Old Town: the closes and wynds off the Mile
The steep alleys the Royal Mile hides — Advocate's Close, Riddle's Court, the vennels to the Cowgate. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Advocate's Close
Come up from the New Town and find this close on the north side of the Mile, near the cathedral. It drops in stone steps toward Cockburn Street, and partway down the city opens out — the spire of the Scott Monument framed between black walls. The best view in the Old Town that nobody queues for.

2. Real Mary King's Close
The Royal Exchange was built straight over a warren of closes in the 1750s, sealing them underground intact. The tour beneath the City Chambers is the only way in, and it's genuinely strange. You don't have to book the tour — just stand on Warriston's Close outside and know the old street is under your feet.

3. Riddle's Court
Through a low pend off the Lawnmarket into a courtyard most people walk straight past. A 1590s merchant's house where James VI once dined; later the home of Patrick Geddes, the planner who saved the Old Town from demolition. Step into the court even if the building's shut — the quiet is the point.

4. Lady Stair's Close
A few doors east, the close opens into a small square and the Writers' Museum — Burns, Scott, and Stevenson, free to enter. The paving outside is set with quotations underfoot. Read a few; it's the rare literary monument you can scuff your shoes on.

5. The vennels to the Cowgate
Now go down. South off the Mile, the wynds plunge toward the Cowgate canyon below — narrow, stepped, often empty. Fishmarket Close or Old Fishmarket Close will do it. Watch your footing on the worn setts; this is the Old Town's vertical drop, not a stroll.

6. Castle Esplanade
Climb back up the far side and finish at the top of the Mile, on the Esplanade. After an hour in the shadowed closes the open parade ground and the long view back down feel earned. Trams and Waverley are a downhill walk away when you're done.

Old Town: the closes and wynds off the Mile