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The Writers' Museum – Burns, Scott and Afternoon Tea

A few hours, from Waverley Station and back.

The route

The Writers' Museum fills a 17th-century townhouse off the Royal Mile with the lives of Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson, and it's free.

A few minutes down the hill, Colonnades at the Signet Library serves afternoon tea on silver stands beneath the columns of a Georgian library hall.

Before you go

  1. Book accommodation nearby

    If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.

    Old Town ChambersClose byOld Town ChambersA place to stayMoment George IV BridgeClose byMoment George IV BridgeSleeps 2West End MuseClose byWest End MuseSleeps 4The Scott HotelA mile awayThe Scott HotelA hotel

  2. Book Afternoon tea in Colonnades at the Signet Library

    Book afternoon tea at Colonnades on the Signet Library's website, up to three months ahead, for a table about 2.45pm after the museum: it's served Wednesday to Sunday only, 11am to 4.30pm, from £75 a person at the time of writing.

The day

Edinburgh

An unhurried afternoon at the top of the Royal Mile: an hour among the writers' treasures, then a long, elegant tea a few minutes down the hill.

About three and a half hours

  1. Writers' Museum

    Writers' Museum

    An attraction

    It's a 12-minute walk from Waverley up to the Lawnmarket, the top of the Royal Mile, where an arch leads into Lady Stair's Close and the Writers' Museum. It's free, open every day from 10am to 5pm, and an hour is about right. Inside are Burns's writing desk, Scott's rocking horse, Stevenson's riding boots and a plaster cast of Burns's skull. The rooms are up and down stairs, with one step at the door and no lift. Outside, Makars' Court has lines by Scotland's writers set into its paving stones.

    More about Writers' Museum

  2. 5 min on foot

    Colonnades at the Signet Library

    Colonnades at the Signet Library

    Afternoon tea

    Walk 5 minutes on down the Royal Mile to Parliament Square for afternoon tea at Colonnades in the Signet Library. Book it ahead online. It's served Wednesday to Sunday from 11am to 4.30pm, from £75 a person at the time of writing, and some Saturdays are kept for weddings. Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan and dairy-free teas need 24 hours' notice. The entrance is wheelchair accessible, and dogs aren't allowed in.

If it rains

Both are indoors: on a wet afternoon only the 12-minute walk up from Waverley and the 5 minutes down the Royal Mile are out in it.

Signet Library