Edinburgh’s Royal Mile is one of the most dramatic urban streets in Europe — a spine of volcanic basalt descending from a Norman castle perched on a 340-million-year-old volcanic plug to a royal palace at the foot of an extinct volcano, with medieval closes and wynds branching off every few metres. This post accompanies the YouTube walking tour “Edinburgh’s Historic Old Town | Walking The Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle — Scotland Walk in 4K,” a recent high-quality tour of this iconic route. It is the essential companion to your edinburgh walking tour.
About This Walking Tour
This 4K Scotland walk covers the Royal Mile from its lower end near Holyrood Palace up through the Old Town to Edinburgh Castle. The video captures the character of the historic street — the tall, densely packed stone tenements that give it such an enclosed, theatrical quality, the entries to the closes (narrow alleyways) that branch off on either side, and the views up and down the slope that make Edinburgh so visually distinctive among British cities. The walk passes St Giles’ Cathedral (the High Kirk of Edinburgh, with its distinctive crown steeple), the Scottish Parliament building completed in 2004, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official Scottish residence of the British monarch.
The route covers the full length of the Royal Mile — approximately 1.8 kilometres including the castle esplanade — moving through the historic districts of Castlehill, Lawnmarket, the High Street, Canongate, and Holyrood. Each section has its own distinct character, from the tourist souvenir shops of the upper Lawnmarket to the more residential quality of the Canongate.
Highlights of the Royal Mile
Edinburgh Castle sits on Castle Rock, a volcanic plug from an extinct volcano that erupted approximately 340 million years ago. The castle has been fortified since at least the 12th century and houses the Stone of Destiny (on which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned) and the Scottish Crown Jewels — the oldest surviving crown jewels in the British Isles. The One O’Clock Gun has been fired from the castle every weekday at 1 PM since 1861. St Giles’ Cathedral has been the High Kirk of Edinburgh since the Protestant Reformation; the elaborate Thistle Chapel inside (1911) contains the stalls of the Knights of the Thistle, Scotland’s highest order of chivalry. Mary King’s Close, beneath the Royal Mile buildings near the City Chambers, is a preserved section of the medieval city abandoned after the plague of 1645; it is now a visitor attraction. The Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official Scottish residence of the monarch, was built in its current form in the 1670s on the site of an Augustinian abbey founded in 1128. Mary Queen of Scots lived here; the murder of her secretary David Rizzio in her apartments in 1566 is one of Scotland’s most dramatic historical events.
A Brief History of Edinburgh’s Old Town
Edinburgh’s Old Town grew along the volcanic ridge between the Castle and Holyrood from at least the 12th century. The building of the Royal Mile was determined by geology — the soft shale on either side of the ridge eroded away, leaving the hard volcanic basalt as a natural elevated platform. The city’s medieval character was preserved by the Union of the Parliaments in 1707, which removed political impetus for modernisation, and the New Town built across the valley to the north from 1766 onward provided expansion space without requiring demolition of the Old Town. The Scottish Parliament, devolved from Westminster in 1999, returned to Edinburgh after 292 years; its controversial new building at the foot of the Royal Mile, designed by Enric Miralles, opened in 2004.
Practical Tips
Edinburgh is in the GMT time zone (UTC+0, summer UTC+1). The currency is pound sterling; English and Scots are spoken (some Gaelic signage). Waverley train station is the main arrival point; the Royal Mile begins a short uphill walk from the station. The walk from Holyrood to the Castle is uphill throughout; comfortable footwear is essential. Edinburgh Castle requires advance booking, particularly in August during the Festival. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August is the world’s largest arts festival and transforms the city — accommodation books up months in advance.
Watch & Explore More
Watch the 4K video above for a thorough preview of the full Royal Mile route before your visit. More walking content at @walkingtoursvideoscom. Also see London: Tower Bridge to Westminster and Dublin: Temple Bar to Phoenix Park.