Things to Do
The Castle, the Royal Mile, Holyrood, the National Galleries and Arthur's Seat are all within twenty minutes of Rock House's gate. Here is what to see, and how long it takes to get there.
From the Front Door
Edinburgh rewards walkers. Its centre is small, largely traffic-calmed and stacked with things worth stopping for, and almost none of it requires a bus. From the foot of Calton Hill, the Old Town and the New Town both open out within ten minutes, in opposite directions.
The Old Town
Medieval Edinburgh, running downhill from the Castle to the Palace, one long spine of closes and wynds.
10 min walk
Four streets in a row, Castlehill to Canongate, lined with the High Kirk of St Giles, tucked-away closes and the Museum of Edinburgh. Rock House sits just off its top end, behind Waterloo Place.
20 min walk
The fortress on its volcanic rock has watched over the city for close to a thousand years and remains the view every other Edinburgh view is measured against. Best approached along the Mile rather than straight up the esplanade.
15 min walk
The Palace of Holyroodhouse, the King's official Scottish residence, sits at the Mile's foot, next to the low, angular Scottish Parliament building. Both mark the gateway into Holyrood Park.
Holyrood Park
An extinct volcano within the city boundary, with open hillside, lochs and genuine wilderness a few minutes from the Parliament's front door. The summit walk takes 40 to 60 minutes up and down depending on route and pace, on paths that are uneven and occasionally steep.
The gentler option, a walk along the base of Salisbury Crags, gives sweeping views back towards Calton Hill and the Old Town without the climb, and takes closer to half an hour.
The New Town
Where the Old Town is medieval, the New Town is Georgian planning at its most confident: wide streets, gardens and the terraces that made Edinburgh's reputation.
5 min walk
Edinburgh's main shopping street runs the length of the Old Town skyline, with the Princes Street Gardens and the Scott Monument's black spire below the Castle rock.
10 min walk
The National Gallery of Scotland sits on the Mound, holding works by Raeburn, Ramsay and Titian, within a short walk of the New Town's grid.
8 min walk
A modern shopping and dining development at the top of Leith Street, useful for a wet afternoon or an easy dinner without straying far from the house.
A Link Back to the House
On Queen Street, a ten minute walk through the New Town, the Portrait Gallery holds the largest collection of Hill and Adamson calotypes anywhere in the world: portraits of Scottish luminaries, the Newhaven fisherfolk, and studies made in Greyfriars Kirkyard, all printed from negatives made a short walk from where they hang.
It is the natural companion to a stay at Rock House itself, where the partnership had its studio. See the full history of the house before or after your visit.
Further Afield
Around 30 min walk, or a short bus ride
A former milling village tucked into a steep gorge of the Water of Leith, its stone buildings and footbridges feeling like a different city entirely. The riverside walkway continues for miles in either direction, popular with runners and an easy way to see a quieter side of Edinburgh.
Around 25 to 30 min walk, or a short tram ride
Edinburgh's old port, now home to a concentrated stretch of well-regarded restaurants and bars along the water at the Shore. The tram now runs from the city centre out to Leith and on to Newhaven, making it an easy trip without the walk.
At the Foot of the Garden
Old Calton Burial Ground sits on Waterloo Place, immediately below Rock House, and is worth the two minute detour on the way in or out.
The philosopher David Hume is buried here beneath a cylindrical tower designed by Robert Adam in 1777. In front of it stands Scotland's memorial to the American Civil War, a statue of Abraham Lincoln with a freed slave at his feet, the only monument to Lincoln in Scotland and the only Civil War memorial outside the United States. The painter Alastair Gordon made drawings here during his Rock House residency; see the art collection for the results.
One Day, Well Spent
Not a schedule, just a sensible order for a first visit.
Five minutes up from the gate for the classic view over the city, before the hill fills up. Best with the low early light.
Down through Waterloo Place onto the Royal Mile, browsing closes and courtyards on the way to St Giles and the Castle esplanade.
Choose one: the Castle for the history and the views, or double back into the New Town for the National Galleries and, for the photographically minded, the Portrait Gallery on Queen Street.
A slow wander through the gardens beneath the Castle rock, with the Scott Monument overhead, finishing at St James Quarter if a coffee stop is needed.
Return to Calton Hill as the sun drops, for the same view in entirely different colour. Ten minutes from most of the day's route.
A meal in the New Town or a short trip down to Leith, then back through the gate to a quiet garden that, by nightfall, feels a long way from the crowds.
Good to Know
Almost everything that first-time visitors come to Edinburgh for: the Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace and the Scottish Parliament, the National Galleries, Princes Street and the New Town, and the summit of Calton Hill itself, all within twenty minutes on foot.
A focused walk down the Royal Mile from top to bottom takes about 45 minutes without stops. Most visitors spend at least half a day exploring its closes, courtyards and the Castle at its head.
It is a proper hill walk rather than a stroll: roughly 40 to 60 minutes up and down depending on route and pace, on paths that are uneven in places. Sturdy shoes are worth it for the summit view over the whole of the Firth of Forth.
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery on Queen Street holds the largest collection of Hill and Adamson calotypes in the world, a short walk from Rock House through the New Town.
Yes, particularly for food and drink. The Shore area has a concentration of well-regarded restaurants and bars along the Water of Leith. It is a walkable but longer trip from Calton Hill, or a short tram or bus ride.
Old Calton Burial Ground, immediately below the garden on Waterloo Place, where the philosopher David Hume is buried beneath a tower designed by Robert Adam, alongside Scotland's memorial to the American Civil War.
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28 Calton Hill
Three self-catering stays, all with the same short walk to everywhere on this page.
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