Edinburgh’s Royal Mile: What It Covers and What to Skip

The Royal Mile is not quite a mile (1.8km, if you’re measuring from the castle esplanade to the gates of Holyrood Palace). It drops about 75 metres in elevation from castle to palace and changes names four times: Castlehill, Lawnmarket, High Street, Canongate. It is also among the most aggressively tourist-facing streets in Scotland, with tartan shops, whisky shops with grinning Scotsmen outside, and haggis-themed restaurants on every block.

The correct approach is to use the Mile as an orientation spine and peel off into the closes, the narrow alleys running off both sides, where the actual city persists under the tourism layer. The closes are free, atmospheric, and contain the genuine medieval Edinburgh that the main street is constantly referencing.

Edinburgh Castle

The castle sits on a volcanic plug, sheer cliff on three sides, and has been fortified since at least the 12th century. Two things justify the admission (adults £21.50, book online, opens 9:30).

The Scottish Crown Jewels (Honours of Scotland) are the crown, sword, and sceptre of Scotland, all pre-dating the Crown Jewels of England. The crown dates to around 1540; the sword was a papal gift from Julius II in 1507. The Stone of Destiny, the coronation stone returned from Westminster in 1996 after 700 years, is displayed alongside them.

The One O’Clock Gun: a 105mm field gun fired every day at 13:00 (except Sunday and Good Friday). Fired since 1861, originally to give ships in the Firth of Forth a time signal. The Edinburgh locals’ observation that tourists who set their watches by the Waverley station clock are one minute slow because they don’t know about the gun is worth understanding before you arrive.

St Giles’ Cathedral

Midway down the Mile. John Knox preached here from 1559. The Thistle Chapel at the southeast corner (completed 1911) is a piece of concentrated Gothic revival craftsmanship with stalls for each knight of the Order of the Thistle. Free entry; donations requested.

The Heart of Midlothian mosaic in the forecourt cobbles marks the site of the old Tolbooth prison. Edinburgh locals traditionally spit on it for luck. Tourists who do this without knowing are following the tradition correctly.

The Real Mary King’s Close

Below the Royal Mile, old medieval buildings were buried rather than demolished when the city was redeveloped in the 17th century, their lower floors becoming foundations. Guided tours run through these preserved underground streets, sealed after a plague outbreak and rediscovered in the 1990s. Tours every 20 minutes, 75 minutes duration, £19.50 adults. Entry from Warriston’s Close off the High Street.

Holyrood and Arthur’s Seat

Holyrood Palace at the bottom of the Mile is open to visitors when the monarch is not in residence (most of the year). Admission £21. The attached abbey ruins date to the 12th century.

More importantly: Holyrood Park contains Arthur’s Seat, a 251-metre extinct volcano with 360-degree views over Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth. Direct ascent from the palace car park takes about 45 minutes on a clear path. The view from the summit extends to the Fife coast. It’s free, it’s genuinely excellent, and most visitors don’t do it because they’ve spent all their energy on the Mile.

Where to Eat

Ondine on George IV Bridge (two minutes from the Mile): the best seafood restaurant in the city. Oysters, Shetland mussels, Scottish langoustines. Lunch is better value than dinner.

The Witchery by the Castle at the castle end of the Mile is a genuine exception to the rule about avoiding Mile restaurants: dark, candlelit, 16th-century building, Scottish produce. Mains £30-45; book weeks ahead.

Avoid any restaurant on the Mile that has a kilted greeter outside.