The Royal Mile is the popular name for the succession of streets which form the main thoroughfare of ’s Old Town. As the name suggests, the Royal Mile is approximately one Scottish mile long, and runs between two foci of history in Scotland, from Edinburgh Castle at the top of the Castle Rock down to Holyrood Abbey. It is said to be referred to by locals as “High Street”, but properly, this is the name of only one stretch. The streets which make up the Royal Mile are (west to east) Castle Esplanade, Castlehill, Lawnmarket, High Street, Canongate and Abbey Strand. The Royal Mile is Edinburgh Old Town’s busiest tourist street, rivalled only by Princes Street in the New Town.
GPS travel coordinates: 55° 56′ 59″ N, 3° 11′ 17″ W
Popularity: 2%
Interesting things to do:
- Scott Monument, Edinburgh
- Royal Museum, Edinburgh
- The Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
- Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
- Studley Royal Park, North Yorkshire
- The Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, Singapore
- Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
- Lombard Street, San Francisco
- Mala Strana, Prague
- Kungliga Slottet (Royal Palace), Stockholm
The Royal Mile is a wonderful place to walk around – and a horrible place to drive! There are wonderful old buildings with narrow closes and wynds that were very definitely built before cars were dreamt up!
A great thing to do if you have a couple of hours spare on a nice evening is to go on a ghost walk. There are lots available which meet on the Royal Mile.