Edinburgh Royal Mile

The Royal Mile, Edinburgh

Mary Queen of Scots’ secretary David Rizzio was stabbed 56 times in the supper room at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in 1566, pulled away from the queen, who was six months pregnant, by a group of Protestant Scottish nobles led by her own husband. A brass plaque marks the spot. The Scottish Parliament building is a few minutes further down the street; the debates inside it have been quieter but not always less dramatic.

The Royal Mile is not a single street but a connected sequence running downhill for roughly one mile from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Top to bottom: Castlehill, Lawnmarket, High Street, Canongate. The street is the spine of Edinburgh’s Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it’s genuinely historic in ways that aren’t just marketing, people have lived and worked on this route for nearly a thousand years.

In August it becomes the main venue for Edinburgh Festival Fringe performers doing street shows and handing out flyers. At any other time of year, it’s busy but navigable.

Edinburgh Castle

The castle at the top of the Mile sits on Castle Rock, a volcanic plug, and dominates the skyline from most of the city. Tickets are around £19.50 for adults. The Crown Jewels of Scotland, which include the Honours of Scotland (crown, sceptre, sword), all predating the more famous English Crown Jewels, are inside. The Stone of Destiny, returned from Westminster in 1996, is also on display. The One O’Clock Gun fires Monday through Saturday at 13:00. The queue for the castle can be long in summer; book online.

St Giles’ Cathedral

About halfway down the Mile on the High Street, St Giles’ has been a church on this site since the 12th century, though most of the current structure dates from the 14th-15th centuries. Entry is free. The Thistle Chapel inside is exceptional, an elaborately carved private chapel built in 1911 for the Order of the Thistle, with individual stalls for each knight. Easily missed by people who just walk through the nave.

Canongate and the Palace

The lower section, Canongate, was historically a separate burgh from Edinburgh. The Canongate Kirk (free entry) has a churchyard containing the grave of Adam Smith, economist, whose headstone is surprisingly modest. The Scottish Parliament building at the foot of the Mile, opened in 2004 and designed by Enric Miralles, is polarising architecturally but has free public tours and a good restaurant.

Holyroodhouse is the official Scottish residence of the monarch. Tours cost around £18 and include the historic state apartments where Mary Queen of Scots lived. The murder of her secretary Rizzio happened in the palace in 1566, a brass plaque marks the spot.

Closes and Wynds

The closes (narrow alleys running off the Mile) are worth exploring. Mary King’s Close, underneath the Royal Mile, is an excavated 17th-century alleyway now open for guided tours. Entry is around £18.50 and the tour is good value. Riddle’s Court, Brodie’s Close, and White Horse Close in Canongate are notable examples of the courtyards that were once home to Edinburgh’s tenement buildings.

Eating

The Witchery by the Castle, in a 16th-century building immediately below the castle, is theatrical and expensive, steak, game, and Scottish seafood in a room full of oak panelling and Gothic embellishment. For something cheaper, Amber Restaurant at the Scotch Whisky Experience on Castlehill does good Scottish cooking and can guide you through whisky pairing. The Holyrood 9A in nearby St Mary’s Street is probably the best pub for food in the immediate area.

Where to Stay

The Mile itself has several hotels. The Inn on the Mile is a restored bank building with good rooms. Radisson Collection Hotel in the Royal Mile is the upscale option. For something more atmospheric, self-catering apartments in the closes off the Mile are available and well-positioned.