Cliffs, lochs, ruins and a village pub — and then the city at the bottom of the hill.
Holyrood Park packs a remarkable amount into 260 hectares: a summit, a line of cliffs, three lochs, four prehistoric forts, a medieval chapel and a village. All of it is free, and almost all of it can be linked on foot in a single day.
We have grouped the places below into three: those in the park, those at the foot of the hill around Holyrood, and the Edinburgh sights nearby that most visitors combine with the climb.
In Holyrood Park The 251-metre top of Edinburgh
The rocky crown of an extinct volcano and the highest point in Edinburgh: 251 metres above the sea, a mile from the Royal Mile, with a 360-degree view from the castle to the Forth bridges, Fife and the Pentland Hills. It is free, open at all hours and takes most people between 30 and 60 minutes to climb.
In Holyrood Park The cliffs where geology began
A curving wall of dark dolerite cliffs, up to 46 metres high, facing the Old Town. The Radical Road runs along their foot, the best skyline view of Edinburgh runs along their top, and at Hutton’s Section the 18th-century scientist James Hutton found evidence that changed how we understand the age of the Earth.
In Holyrood Park A medieval ruin above the swans
The gaunt remains of a 15th-century chapel on a rocky shelf above St Margaret’s Loch, ten minutes from Holyrood Palace. Nobody is quite sure who built it or why, which is part of its charm. With the swans on the loch below and the Forth beyond, it is the best short walk in the park.
In Holyrood Park The easy way to the top
A small loch tucked high on the east side of the park, beneath Dunsapie Crag and its Iron Age fort. From here the summit is only about 130 metres above you up a broad grassy slope — the shortest and gentlest route up Arthur’s Seat, and the quietest corner of the park.
In Holyrood Park A country village and a very old pub
On the far side of the hill lies a village that still feels like the countryside: a 12th-century kirk, a reed-fringed loch that is a bird sanctuary, a secret garden, and the Sheep Heid Inn — which claims a history going back to 1360 and has a good case for being Scotland’s oldest surviving pub.
At the foot of the hill The King’s house at the foot of the hill
The monarch’s official residence in Scotland, at the bottom of the Royal Mile and directly beneath Arthur’s Seat. Visit the State Apartments, the chambers of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the roofless nave of Holyrood Abbey, founded in 1128 — the abbey that gave the park its name.
At the foot of the hill Modern Holyrood, beneath the crags
Two striking modern buildings stand where the city meets the park. The Scottish Parliament, opened in 2004, is free to enter and one of the most debated buildings in Britain. Next door, under a white tented roof, Dynamic Earth tells the story of the planet — fittingly, at the foot of the cliffs where modern geology began.
Edinburgh nearby From the castle down to the hill
The spine of the Old Town runs downhill for a little over a mile from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace — and so ends exactly where the paths up Arthur’s Seat begin. Along the way are St Giles’ Cathedral, dozens of narrow closes, small free museums and the Canongate Kirk.
Edinburgh nearby The city’s other volcano
Castle Rock is a volcanic plug of much the same age as Arthur’s Seat, and the fortress on top of it is Scotland’s most visited paid attraction. Inside are the Honours of Scotland, the tiny 12th-century St Margaret’s Chapel, the giant cannon Mons Meg and the One o’Clock Gun.
Edinburgh nearby The five-minute viewpoint
If Arthur’s Seat is the big climb, Calton Hill is the easy one: a few minutes up steps from the east end of Princes Street to a hilltop scattered with monuments, including an unfinished Greek temple. It also gives the best view of Arthur’s Seat itself, and hosts the Beltane Fire Festival each 30 April.
Edinburgh nearby Home of the Arthur’s Seat coffins
In 1836 a group of boys found seventeen miniature coffins, each holding a carved wooden figure, hidden in a cave on Arthur’s Seat. The eight that survive are on display here, still unexplained, in one of Britain’s finest free museums — along with Dolly the sheep, the Lewis chessmen and a rooftop view back to the hill.
Edinburgh nearby Edinburgh after the hill
When the light goes on Arthur’s Seat, the Old Town takes over: the vaults beneath the South Bridge, the buried streets of Mary King’s Close, Greyfriars Kirkyard, and curving Victoria Street — said to have inspired Diagon Alley. Ghost tours and Harry Potter walks run daily and are among the most popular things to do in the city.
Start at Holyrood by nine. Walk to St Anthony’s Chapel, climb to the summit, and descend east to Dunsapie Loch and down Jacob’s Ladder to Duddingston for lunch at the Sheep Heid Inn. Walk back beneath Samson’s Ribs or through Hunter’s Bog, take in the view from Salisbury Crags, and finish at the palace. That is about 9 km and a full, unhurried day.
Prefer company? See our pick of guided hikes and tours.
Arthur’s Seat rises straight from the foot of the Royal Mile. Pair the climb with a guided hike, Holyrood Palace, an Old Town walk or a whisky tasting — compare and book in a couple of taps.
