The Royal Mile

The Royal Mile is a good focus point for visitors to Edinburgh. The city's oldest street. it leads from Edinburgh Castle at the west end to the Palace of Holyroodhouse at the eastern end. There are many interesting buildings, from all stages of the city's history, from the oldest buildings in Edinburgh to modernist design. Plenty of pubs and cafes cater for varying budgets and tastes, and there are many varied shops to buy souvenirs from tattoos to whisky.

Edinburgh Castle is the oldest part of the city, and the Abbey of Holyrood was founded at a roughly similar time, around the 12th century CE. The stretch of street between them did not develop fully until some years later. Visitors to Edinburgh Castle can learn about defensive architecture in this most inviolate fortress, go inside the Chapel of St Margaret, Edinburgh's oldest building, and visit the Scottish National War Memorial, as well as viewing a range of rooms and exhibitions within the Castle complex.

Moving down the Royal Mile, there are buildings of historical interest on either side. The street is notable for its gabled architecture, which is reminiscent of the squares and terraces of northern Europe. Narrow passages run to the north and south; these are called 'closes'. Most of the closes down the Royal Mile have an interesting history.

The first large junction on the Royal Mile connects Bank Street and George IV Bridge. On the left at the end of Bank Street you will see the headquarters of the Bank of Scotland on the Mound, home of the Museum of Money. On the right, you can see the National Library of Scotland, and slightly behind you, Victoria Street runs down to the Grassmarket.

In front on the left, a statue of David Hume sits resplendent outside the High Court of the Justiciary, while just a little further down on the right, the High Kirk of St Giles towers over Parliament Square. Directly opposite the High Kirk, Advocate's Close still presents one of the city's best preserved tenements. The closes along the Royal Mile were legendary, rising to thirteen and fourteen stories, stretching to north and south down the sharp slopes. In order to maximise the sunlight, particularly on the shady northern side, and to escape the stench of sewage as it dribbled down the closes to the Nor'Loch.

A few doors down on the same side of the road, through the entrance to Warriston's Close, the Real Mary King's Close offers visitors a rare opportunity to see an old close as it would have been, and is a welcome organised and entertaining visitor activity. Mary King's Close is found beneath the City Chambers, which were simply built on top of the old streets. People continued to live in the closed off street for several decades after the council buildings were built on top, and one room was still in use in the early 20th century. The far end of Mary King's Close can be seen on Cockburn Street at the bottom right of the massive rear of the Council Chambers.

Back on the Royal Mile, the pedestal topped by a cross within Parliament Square to the rear of the High Kirk is the old Mercat Cross or Market Cross of Edinburgh, while nearby on the street a heart-shaped pattern of stone commemorates the old Tolbooth of Edinburgh. This is known as the Heart of Midlothian, and it is traditional to spit on the cobbles as you pass. Meanwhile on the northern side of the street, the City Chambers are set behind a colonnade, within which is Edinburgh's cenotaph. The Chambers are built on the site of the house which was Mary Queen of Scots last resting place in Edinburgh after her arrest.

Cockburn Street provides a quick route down into the Waverley Valley from the northern side of the street, and on the left, the elegant Christ Church at the Tron serves as a summer time tourist information centre. The church was once wider, but was curtailed when the land to the east was redeveloped as North Bridge and later South Bridge.

North Bridge crosses the Royal Mile at this point, with a view down to Register House on Princes Street on the left, while South Bridge carries traffic over the Cowgate to the south side.

The next building of note is Moubray House, one of the oldest buildings on the Royal Mile, with original timber box type overhang. Next door is John Knox's house, traditionally associated with the preacher, but in fact nothing to do with him. The famous reputation has probably helped to preserve this house from demolition. It is now part of the Scottish Storytelling Centre.

World's End Close marks the end of the old burgh of Edinburgh, and the beginning of the Canongate. The entrance to the city at this point was known as the Netherbow Port, and the city was virtually impenetrable from this side. The Netherbow Port was removed as a traffic obstruction - the clock which used to adorn it can be seen on the Dean Gallery.

On the left, the distinctive clock tower of the Canongate Tolbooth provides a useful signpost to the People's Story Museum which is now housed in the former prison. The People's Story is a museum with free admission and concentrates on social history and artefacts from throughout Edinburgh's history. Not far further down the Canongate, a statue of the poet Robert Fergusson stands outside Canongate Kirk. He is buried in the churchyard here, and visitors will also find the old Mercat Cross of Canongate.

Jenny Ha's pub proclaims its heritage dating from 1749 from an unlikely modern frontage (a redevelopment of Golfer's Land by Basil Spence), and a number of interesting boutiques can be seen around this point on the walk. Chessels Court, a little further down on the right, was subject to another successful redevelopment by Basil Spence, and its modern colonnaded frontage belies its rich history, while recalling a traditional style of building, in which colonnaded ground level access could be gained to the closes behind..

The concrete expanse of the Scottish Parliament begins to loom at the end of the Canongate, with quotations from Scottish writers inscribed in 'crazy paving' plaques set into the wall, while ahead Abbey Strand and the Queen's Gallery being this ancient street to a fine conclusion.

Behind the facade of the Queen's Gallery, the Palace of Holyroodhouse has been the official royal residence in Edinburgh for centuries, and is built on lands associated with the Abbey of Holyrood, the remains of which can be seen at the back of the Palace grounds.

To the south, Holyrood Park stretches out and up, to Salisbury Crags and Arthur's Seat, while to the north, Calton Road winds its way back along the southern side of Calton Hill into the centre of town and Waverley Station, and Abbeyhill leads on to London Road and beyond.

There's so much to see on the Royal Mile, we couldn't tell you about all of it here.

Click here for a full alphabetical list of Royal Mile places and locations.