Blackford Hill is the view Edinburgh keeps for its south side: a whaleback of gorse and rough grass with the old observatory on its shoulder, and a green wooded glen folded in below it. One walk gives you both — the high open top and the cool of the burn — which is more than most hills manage.
About four and a half kilometres, best on a clear afternoon. From the Charterhall Road gate, climb past the copper domes of the Royal Observatory, up here since 1896 for the darker skies, and on to the trig point at the summit. The castle and the Old Town line up to the north; turn round and the Pentlands fill the south. It's the view back at the city that people come for, and it earns it.
Then down the far slope to Blackford Pond, and west into the Hermitage of Braid, where the Braid Burn runs under beeches and the open hill is suddenly forgotten. Follow the water downstream past the old doocot to the Comiston Road end, where the bus takes you back into town.
