Self-guided Sightseeing Tour #6 in City of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Legend

Churches & Art
Nature
Water & Wind
Historical
Heritage & Space
Tourism
Paid Tours & Activities

Tour Facts

Number of sights 30 sights
Distance 14.1 km
Ascend 468 m
Descend 583 m

Experience City of Edinburgh in United Kingdom in a whole new way with our self-guided sightseeing tour. This site not only offers you practical information and insider tips, but also a rich variety of activities and sights you shouldn't miss. Whether you love art and culture, want to explore historical sites or simply want to experience the vibrant atmosphere of a lively city - you'll find everything you need for your personal adventure here.

Activities in City of EdinburghIndividual Sights in City of Edinburgh

Sight 1: Holyrood Park

Show sight on map

Holyrood Park is a royal park in central Edinburgh, Scotland about 1 mile to the east of Edinburgh Castle. It is open to the public. It has an array of hills, lochs, glens, ridges, basalt cliffs, and patches of gorse, providing a wild piece of highland landscape within its 650-acre (260 ha) area. The park is associated with the Palace of Holyroodhouse and was formerly a royal hunting estate. The park was created in 1541 when James V had the ground "circulit about Arthurs Sett, Salisborie and Duddingston craggis" enclosed by a stone wall.

Wikipedia: Holyrood Park (EN), Website

1494 meters / 18 minutes

Sight 2: The King's Gallery

Show sight on map
The King's Gallery

The King's Gallery, previously known as the Queen's Gallery. is an art gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland. It forms part of the Palace of Holyroodhouse complex. It was opened in 2002 by Queen Elizabeth II, and exhibits works from the Royal Collection.

Wikipedia: King's Gallery, Edinburgh (EN)

452 meters / 5 minutes

Sight 3: Canongate Kirk

Show sight on map

The Kirk of the Canongate, or Canongate Kirk, serves the Parish of Canongate in Edinburgh's Old Town, in Scotland. It is a congregation of the Church of Scotland. The parish includes the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Scottish Parliament. It is also the parish church of Edinburgh Castle, even though the castle is detached from the rest of the parish. The wedding of Zara Phillips, the Queen's granddaughter, and former England rugby captain Mike Tindall took place at the church on 30 July 2011. The late Queen Elizabeth II used to attend services in the church on some of her frequent visits to Edinburgh.

Wikipedia: Canongate Kirk (EN), Website

447 meters / 5 minutes

Sight 4: John Knox House

Show sight on map

John Knox House, popularly known as John Knox's House, is a historic house in Edinburgh, Scotland, reputed to have been owned and lived in by Protestant reformer John Knox during the 16th century. Although his name became associated with the house, he appears to have lived in Warriston Close where a plaque indicates the approximate site of his actual residence.

Wikipedia: John Knox House (EN), Website

60 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 5: Carrubbers Christian Centre

Show sight on map

Carrubbers Christian Centre is a church on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Wikipedia: Carrubbers Christian Centre (EN), Website

58 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 6: Museum of Childhood

Show sight on map
Museum of Childhood Kjetil Bjørnsrud / CC BY 2.5

The Museum of Childhood is a museum which houses a collection of children's toys and playthings, situated on the Royal Mile, in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the first museum in the world to specialise in the history of childhood.

Wikipedia: Museum of Childhood (Edinburgh) (EN), Website

196 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 7: Old Saint Paul's

Show sight on map

Old Saint Paul's is an historic church of the Scottish Episcopal Church in the heart of Edinburgh's Old Town in Scotland. It is one of the original congregations of the Scottish Episcopal Church, part of the Anglican Communion, which evolved with the adoption of Presbyterian governance by the established Church of Scotland.

Wikipedia: Old St Paul's, Edinburgh (EN)

198 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 8: Fruitmarket

Show sight on map

The Fruitmarket Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Wikipedia: Fruitmarket Gallery (EN), Website, Instagram

86 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 9: City Art Centre

Show sight on map

The City Art Centre is part of the Museums & Galleries Edinburgh, which sits under the Culture directorate of the City of Edinburgh Council. The City Art Centre has a collection which include historic and modern Scottish painting and photography, as well as contemporary art and craft. It is an exhibition based venue with no permanent displays.

Wikipedia: City Art Centre (EN), Website

260 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 10: The Mercat Cross

Show sight on mapJoin Free Tour*

The Mercat Cross of Edinburgh is a market cross, which stands in Parliament Square next to St Giles' Cathedral, facing the High Street in the Old Town of Edinburgh.

Wikipedia: Mercat Cross, Edinburgh (EN)

383 meters / 5 minutes

Sight 11: Augustine United Church

Show sight on map

Augustine United Church is a United Reformed Church in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is in a local ecumenical partnership with St Columba's-by-the-Castle and Greyfriars Tolbooth and Highland Kirk.

Wikipedia: Augustine United Church (EN), Website

857 meters / 10 minutes

Sight 12: Castle Terrace

Show sight on map

Castle Terrace Car Park is a car park in Edinburgh in the brutalist style which was designated as a listed building in October 2019.

Wikipedia: Castle Terrace Car Park (EN), Website, Heritage Website

145 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 13: National War Museum

Show sight on map

The National War Museum is a museum dedicated to warfare, which is located inside Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. Opened in 1933 in a converted 18th-century ordnance storehouse, the museum is run by the National Museums Scotland and covers 400 years of Scotland at war from the 17th century through permanent exhibits and special exhibitions.

Wikipedia: National War Museum (EN), Website

703 meters / 8 minutes

Sight 14: Charlotte Chapel

Show sight on map
Charlotte ChapelReading Tom from Reading, UK / CC BY 2.0

Charlotte Chapel is an evangelical Baptist church located in Shandwick Place, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is affiliated with the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches and the Pillar Network.

Wikipedia: Charlotte Chapel (Edinburgh) (EN), Website

833 meters / 10 minutes

Sight 15: Heart Of Midlothian War Memorial

Show sight on map

Haymarket is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is in the west of the city centre and is the junction of several main roads, notably Dalry Road, Corstorphine Road, and Shandwick Place. Haymarket contains a number of pubs, cafés and restaurants.

Wikipedia: Haymarket, Edinburgh (EN)

1152 meters / 14 minutes

Sight 16: Edinburgh Castle

Show sight on mapJoin Free Tour*

Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of Malcolm III in the 11th century, and the castle continued to be a royal residence until 1633. From the 15th century, the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as a military garrison. Its importance as a part of Scotland's national heritage was recognised increasingly from the early 19th century onwards, and various restoration programmes have been carried out over the past century and a half.

Wikipedia: Edinburgh Castle (EN), Website

77 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 17: Castle Rock

Show sight on map

Castle Rock is a volcanic plug in the middle of Edinburgh upon which Edinburgh Castle sits. The rock is estimated to have formed some 350 million years ago during the early Carboniferous period. It is the remains of a volcanic pipe which cut through the surrounding sedimentary rock, before cooling to form very hard dolerite, a coarser-grained equivalent of basalt. Subsequent glacial erosion was resisted more by the dolerite, which protected the softer rock to the east, leaving a crag and tail formation.

Wikipedia: Castle Rock (Edinburgh) (EN)

444 meters / 5 minutes

Sight 18: Mons Meg

Show sight on mapJoin Free Tour*
Mons Meg

Mons Meg is a medieval bombard in the collection of the Royal Armouries, on loan to Historic Environment Scotland and located at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. It has a barrel diameter of 20 inches (510 mm), making it one of the largest cannons in the world by calibre.

Wikipedia: Mons Meg (EN)

258 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 19: Camera Obscura & World of Illusions

Show sight on map

Camera Obscura & World of Illusions is a tourist attraction located in Outlook Tower on the Castlehill section of the Royal Mile close to Edinburgh Castle. The original attraction was founded by entrepreneur Maria Theresa Short in 1835 and was exhibited on Calton Hill. Outlook Tower has been a museum since the late 1890s and is currently home to many interactive exhibits, including the original Camera Obscura.

Wikipedia: Camera Obscura, Edinburgh (EN), Website

137 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 20: General Assembly Hall

Show sight on map

The Assembly Hall is located between Castlehill and Mound Place in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the meeting place of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

Wikipedia: General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland (EN)

236 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 21: Heart of Midlothian

Show sight on mapJoin Free Tour*

The Heart of Midlothian is a mosaic located outside St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh. The heart marks the location of the entrance to Edinburgh's Old Tolbooth which was demolished in 1817. Locals will often spit upon the heart as a sign of good luck. While the tradition is now one of good luck, it was originally believed to be done as a sign of disdain for the executions which took place within the Old Tolbooth.

Wikipedia: Heart of Midlothian (Royal Mile) (EN)

321 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 22: Museum on the Mound

Show sight on map
Museum on the Mound Pjt56 --- If you use the picture outside Wikipedia I would appreciate a short e-mail to pjt56@gmx.net or a message on my discussion page / CC BY-SA 4.0

The Museum on the Mound is a museum in Edinburgh, Scotland, that focuses on money, coinage and economics. It is located in the Bank of Scotland Head Office building on The Mound. It has more than 50,000 visitors per year.

Wikipedia: Museum on the Mound (EN), Website

672 meters / 8 minutes

Sight 23: Assembly Rooms

Show sight on map

The Assembly Rooms are meeting halls in central Edinburgh, Scotland. Originally solely a meeting place for social gatherings, it is now also used as an arts venue and for public events, including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Hogmanay celebrations. There are four rooms, with moveable chairs or tables, that are used year-round and are available for private functions: Music Hall, Ballroom, Supper Room and Edinburgh Suite.

Wikipedia: Assembly Rooms (Edinburgh) (EN)

288 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 24: New Town Church

Show sight on map
New Town ChurchKilnburn 20:59, 18 June 2009 (UTC) / Attribution

Edinburgh: The New Town Church of Scotland serves Edinburgh's New Town, in Scotland. It is a congregation of the Church of Scotland, formed on 1 February 2024 by the union of St Andrew's & St George's West and Greenside Church.

Wikipedia: Edinburgh: New Town Church (EN), Website

1614 meters / 19 minutes

Sight 25: Dugald Stewart Monument

Show sight on map

The Dugald Stewart Monument is a memorial to the Scottish philosopher Dugald Stewart (1753–1828). It is situated on Calton Hill overlooking the city of Edinburgh and was designed by Scottish architect William Henry Playfair.

Wikipedia: Dugald Stewart Monument (EN)

176 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 26: National Monument of Scotland

Show sight on map

The National Monument of Scotland, on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, is Scotland's national memorial to the Scottish soldiers and sailors who died fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. It was intended, according to the inscription, to be "A Memorial of the Past and Incentive to the Future Heroism of the Men of Scotland".

Wikipedia: National Monument of Scotland (EN)

58 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 27: Nelson Monument

Show sight on map

The Nelson Monument is a commemorative tower in honour of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, located in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is situated on top of Calton Hill, and provides a dramatic termination to the vista along Princes Street from the west. The monument was built between 1807 and 1816 to commemorate Nelson's victory over the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and his own death at the same battle. In 1852 a mechanized time ball was added, as a time signal to shipping in Leith harbour. The time ball is synchronized with the One O'Clock Gun firing from Edinburgh Castle. The monument was restored in 2009.

Wikipedia: Nelson Monument, Edinburgh (EN)

187 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 28: Calton Hill

Show sight on map

Calton Hill is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the city.

Wikipedia: Calton Hill (EN)

618 meters / 7 minutes

Sight 29: London Road Gardens

Show sight on map

London Road Gardens are one of the collection of New Town Gardens located close to the city centre of Edinburgh in the New Town, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1995. They occupy a long strip of land from east to west along the lower northern slope of Calton Hill, with an area of 4.37 hectares. The gardens are notable for their large, old trees including limes and some fine, surviving elms, also spring flowers, particularly daffodils.

Wikipedia: London Road Gardens, Edinburgh (EN)

1727 meters / 21 minutes

Sight 30: Lochend Park

Show sight on map

Lochend Park is a public park in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is situated in the Lochend / Restalrig area, next to Lochend Castle and near Meadowbank Stadium. The loch with its wide range of waterfowl is the main attraction, but there are also historical buildings, a children's play area, and sports areas. The park was awarded a Green Flag in 2012 in recognition of it being a quality greenspace. Within the park there is a 16th-century doocot which is Category B listed.

Wikipedia: Lochend Park (EN)

Share

Spread the word! Share this page with your friends and family.

Disclaimer Please be aware of your surroundings and do not enter private property. We are not liable for any damages that occur during the tours.

GPX-Download For navigation apps and GPS devices you can download the tour as a GPX file.