The Leith waterfront: the docks, Britannia, and the Forth
A royal yacht in a shopping centre, working docks, new-build quays, and the open Forth. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Ocean Terminal
Start at the big waterfront centre, terminus of the new tram line. It's a shopping mall, but the thing it's moored to is a decommissioned royal yacht — Edinburgh's most Edinburgh juxtaposition. Walk straight through to the quay behind.

2. The Royal Yacht Britannia
The Queen's yacht for 44 years and a million sea miles, now permanently berthed and open to walk through, deck by deck. Ticketed, so this is a choice; even from the quay the lines of her are the point. The state apartments are smaller than you'd think.

3. Western Harbour and the breakwater
Head out along the reclaimed land of Western Harbour, all new flats on what was deep water a generation ago. The breakwater walk gives you the open Firth of Forth and, on a clear day, the Fife coast across the water.

4. Newhaven Harbour and lighthouse
The old fishing harbour west of the docks, with its squat stone lighthouse and a fleet that's mostly memory now. The fishwives of Newhaven were once a sight of their own. Quiet, salt-aired, and worth the short detour.

5. Victoria Swing Bridge and the docks
Walk back east to the working edge of Leith Docks — cranes, a swing bridge built in 1874 to let ships into the inner basins, container stacks. Not pretty, exactly, but honest. This is still a port.

6. The Shore
Land at the old heart of the port, where the Water of Leith meets the sea between cobbled quays and 17th-century merchants' houses. Pubs and restaurants line the water; the bus 16 back into the centre leaves from nearby.

The Leith waterfront: the docks, Britannia, and the Forth