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What Most Royal Mile Visitors Walk Straight Past
The Royal Mile runs from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse â roughly one Scottish mile. It’s the most walked street in Scotland, and the most superficially experienced. Nearly everyone misses the best parts.
- Duck into the closes â they’re the real Royal Mile. Over 70 narrow passageways (closes) branch off the main street into hidden courtyards, gardens, and buildings. Riddle’s Court, Dunbar’s Close Garden, and Advocate’s Close each reveal a different century of Edinburgh’s history. They’re free, open, and almost empty.
- The lower half (Canongate) is better than the upper half (Lawnmarket). Most tourists cluster near the Castle at the top. The Canongate section has the Scottish Poetry Library, Canongate Kirk where Adam Smith is buried, and the Museum of Edinburgh â all free and far less crowded.
- Walk it after 8pm when the tour groups have gone. The Royal Mile at night is atmospheric in a way daytime visits can’t match. The gas-style lamps glow, the closes look mysterious, and you can actually hear the cobblestones under your feet. Ghost tours are popular for a reason â Edinburgh’s Old Town was built for darkness.
- Don’t eat on the Royal Mile itself. Most restaurants on the main street are tourist traps with high prices and mediocre food. Walk one street parallel â Cockburn Street, Victoria Street, or the Grassmarket â and the quality jumps dramatically at lower prices.
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In todayâs email:
- Why Do They Call It The Royal Mile?
- Why is the Royal Mile so famous?
- Collect your gift! – A Free Digital Copy Of The Ultimate Scotland Travel Guide
- Around the Web: Scotland fans allowed to take bagpipes into Euro 2024 stadiums, 68% of of Scots in Edinburgh find a love of outdoors the most attractive quality in a potential partner, Explore Scotland’s Top 10 Seaside Getaways and more
- From Social Media – Aberdeen’s Johnston Gardens looking unbe-leaf-able!
- Scottish Food You Will Love – How To Make Scotlandâs Case-less Sausage
- Coo Wee – ‘Funniest bus driver in Glasgow’ has passengers in stitches with hilarious jokes
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Why Do They Call It The Royal Mile?
The Royal Mile spans between two pivotal sites in Scotland’s royal legacy: Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Its name originates from its historical role as the ceremonial path for monarchs, measuring roughly one Scottish mile, which equals 1.8072576 kilometers in modern terms.
Why is the Royal Mile so famous?
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Around The Web
Scotland snow tracker live – check your area as Met Office weather alerts kick in
Has the Taylor Swift effect helped American Football in Scotland?
Scotland fans allowed to take bagpipes into Euro 2024 stadiums
Scotland’s two ‘countryside havens’ less than 30 minutes from Glasgow
Travel disruption amid severe snow and ice warning across Scotland
The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning of snow and ice across Scotland.
Edinburgh trio launches international bar show
Edinburgh is favourite destination for Northern Belle luxury train
15 incredible Edinburgh chippies where you can get still a cheap fish supper
Cod or haddock? Mushy peas? And with or without salt and sauce?
68% of of Scots in Edinburgh find a love of outdoors the most attractive quality in a potential partner
Explore Scotland’s Top 10 Seaside Getaways
From Social Media
Aberdeen’s Johnston Gardens looking unbe-leaf-able!
Credit: – Instagram.com/wanderingaberdonian
Scottish Food You Will Love
How To Make Scotlandâs Case-less Sausage
Coo Wee
‘Funniest bus driver in Glasgow’ has passengers in stitches with hilarious jokes
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A Traveller’s Perspective
The Royal Mile is called that because it runs almost exactly one Scots mile â about 1.8 kilometres â from Edinburgh Castle at the top to the Palace of Holyroodhouse at the bottom. It is the spine of Edinburgh’s Old Town and every visitor walks it at least once. My advice: walk it, but do not spend all your time on it. The best of the Old Town is found in the closes and wynds that branch off the main street.
Start at the Castle and walk downhill. The section between the Castle and St Giles’ Cathedral is the most interesting architecturally. Duck into Riddle’s Court or Gladstone’s Land for a sense of how the Old Town looked centuries ago. Below St Giles’, look for Advocate’s Close and Mary King’s Close. The lower section towards Holyrood is less interesting for shops and restaurants but leads to the Scottish Parliament building, which is worth a look regardless of your views on politics. Budget an hour for the walk if you are just passing through, or half a day if you want to explore the side streets.
Walking the Royal Mile on a misty Edinburgh morning, before the tourist shops open and the performers set up, the street feels ancient. Your footsteps echo off the stone tenements that rise five and six storeys on either side. Chimney smoke drifts overhead. A church bell rings somewhere nearby. The cobblestones are slick with dew. For a brief window, you can see what this street must have felt like a hundred years ago, when it was just a road between a castle and a palace, walked by everyone from kings to coal merchants.
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