Edinburgh, said Robert Louis Stevenson, is ‘a profusion of eccentricities, a dream in masonry and living rock.’ You can see what he means: the formal New Town below the precipice of the Old; a maze of closes and vennels and snug howffs just a few minutes’ walk from the wild volcanic outcrop of Arthur’s Seat’; palace and parliament just opposite each other; water, crags and distant mountains all within view. For centuries in the Old Town, rich and poor rubbed shoulders. In the 1790s the rich built their New Town to the north, filling in Nor Loch (now Princess Gardens) and building bridges to the Old Town. Long before then in the Old Town, new streets were laid on top of old and the city’s poorest went underground to live in vaults.
[1] Start at the National Gallery and pop in to see Titian’s Diana and Callisto; £50 million will keep it in Scotland. From the Gallery, cross Princes Street (with the Castle behind you) and north into Hanover Street – before 1790 a boggy wasteland. Turn right into Queen Street.
(A) Queen Street, the longest stretch of New Town architecture in the city, designed to compliment Princes Street. Princes Street was commercial before it was finished, but Queen Street was residential and much superior.
At the end enter onto Picardy Place.
look for a giant foot by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, the Leith-born sculptor.
Turn left onto Leith Walk and right into London Road then look for a path on the right up through trees. Cross the road at the top (Royal Terrace) and carry on up the path to the left side of Greenside Church.
[2] Zig-zag up to the top of Calton Hill – one of the city’s seven hills.
(B) Here you can see an imitation acropolis, an observatory and two memorials (one to a famous sailor the other for an almost unknown academic). The acropolis commemorates the dead of Napoleonic wars and was known, due to its half-finished look, as ‘Scotland’s Disgrace’. The observatory is part-serious, part-theme park, and at Nelson’s monument at one o’clock a big ball is dropped – marking time for ships on the Firth. Pay £3 and climb 143 steps to the top for an amazing view.
[3] From Nelson’s monument, take the steps downhill towards the Old Town and at the bottom turn left along Regent Road. After passing over the railway, in a couple of minutes there are steps going off right, downhill to Calton Road. Turn left (east) and you’ll come to the Palace of Holyroodhouse,
(C) This is the Queen’s residence in Scotland. It was here that Mary, Queen of Scots reigned briefly and saw Rizzio – her deformed, loyal and probably innocent secretary – murdered by her husband Darnley.
[4] Leave Holyrood on your left, cross the road from the car park and walk up some steps into what was once royal hunting ground. Turn right onto the Radical Road (a path) for Salisbury Crags (172m/567ft) and then up to Arthur’s Seat (251m/823ft)
(D) From here, you can see the Lothian coast, Lammermuir and Pentland Hills, the Firth of Forth and the Fife coast. In 1836, 17 miniature coffins were dug up here. No-one knows what they were for.
From here turn north and descend on a path back to Holyrood. The Scottish Parliament building marks the start of the Royal Mile which finishes at the castle.
(E) Architect Enric Miralles built something so unassuming – flowing gently towards the crags of Arthur’s Seat – that only the price seems monumental. Tours are excellent, or walk in to see the exhibition and the public spaces. Parliament sits Wednesdays and Thursdays.
[5] Leave Parliament and walk up Canongate – the Royal Mile.
On each side arched pends lead to wynds and courts. An overhanging clock marks Canongate Tolbooth – the oldest building on Canongate and now The People’s Story museum. Further up, overhanging gables and stairs mark John Knox’s house.
Now you’ll pass South Bridge.
(F) Here, underground tours explore the Old Town’s once-inhabited vaults. Along one such tunnel Burke and Hare carried corpses to the dissection rooms of the old Medical School, Nicholson Street. John Knox stands outside St Giles’, spitting protestant fire from a building shorn of decoration. Rebels’ blood flowed when Charles I declared the kirk a cathedral once more.
[6] Turn left on to George IV Bridge, past 8 million books in the National Library to the beautiful modern Museum of Scotland.
(G) Opposite is Greyfriars Kirk and kirkyard where, in 1679, 1,200 Covenantors (the Scottish church rebels) were imprisoned and some buried.
[7] Retrace your steps and turn left into the last bit of the Royal Mile.
Look for a little fountain – between 1480 and 1722, 300 women were burned as witches here.
Finish at the castle.
(H) Edward I, the hammer of the Scots, lay siege to Edinburgh Castle 900 years ago and it’s seen action ever since. The great hall is terrific and the Stone of Destiny was finally returned here in 1996 – 900 years after the English took it.