One day in EdinburghFrom volcano to graveyard
Start around nine on Victoria Street, while it's still quiet, with “From Victoria Street to Calton Hill”: the Mound, the Scott Monument and the climb up Calton Hill, which has the best view of the Old Town. Then head down to the Canongate for a bowl of cullen skink at the Tolbooth Tavern. In the afternoon, walk up to the castle esplanade for “The Royal Mile: from castle to palace”, past St Giles' and John Knox House down to Holyroodhouse. Towards dusk, go back up to the High Street for “Bodysnatchers, ghosts and a faithful dog”, which ends by the Grassmarket: haggis for dinner at the White Hart Inn.
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Morning
From Victoria Street to Calton Hill: Edinburgh's highlights
- Victoria StreetA curving street of painted shopfronts, built in the 19th century to tame an impossible slope, which half the world associates with Diagon Alley.
- The Mound and the National GalleryA whole hill made from the earth left over from building the New Town, crowned by two Greek temples full of art.
- Scott MonumentThe largest monument in the world to a writer was designed by a self-taught joiner who drowned before he could see it finished.
- The Balmoral HotelA clock that lies on purpose, a railway hotel turned landmark and the room where the Harry Potter saga came to an end.
- Old Calton Burial GroundIn this small graveyard lies the great sceptical philosopher of the Enlightenment, watched over by a statue of Abraham Lincoln.
- Calton HillA Parthenon left half-built, a stone telescope and the view that shows you why Edinburgh is a World Heritage Site.
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Lunch
Try Cullen skink at Tolbooth Tavern. 167 Canongate
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Afternoon
The Royal Mile: from castle to palace
- Edinburgh CastleA fortress on an extinct volcano that has been royal residence, prison, barracks and keeper of Scotland's Crown Jewels.
- St Giles' CathedralThe mother church of the Scottish Reformation, where John Knox preached and where, so the story goes, a flying stool sparked a revolution.
- John Knox HouseThe best-preserved medieval house on the Royal Mile belonged to Mary Queen of Scots' goldsmith, yet bears the name of her fiercest enemy.
- The Canongate: Tolbooth and KirkFor seven centuries this was a separate town, with its own council house, its own jail and a church born of a royal decision.
- Scottish ParliamentScotland went nearly three centuries without a Parliament; when it got one back, it asked an architect from Barcelona to build its home.
- Palace of HolyroodhouseThe monarch's official residence in Scotland, where Mary Queen of Scots watched her secretary being dragged off to his death.
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Early evening
Bodysnatchers, ghosts and a faithful dog
- Mary King's CloseBeneath Edinburgh's City Chambers lie buried 17th-century streets, and on top of them has grown one of Scotland's most famous collections of legends.
- Deacon BrodieBy day a respectable cabinetmaker and councillor; by night a burglar raiding the very houses whose locks he fitted. His double life inspired Jekyll and Hyde.
- Greyfriars BobbyA little terrier who, so the story goes, kept watch over his master's grave for fourteen years and became Scotland's most famous dog.
- Greyfriars KirkyardHere the National Covenant was signed, here twelve hundred prisoners were held in the open air, and here lies the man legend has turned into a poltergeist.
- GrassmarketThe Old Town's liveliest square was for centuries its place of execution: here a woman survived the gallows and a mob lynched a captain.
- West Port: Burke and HareOn this street lived Scotland's most notorious murderers, who killed sixteen people to sell their bodies to an anatomist.
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Dinner
Try Haggis, neeps & tatties at The White Hart Inn. 34 Grassmarket