“I thought we were done climbing hills!”  -Mike

Our train tickets were good for any train going to Edinburgh that day. I’d planned on the 10:39 train because it fit our logistics the best. Mike is antsy on travel days, so we gave ourselves extra time to walk to the station and collect our pre-booked tickets from a machine there. So early, it turns out, that we made the 10:03 train!

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland (since the 1400s) and like other places in Europe, has a deep history.  The earliest signs of human occupation in the area go back as far as 8500 B.C.  The Romans showed up in the first century A.D.  The region seemed to change hands many times, but the first recognition of the growing city was when King David I gave it a Royal Charter sometime in the 1120s.  

Our hotel in Edinburgh was a short walk from the train station. I picked it for that reason and also because it was somewhat centrally located for wandering in different directions while we were there.  It was just a few blocks off of the Royal Mile.  The Royal Mile is the center of Edinburgh’s Old Town area.  It runs between the castle at one end and the Palace of Holyrood House at the other.  The area around the Royal Mile is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.   

I’d booked tickets for the castle the day we arrived because our friend Yvonne was meeting up with us the next day and she’s been to Edinburgh Castle.  Once we’d sorted out checking in and dropping our bags, it was off for lunch and then UPHILL (surprise!) to the castle. We wanted to walk along the Royal Mile on the way.  It was packed with tourists (including us).  It wasn’t until we made it all the way to the castle ticket office that we found out that they’d closed the castle for the day due to high winds. I can attest that it was incredibly blustery.  We walked into a gift shop later and I told the cashier in there that I now had a new hairstyle after being outside in that!

Unfortunately, we never made it back to the castle.  These days you pretty much need to book a touring time/ticket on line and the times/days that were available during our visit didn’t work out for us.  It is a good reason to go back.  I’d love to see it someday.

At loose ends, we picked up a domestic task…I needed a new charger for my phone, so we went in search of the Apple Store. We took a side street to escape the Royal Mile crowds and let our phones tell us where to go from there.  The store was on Princes Street, which is the most popular shopping street in Edinburgh. The street is on the edge of what is known as the New Town area.  New Town was built in stages between 1767 and1850.  Much of the original architecture still exists.   On the way to the store, we took pictures of things that caught our eyes.

The buildings in the background (below) are all on or near the Royal Mile.  

A memorial for soldiers who were wounded or died in the South African War (1899-1902).

Princes Street is bordered by a park on one side, with the stores on the other.  This is a monument to Sir Walter Scott, the author.  It was dedicated in 1846.  

All of the shops, cafes and other businesses were on the other side of the street. 

I had told Mike that I wanted to get up early the next morning and walk the Royal Mile again in hopes that most of the other tourists were having a lazy morning and wouldn’t be out yet. Both Mike and I are uncomfortable in crowded conditions and our first trip along the High Street/Royal Mile yesterday was certainly uncomfortable.

It was a good choice….other than early morning apparently being prime time for delivery and garbage trucks, along with other various activities to prepare for another day of entertaining tourists.  Even with the extra truck noise, it was definitely a good choice for us.  Blissfully uncrowded.

All along the Royal Mile are these “cut throughs”.  These alleyways provide easy access between streets and lead to courtyards and work spaces.  

This is a picture looking toward Carlton Hill -we didn’t get there to see it close up.  The tower to the left in the picture is a monument to Admiral Nelson.  The castle-like structure is called the Governor’s House and it was actually built in the 1800s to be a jail/prison.  It was in use until 1927.  

At one time there were several public wells along the Royal Mile -which is where people got their water before modern plumbing arrived.

There was construction near the castle.  I’d hoped to be able to get closer than this to get a photo, but there were people making sure that no one went past this point.

We went down a side road/staircase and I got a picture from the side.

A side road off the Royal Mile.  

We walked down it and realized that it ended where you see the railings in the above picture.  Those railings were for the stairs down to the road below.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but the road below was Victoria Street – a popular tourist spot.  We did walk through it a couple of days later.

Though not entirely correct, the house roughly next to the car in this photo is said to be the house of John Knox.  He was a prominent minister & theologian He led the Protestant Reformation movement in Scotland in the mid 1500s.

Yvonne had arrived in Edinburgh late last night and stayed out by the airport.  The plan was that she’d meet us at our hotel just before noon.  We went back to the hotel and she was already there waiting for us.  It was wonderful to see her.  Our first order of business was finding lunch.  We went to the Tolbooth Tavern.  It has operated as a tavern since 1820.  However, the building it is in was built in 1591.  

After lunch we decided we’d go to the opposite end of the Royal Mile/High Street from the castle toward the Holyrood Palace and Arthur’s Seat. 

Arthur’s Seat is a volcanic formation and part of a huge park just past the Holyrood Palace.  I confess to being a bit surprised that a good many other people were interested in climbing the climb. As it turns out – just when we thought we were done with the “ups and downs” that the Coast Path had delivered, we ended up climbing the biggest hill so far on this trip. The conditions were quite similar too. There was only a rough path up, up, up.   822 feet to be exact. 

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Not there yet -notice the people standing higher up on the right where the blue sky and green touch.

Mike and I stopped just before the “peak” because the actual peak was quite small and was already thronged with people.  It just didn’t seem like a good plan to go any further.  Stalwart Yvonne couldn’t let herself climb as far as we did and not stand at the tippy top.  Really nice views from up there.

There is no specific trail to the top, so on the way down, we got to a point where we could descend down a big grassy hill.  We’d had enough of the rock/dirt path. We reached ground level by this little lake.

We ended up taking a longer circular walking path to get back to town.  We passed the Palace of Holyroodhouse going both ways.  On the way back, I took pictures.

One of the side gates.

I had to stick my phone through the gate in front to get this picture.  The Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official residence of the British monarchy in Scotland.  Every summer, King Charles II stays here for 1 week to take care of official duties in Scotland.  In 1128, an abbey was founded at this location.  At the beginning of the 1500s, King James IV built a palace next to the abbey.  The abbey fell into ruins in the 1700s.  

We ended up walking about 8 miles that afternoon! As Yvonne said…”Oh, you walk more than you think in the big cities!”

Categories: Edinburgh - Part 1, Scotland -2025