with toasted honeyed oats, Scottish raspberries and whisky.
4. Historic Victorian pubs and whisky bars: step into preserved architectural gems: Café Royal Circle Bar (1863, behind St Andrew Square, with Royal Doulton tile murals and an oval island bar), The Bow Bar on West Bow (real cask ales and over 350 single malts), The Oxford Bar on Young Street, The Guildford Arms and the 15th-century Sheep Heid Inn in Duddingston Village.