Places to explore in and near Edinburgh

The High Kirk of Edinburgh on the Royal Mile, with its distinctive crown steeple and the ornate Thistle Chapel.

0.4 km S

A Royal Mile pub whose outer wall forms part of the 16th-century Flodden Wall that once marked the city's edge.

0.4 km SE

A Royal Mile tavern built in 1806, named for the respectable-cabinetmaker-turned-burglar who inspired Jekyll and Hyde.

0.5 km SW

A hill in central Edinburgh crowned by the National Monument and Nelson Monument, giving classic panoramas of the city.

0.5 km NE

A 1691 Dutch-gabled kirk on the lower Royal Mile, the parish church of Holyrood and Edinburgh Castle.

0.6 km E

The fortress on the castle rock above the capital.

0.8 km SW

A Forrest Road institution since the 1920s and one of Edinburgh's foremost traditional folk-music bars.

0.8 km S

The monarch's official residence in Scotland, at the foot of the Royal Mile, with Mary, Queen of Scots' rooms and the ruined abbey beside it.

1 km E

A colourful Edinburgh neighbourhood just north of the New Town, known for independent shops and a Sunday market.

1.4 km NW · Edinburgh

A tranquil former milling hamlet of stone cottages in a deep valley on the Water of Leith, minutes from Princes Street.

1.8 km W · Edinburgh

A 70-acre botanic garden on a hillside above the city, with a famous rock garden, a Chinese hillside and Britain's tallest palm house.

1.9 km NW

Extinct volcano rising over the city.

2 km SE

Below Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, this bird-sanctuary loch is the setting of Raeburn's famous painting of a skating minister.

2.8 km SE

Reputedly Scotland's oldest surviving public house, dating to 1360, with a Victorian skittle alley in Duddingston village.

2.8 km SE

A 12th-century Norman church beside Duddingston Loch, complete with a loupin'-on stane and a session-house watchtower.

2.9 km SE

A conservation village beside Duddingston Loch under Arthur's Seat, home to Scotland's oldest pub, the Sheep Heid Inn.

2.9 km SE · Edinburgh

Edinburgh's historic port district, its cobbled Shore lined with waterfront restaurants, distilleries and the Royal Yacht Britannia.

3.2 km N · Edinburgh

A vertical single-malt whisky distillery on Leith's waterfront with a rooftop bar and tours.

3.4 km N

Well-preserved medieval fortress near the city.

4.3 km SE

A medieval castle in Edinburgh.

4.8 km SW

Edinburgh's own beach, a broad sweep of sand with a Victorian promenade and independent cafés.

4.9 km E

An unusual 18th-century walled garden on the banks of the Water of Leith in Colinton Dell, run as a horticultural therapy project.

5.3 km SW

Tidal island off Cramond, reached along a causeway lined with wartime anti-boat pylons, with gun emplacements and views up the Forth

7.5 km NW

An old whitewashed fishing village at the mouth of the River Almond, with a Roman fort site and a tidal causeway to Cramond Island.

7.6 km NW · Edinburgh

Farm shop, cafe and pick-your-own overlooking the Forth bridges, named the nation's best PYO in 2026.

10.3 km W

A cobbled former ferry town on the Forth beneath the three great bridges, with a narrow historic High Street.

13.6 km W · Edinburgh

The highest hill in Edinburgh.

19.6 km SW

A coast-to-coast across Scotland's waist, from Helensburgh to the conservationist's birthplace at Dunbar.

1.5 km S · spans 9 counties

18th-century designed landscape of woodland walks and follies around a Palladian villa near Musselburgh.

7 km E

Island in the Forth with Scotland's best-preserved medieval abbey buildings, wartime gun batteries and a tunnel, grey seals and seabirds

10.7 km NW

A 15th-century collegiate chapel near Roslin whose lavish stone carvings, including the Apprentice Pillar, drew fame from The Da Vinci Code.

11 km S

A wooded gorge of the River North Esk below Rosslyn Chapel, with the ruins of Roslin Castle and old gunpowder mills.

11.8 km S

Firth to firth around the Kingdom of Fife, threading fishing villages from the Forth bridges to the Tay.

12 km N · Fife

A sheltered Blue Flag beach at Aberdour with golden sand and views across the Forth.

12.6 km NW

Scotland's national mining museum at the preserved Lady Victoria Colliery in Newtongrange.

12.7 km SE

A pretty south-Fife coast village with a 12th-century castle and the Blue Flag Silver Sands beach, half an hour from Edinburgh by train.

13.1 km NW · Fife

One of Scotland's oldest stone castles.

13.2 km NW

The classic vantage over the UNESCO-listed 1890 cantilever rail bridge and its two road-bridge neighbours from South Queensferry.

14.1 km NW

A Victorian estate park near Gorebridge with woodland trails, a miniature railway, golf course and adventure play.

16.1 km SE

Grand Adam-designed mansion with sweeping parkland and formal gardens above the Firth of Forth.

17.7 km W

A string of small rocky bays and sandy coves along the Forth shore, a good spot for coastal walks and picnics.

18.4 km E

A restored small harbour east of Kirkcaldy used as an Outlander filming location, below the Harbourmaster's House.

19.3 km N

A wooded river-valley park on the Almond near East Calder with riverside walks and a Victorian visitor centre.

19.6 km SW

A former Scottish capital and burial place of Robert the Bruce, with its abbey, palace ruins and Pittencrieff Park.

20.4 km NW · Fife

Britain's first designated local nature reserve, a tidal bay of saltmarsh and dunes rich in wintering geese and wildflowers.

20.6 km E

Ship-shaped fortress on the Forth shore.

21.2 km W

The medieval nave and 19th-century abbey church marking the burial place of Robert the Bruce.

21.5 km NW

A long dune-fringed beach at Gullane on the Firth of Forth, popular for walks and horse riding.

24.1 km NE

A tower on Byres Hill near Haddington whose 132 steps reward climbers with 360-degree views over East Lothian.

24.3 km E

Sixty-six miles of canal towpath coast to coast across central Scotland, from Bowling on the Clyde to Edinburgh

1.6 km SW · spans 7 counties

The lock-free contour canal from Falkirk into the heart of Edinburgh, linked to the Forth & Clyde by the Falkirk Wheel.

1.6 km SW · West Lothian, Edinburgh & Falkirk

A terraced garden at Musselburgh restored by the National Trust for Scotland, with roses, a conservatory and aviary.

9.2 km E

A historic estate park by the River Esk, one of Scotland's best places for snowdrops, with woodland walks and an adventure playground.

9.4 km SE

A village inn in Roslin serving food a short walk from Rosslyn Chapel.

10.8 km S

Preston Tower and Dovecot

13.1 km E