The side closes
Narrow stone-stepped passages that drop into hidden courtyards and sudden views, the most genuine part of the street.
Kim Traynor — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Allie_Caulfield — CC BY 2.0 · Allie_Caulfield — CC BY 2.0 · TomGough from Birmingham, UK — CC BY-SA 2.0
One street connects a castle to a palace and drops about 70 metres in the roughly 1.8 km of an old Scots mile, which is where the name comes from. The Royal Mile starts on the Castle Esplanade at the top and ends at the gates of the Palace of Holyroodhouse at the bottom, changing its name four times on the way: Castlehill, Lawnmarket, High Street, Canongate. It costs nothing to walk and never closes, which makes it the best bargain in a notoriously expensive city. The point is not the street itself but what branches off it. On both sides, narrow passages called closes, some too tight for two people, tumble down stone steps into hidden courtyards and gardens or open onto a sudden view over the New Town. The buildings flanking them are 16th- to 18th-century tenements that sometimes climb ten storeys, among the tallest residential buildings in Europe in their day. Halfway down stands St Giles' Cathedral under its crown-shaped tower, free to enter in visiting hours with a donation invited, and beside it a heart picked out in the cobbles that locals spit on for luck, so do not be alarmed. Be honest about the upper half: near the castle it is wall-to-wall souvenir, tartan and cashmere shops at inflated prices, and in August, festival season, the High Street becomes the most crowded street in the Old Town, thick with buskers and their audiences. Come in May, June or September to see the place as itself. The lower half along the Canongate is quieter and more genuine, with the Museum of Edinburgh and the People's Story Museum in the old Canongate Tolbooth, both free and open daily, and at the foot the modern Scottish Parliament, also free to enter Monday to Saturday. The Museum of Childhood on the High Street is closed for refurbishment until January 2027. For families: the whole length is cobbled and steep. A pushchair copes with the main street, but the side closes are stairways and will not. Walking downhill is far easier, so start at the castle. Waverley station is a five-minute uphill walk away. Allow half a day if you go into the cathedral and museums, an hour if you only walk it, and carry a rain jacket even in July.
Narrow stone-stepped passages that drop into hidden courtyards and sudden views, the most genuine part of the street.
A crown-shaped tower at the halfway point, free entry with a donation invited, and the famous stone heart on the cobbles outside.
The lower half with the free Museum of Edinburgh and People's Story Museum and the modern Parliament, fewer crowds and fewer souvenir shops.
High Street, Old Town, Edinburgh EH1
Museum of ChildhoodThe man who founded the world's first museum of childhood liked to say he was no1 minute walk4.4
The Real Mary King's CloseBeneath the feet of the crowds on the Royal Mile, and directly under Edinburgh's4 minutes walk4.5
St Giles' CathedralThat stone crown floating over Edinburgh's Old Town is not a tower in the ordina4 minutes walk4.7
Museum of EdinburghEdinburgh's most photographed dog left behind a collar and a feeding bowl, and b5 minutes walk4.5
Nelson MonumentAt one o'clock every afternoon except Sunday, a large metal ball drops from the 6 minutes walk4.7It is not a substitute. The street gives you the whole Old Town for free, but the castle is a different experience with its views and the Scottish crown jewels, and it costs about £23.50 online or £26 at the gate, with timed tickets that sell out in summer. If time or budget is tight, walk the street, go into St Giles' and the free museums, and admire the castle from the esplanade.
You can, but know what you are getting: during the festivals the High Street is so packed with street performers and crowds that a pushchair barely moves and bookings sell out. With small children try before 10am, start at the quieter Canongate end, or choose May or September if the dates are yours to pick.