United Kingdom · Scotland · Edinburgh
Old Town, Edinburgh — Area Guide & Where to Stay
The Old Town runs from Edinburgh Castle down the Royal Mile, St Giles' Cathedral midway on the High Street. With the New Town, a World Heritage Site.
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Where to stay in Old Town
The practical side of choosing where to sleep.
Staying in the Old Town puts you inside Edinburgh's sightseeing core, a short walk from Edinburgh Castle, St Giles' Cathedral and the National Museum of Scotland. Beds here run from converted tenement guesthouses to hotels along the Royal Mile. Sightseers save on taxis.
The quarter is at its busiest during the summer festivals, when every close fills and rooms grow scarce. Light sleepers should know that the pubs of the Cowgate and Grassmarket keep going well past midnight. For a calmer base, cross the valley into the New Town and walk back to the Old Town in minutes.
Things to do in and around Edinburgh
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
3- Scottish National Portrait Gallery Heritage
- Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Heritage
- Modern Two Heritage
Churches & Religious Sites
5- St Giles' Cathedral Heritage
- The Hub Heritage
- St Margaret's Heritage
- Greyfriars Kirk Heritage
- Tron Kirk Heritage
Castles & Historic Sites
5- Edinburgh Castle Heritage
- Scott Monument Heritage
- National Monument of Scotland Heritage
- Nelson Monument Heritage
- Dugald Stewart Monument Heritage
Nature & Outdoors
1- Bruntsfield Links
Landmarks & Notable Places
2- Bute House Heritage
- Dundas House Heritage
worth knowingacross 5 categories in and around Edinburgh
About Old Town
What are the main landmarks in Old Town?
Edinburgh Castle crowns the western summit of the ridge. Just below it on Castlehill stand three of the Old Town's busiest attractions: the Camera Obscura, the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre and the spire of The Hub. The Writers' Museum hides in Lady Stair's Close.
Along the High Street rise St Giles' Cathedral, the Tron Kirk and the Museum of Childhood, while Chambers Street, one block to the south, is dominated by the vast National Museum of Scotland. Greyfriars Kirk and its kirkyard lie beyond.
What is the history of Old Town?
The Old Town is the original burgh of Edinburgh, grown up on the Castle Rock and along the ridge that falls toward Holyrood. Space on the ridge was tight. Boxed in by the Nor Loch to the north and by the town wall raised after 1513, the burgh could not spread outward, so it climbed, stacking tenements that ranked among the tallest dwellings in early modern Europe.
The Royal Mile tied the fortress at one end to the abbey down at Holyrood. When the New Town opened across the drained loch in the later 18th century, the well-to-do moved out and the old quarter grew crowded and poor. In 1995 the Old and New Towns were together inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Where is Old Town?
The Old Town occupies a long volcanic ridge at the centre of Edinburgh. Edinburgh Castle guards its high western end. Its spine is the Royal Mile, which descends through Castlehill, the Lawnmarket and the High Street toward Holyrood.
To the north the ground drops into the valley of Princes Street Gardens, beyond which lies the New Town; below the ridge to the south run the Grassmarket and the Cowgate. George IV Bridge and the Mound cross these gorges into the quarter.
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Updated October 2026