The Royal Mile: castle to palace, downhill all the way
The Esplanade, St Giles', the Mercat Cross, and the long descent to Holyroodhouse. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Castle Esplanade
Start at the top, on the parade ground in front of the castle gate. You don't have to pay in — the view back down the spine of the Old Town is free, and best before the coach parties arrive. Then turn your back on the castle and walk downhill.

2. Lawnmarket
The first stretch, where the tall tenement lands lean in over the street. Glance up the closes either side — Gladstone's Land is a restored 17th-century merchant's house if you want one indoor stop. Otherwise just read the close names as you pass; each one is a vanished neighbour.

3. St Giles' Cathedral
The crown spire is the marker for the middle of the Mile. Go in for the Thistle Chapel — a tiny stone-vaulted room with carved stalls, almost always overlooked for the main nave. A small charge for photos; the door itself is free.

4. Mercat Cross
Just east of St Giles', the cross where royal proclamations are still read aloud — a new monarch is announced here days after London. A heart of cobbles set into the street nearby marks the old Tolbooth prison; locals spit on it for luck. You can skip the spitting.

5. Canongate Tolbooth
Past the World's End — the pub at the line of the old city wall, beyond which lay another burgh entirely — the street widens into the Canongate. The Tolbooth's projecting clock is the landmark; The People's Story museum inside is free and quietly good on ordinary Edinburgh lives.

6. Palace of Holyroodhouse
The Mile lands at the palace gates, with the green flank of Arthur's Seat rising straight behind. The King's official Scottish residence; the ruined abbey beside it is the better part if you go in. Buses back to the centre run from Canongate, or walk the loop up the crags if your legs have it.

The Royal Mile: castle to palace, downhill all the way