Royal Mile

The street slopes away beneath your feet, paved in worn grey stone. Tall buildings rise on either side, dark with age. At the top, a castle stands on a rock. At the bottom, far below, a palace waits. You are standing on the Royal Mile, the old spine of Edinburgh, where the whole story of the city runs downhill in a straight line.

The name describes both the length and the path. The street runs for about one Scots mile, an old measure a little longer than the mile you may know. It links two great buildings. At the high end sits Edinburgh Castle on its rock. At the low end sits the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Kings and queens once traveled this road between the two.

The Royal Mile is not one street but several joined together. From the top they are called Castlehill, the Lawnmarket, the High Street, and the Canongate. Long ago these were separate parts of the town, each with its own name and rules. The Canongate, near the foot of the hill, was once a separate town of its own. Today they flow into one another. Most visitors never notice where one ends and the next begins.

Look at the shape of the land. The castle sits on hard rock left by an old volcano. Behind it, a long tail of softer earth slopes down to the east. Ice once ground across this land and carved the form. The street simply follows that natural ridge. The city grew along the high ground, safe and dry above the wet ground below.

On either side of the street, narrow openings lead away into shadow. These are the closes and wynds, the tight alleys of the old town. Each one has a name carved above it. Step into a close and you find stairs, small courtyards, and hidden corners. For hundreds of years, people lived packed together here in tall stone buildings, floor above floor.

Those tall buildings are called tenements. In the old town, families lived stacked one above another, rich and poor in the same stair. Some of these buildings rose many floors high, which was rare in their time. Look up as you walk. You will see small windows, crooked rooflines, and old stone faces carved above the doors, watching the street below.

Near the middle of the High Street stands a great church. This is St Giles, the high kirk of Edinburgh. Its tower is shaped at the top like a crown made of stone. For centuries it has marked the heart of the street. Around it, the work of the city and the church was carried out, in law, in faith, and in trade.

The Royal Mile has always been a place of gathering. Markets once filled the High Street, selling cloth, salt, meat, and grain. Crowds came for news, for trade, and sometimes for punishment carried out in public. The street was the living room of the whole town. Even now it draws people together, day and night, from every part of the world.

Today the street is full of sound. Street performers play music and tell stories to passing crowds. Shops sell wool, whisky, and small keepsakes. The smell of food drifts from open doors. In the warmer months the crowds grow thick, and the old stones echo with many languages at once, just as they have for a very long time.

Turn off the main street whenever you can. The quiet closes hold the older feeling of the place. Down some of them you will find small gardens, museums, and views that open suddenly over the lower town. Away from the crowds, the noise drops. You can hear your own steps on the stone and imagine the narrow, crowded city of long ago.

Wear good shoes for this walk. The ground is steep, and the old stones can be slick when wet, which is often. Take the hill slowly. Stop to read the small signs that mark each close. They carry the names of people and trades from centuries past. The street rewards those who walk it gently and look closely as they go.

Stand still for a moment in the middle of the street. Above you, the castle. Below you, the palace. Between them, the worn stone road that has carried this city's life for many hundreds of years. Countless feet have passed where you now stand. When you walk on, you become, for a little while, one more part of that long and unbroken line.