Duddingston village & the loch
A village under Arthur's Seat — Scotland's oldest pub, a medieval kirk, and a loch full of birds. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. The Causeway
The old village street, low and curving under the bulk of Arthur's Seat. Start here and you're immediately somewhere that doesn't feel like a city at all. Walk it slowly; the village is tiny and the point is to slow right down.

2. The Sheep Heid Inn
Said to be Scotland's oldest pub, with a licence claimed back to 1360 and a skittle alley out the back. You don't have to drink to look in, but a pint in the courtyard after the loch is the natural end of this walk. Check the kitchen hours.

3. Duddingston Kirk
The twelfth-century parish church above the loch, with a Norman doorway and, at the gate, the old jougs (an iron neck-collar) and the loupin'-on-stane for mounting a horse. Step into the kirkyard; the view down to the water is the reason it was built here.

4. Dr Neil's Garden
A secret physic garden tumbling down to the loch behind the kirk, made by two doctors from a rough hillside. It's free and quietly run by volunteers. Sit on the Thomson's Tower terrace; almost nobody finds this place.

5. Duddingston Loch & the bird reserve
The loch is a nature reserve, thick with reeds and waterfowl, ringed by Holyrood Park. Walk the shore path and watch for herons and grebes. Raeburn painted a minister skating here; on a still afternoon you can see why.

6. Hangman's Crag / Queen's Drive
Climb a little onto the park road above the loch for the view back over the water to the village and the crags. This is the postcard angle. Then drop back down the Causeway to the Sheep Heid and that pint.

Duddingston village & the loch