Calton Hill: the monuments and the view
The unfinished Parthenon, Nelson's telescope tower, and the whole city laid out below. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. The stairs from Waterloo Place
Go up the stone stair beside the old Royal High School rather than the long road. It's steep but short, and it tips you straight onto the summit plateau. The climb is the only effort the whole walk asks of you.

2. Dugald Stewart Monument
The little circular Greek temple on the west edge — and the spot every photograph of Edinburgh is taken from, because it frames the Old Town and the castle perfectly. Get here for the last light; the stone goes warm and the crowd thins after sunset.

3. National Monument of Scotland
Twelve Doric columns and no roof — a copy of the Parthenon begun in 1826 as a war memorial, then abandoned when the money ran out in 1829. Edinburgers nicknamed it 'the Disgrace.' Climb up between the columns; the half-finished grandeur is better than any finished thing.

4. Nelson Monument
The upturned-telescope tower built after Trafalgar. A white time-ball still drops from the mast at one o'clock, paired with the gun from the castle. Climb it for the highest view if it's open, or just circle the base — the hill itself is high enough.

5. The view to the Firth of Forth
Walk to the north and east rails. Leith and the docks below, the Forth opening out, Fife across the water, and on a clear evening the bridges to the west. This is the cheap seat for the best panorama in the city; sit on the grass and stay a while.

6. Old Calton Burial Ground
On the way down, slip into the graveyard off Waterloo Place — David Hume's drum-shaped tomb by Robert Adam, and a monument to Scottish-American soldiers with a statue of Lincoln. A quiet, strange coda before Waverley and the train.

Calton Hill: the monuments and the view