Edinburgh is one of my favorite cities in Europe, with its rich history, scenic Holyrood Park and the great restaurants and pubs. When I visited a few years ago we stayed in a hotel in the middle of Edinburgh University’s campus. It was a short walk from there to the restaurants and pubs near the Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle, and Holyrood Park. Edinburgh is also a good launch pad for day trips to St. Andrews, Stirling Castle and the William Wallace Monument. But you can easily find enough to do for a couple of days in Edinburgh without getting in a car. Which is great for those of us not used to driving on the left side of the road!

If you start your walking tour of Edinburgh at Edinburgh Castle, you will be able to see the Royal Mile and the Princes Street areas on your way down the hill to Holyrood House and Holyrood Park.

Edinburgh Castle

Built on Castle Rock, a dormant volcano, Edinburgh Castle is a royal castle built on Castle Rock in the 12th century. On the castle grounds is St. Margaret’s Chapel, which is the oldest standing building in Scotland. It is a busy place, so give yourself plenty of time for standing in queue and touring the castle. We were there during the annual Edinburgh Military Tattoo, a elaborate pageant of bagpipers, kilts, and marching that occurs every August on the grounds in front of the castle.

Princes Street

If you head down the Royal Mile after touring the castle, take a left and go down the hill towards the Princes Street Gardens, the shopping district and the Walter Scott Monument. From the gardens, you can see the castle back up the hill on your left.

Going down the hill through the gardens and park leads you to Princes Street shopping district, and there are places to stop along the way to have lunch.

The highlight of that area for me was climbing the Walter Scott Monument and seeing the incredible views of Edinburgh from the top of the monument. In the large columns supporting the monument are stairs leading up to the top. It is a tight squeeze with people going up and down on the same staircase, and is also not for the out of shape or claustrophobic.

Here’s the view from the top with Edinburgh Castle in the distance on the left and Princes Street shopping area on the right.

And a zoom in on the castle from the Scott Monument.

In addition to the great views at the top, I found a Scottish example of a very distinctive door in the room at the top.

Holyrood

With the castle on the upper end of the Royal Mile, its bookend on the opposite end is the Palace of Holyrood House, the official Scottish residence of Queen Elizabeth II. On the grounds of the palace are the ruins of the Augustinian Holyrood Abbey, originally sited there in the 12th century. With the effects of over five hundred years of periodic bombardments and fires, the roof of the abbey collapsed in the 18th century and it has stood in ruins since that time. It was very interesting to tour the ruins.

If after walking all day, you have any energy left for a hike, hike up to Arthur’s Seat, a point high above the escarpment in Holyrood Park. The view is supposed to be incredible. Unfortunately I went up on a foggy morning and when I found my way through the fog to the top, I couldn’t see anything. Maybe next trip!