Hidden Scotland
Sign in
Edinburgh

Edinburgh Castle

A royal castle on its rock at the top of the Royal Mile, in its time a palace, garrison and prison, and home of the oldest Crown jewels in Britain.

Visit website
Welcome

Edinburgh Castle stands on its rock at the top of the Royal Mile, and you reach the gatehouse across the Esplanade, a wide area of smooth tarmac that rises towards it for 110 metres.

Visited and photographed by Simon Hird

From the entrance a steep, curved, cobbled route climbs for about 350 metres to Crown Square, and the Half Moon Battery looks out over the city.

Around Crown Square stand the Royal Palace, where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James VI in 1566, and the Honours of Scotland, the oldest Crown jewels in Britain, on show in the Crown Room. In the vaults below, a recreation shows how prisoners of war were held around 1800. At 1pm the One O'Clock Gun is fired beside the Redcoat Café, every day except Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day. Tickets cost less online, and the main sights take at least two hours.

The Daily

Arrives at 5am every day.

A free morning email to see what’s on this week, catch up on what’s happening in Scotland and find somewhere new to go.

The Daily for 27 October, from Scotland with love. An aerial view shows a sandy cove between rocky headlands, a white house standing on the autumn-toned hillside above the turquoise sea.
Before you go

Give the castle at least two hours for the main sights.

Tickets cost less online and guarantee entry.

Where
Castlehill, at the top of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh's Old Town, EH1 2NG. The gatehouse is across the Esplanade.
Open
Daily from 9.30am. From 1 October to 31 March it closes at 5pm (last entry 4pm), except on 24 December, when it closes at 4pm (last entry 3pm); from 1 April to 30 September it closes at 6pm (last entry 5pm). Closed on 25 and 26 December; opens at 11am on 1 January.
Price
Adult £23.50 online or £26 at the castle; concession (65 and over, or unemployed) £19 online or £21; child (7 to 15) £11.50 online or £13. A flexi ticket gives one entry on any day within seven (adult £38 online). Prices read 21 October 2026.
Booking
Book online in advance for the best price and to guarantee entry. Once online tickets sell out, none are sold at the castle. Historic Scotland members and Explorer Pass holders enter free, and are asked to book online to guarantee entry.
The One O'Clock Gun
Fired at 1pm every day except Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day, just outside the Redcoat Café.
Getting there
Waverley Station is a short walk away, uphill all the way. From the airport, the Airlink 100 bus takes 25 minutes to Waverley Bridge and trams take about 30 minutes to Princes Street.
Parking
There is no public parking at the castle. Castle Terrace car park is the nearest. A small number of spaces on the Esplanade are kept for ticket holders with accessibility requirements.
Dogs
Only assistance dogs are permitted.
Access
The route from the entrance to Crown Square is cobbled and up to 15 degrees at its steepest. A mobility vehicle to Crown Square runs on request, and manual wheelchairs can be borrowed. The vaults are reached by short flights of steps with handrails, and the way out is by 70 steps, with staff to guide you back down if that is unsuitable.
Food
The Redcoat Café is open daily from 9.30am to 4pm and The Tea Rooms in Crown Square from 10.30am to 4pm; both are closed on 25 and 26 December.
May to October
The Esplanade holds the stands for the Tattoo.

Opening hours

Monday
9.30am–5pm
Tuesday
9.30am–5pm
Wednesday
9.30am–5pm
Thursday
9.30am–5pm
Friday
9.30am–5pm
Saturday
9.30am–5pm
Sunday
9.30am–5pm

Been here? Tell others what you know, and the best go on this page with your name.

Add your review

Did you know

Edinburgh Castle stands on its rocky crag above rows of stone tenement buildings.
Did you know

Taken back by night.

The castle changed hands many times in the Wars of Independence. In 1314 the Scots took it back from the English in a night raid led by Thomas Randolph, nephew of Robert the Bruce.

Edinburgh Castle's stone walls and turrets rise above the roadway leading up to it.
Did you know

Half an hour.

In 1639 Covenanter forces under General Alexander Leslie captured the castle in just 30 minutes.

Snow lingers at the base of Edinburgh Castle's stone walls, seen looking up from below.
Did you know

A ladder too short.

A Jacobite force tried to take the castle in the Rising of 1715 and failed for want of planning. The ladder they brought to climb the ramparts was too short.

Visitors walk beneath the red walls and dark hammerbeam roof of Edinburgh Castle's Great Hall, chandeliers lit overhead.
Did you know

A hall for a king at war.

The Great Hall was finished in 1511 for James IV, for banquets and state events. He had little time to enjoy it: two years later he died at the Battle of Flodden, fighting an army sent by his brother-in-law, Henry VIII.

A marble bust labelled 'Mary, Queen of Scots' stands on a plinth beneath a banner reading 'The Royal Line'.
Did you know

MAH, over the door.

The gilded letters above the door of the Royal Palace stand for Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley. Mary gave birth to James VI here in 1566; he was king of Scotland at 13 months old.

A carved royal coat of arms and Latin inscription crown a marble fireplace in a grand room.
Did you know

The crown in the latrine.

The Honours of Scotland are the oldest Crown jewels in Britain. In the Second World War the crown was hidden in David's Tower, buried in a medieval latrine closet.

Canvas hammocks slung from wooden rafters line a vaulted stone chamber at Edinburgh Castle.
Did you know

Out through the wall.

The vaults held hundreds of prisoners of war between 1757 and 1814. In 1811, 49 French prisoners hacked a hole in a wall and went down the south crag on ropes. All but one made it safely to the bottom, and the hole can still be seen.

Edinburgh's rooftops and hills beyond are framed through a barred castle window.
Did you know

Where the map began.

Ordnance Survey began at the castle, in the drawing office of the military surveyor William Roy in 1747.

Snow dusts Edinburgh's rooftops and the row of cannon along the castle esplanade, the city spread out below.
Did you know

Scotland's first fireworks.

The first fireworks display in Scotland was at the castle, in 1507, part of a jousting tournament held by James IV.

Ben Lerwill

From our guide to Edinburgh

Set aside several hours for a trip to the biggest ticket in town. Much of what you see today dates from the 18th and 19th centuries, when the complex evolved from a monarch’s retreat to a garrison fortress. There’s much to explore on a visit, including the hammer-beamed Great Hall, the tiny St Margaret’s Chapel, the giant Mons Meg cannon and the glittering crown jewels known as the Honours of Scotland. The castle’s famed One O’Clock Gun still gets fired each day at the requisite hour – be warned that it’s loud.

Read more
The Nelson Monument is framed through a stone gun embrasure at Edinburgh Castle, a cannon barrel in the foreground.
What is on

What is new across Edinburgh, day by day.

New places, news and stories, as we find them.

What is on in Edinburgh
01 / 11
Where it is

On Castlehill at the top of the Royal Mile, in Edinburgh's Old Town, with the gatehouse across the Esplanade.

Close byThe places nearest the castle, at the top of the Royal Mile.
  1. Mons Meg cannon on wheeled carriage at Edinburgh CastleMons MegA six-tonne siege gun given to James II in 1457, which could throw a 150kg stone two miles, now on the battlements of Edinburgh Castle.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. Dog Cemetery plaque on railings overlooking Edinburgh's rooftops from the castle wallEdinburgh Castle Dog CemeteryA small walled garden inside Edinburgh Castle where officers' dogs and regimental mascots have been buried since the 1840s, seen only from above.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. Vennel StepsVennel StepsA steep stepped lane up from the Grassmarket beside the Flodden Wall, with one of the best-known views of Edinburgh Castle from the top.Under a mile 3 min by road
  4. Ross Fountain in Princes Street Gardens with Edinburgh Castle behindRoss FountainA French cast-iron fountain of mermaids and cherubs, given to the city by a gunmaker and opened in 1872 beneath the castle rock.Under a mile 3 min by road
  5. Camera ObscuraCamera ObscuraSix floors of optical illusions at the top of the Royal Mile, with a Victorian camera obscura and a rooftop view over the city.1 mile 5 min by road
  6. The Scotch Whisky ExperienceThe Scotch Whisky ExperienceWhisky tours and tastings at the top of the Royal Mile, around a glowing vault of 3,384 bottles gathered by one collector in Brazil.1 mile 5 min by road
Directions
A breakfast roll with fried egg and cheese and two scones with jam and butter on a table at Preacher's Patisserie.CafePreacher's Patisserie0.2 miles
Inside Lovecrumbs on West Port: a plywood counter with a pink coffee machine, shelves of cups and coffee, plants, and old iron pillars.CafeLovecrumbs0.2 miles
Woman in green jacket smiles beside a shop doorway with "History" posterShoppingArmchair Books0.2 miles
Timberyard sign above red-framed windows on a grey shopfrontRestaurantsTimberyard0.2 miles
The deep blue shopfront of Edinburgh Books on the West Port, books in both windows.AttractionsEdinburgh Books0.2 miles
Chefs work a pizza oven at the back of a tiled restaurantRestaurantsKanpai0.2 miles
Whirlybird's dining room on Victoria Street, with wooden tables and chairs, a stone wall, fringed lamps and a tall window onto the street.RestaurantsWhirlybird0.2 miles
The blue front of Hey Palu on Bread Street in the sun, with its red sign, wooden slatted windows and the words Modern Italian Bar on the glass.BarsHey Palu0.2 miles
The dark front of the Source Coffee Roasters at 4 Spittal Street, with a caffeine molecule drawn on the window and benches along the pavement.CafeThe Source0.2 miles

Recommend to a friend

Stay nearby

Places to stay near the castle, and when each is next free.

A round table and chairs stand before tall curtained windows looking onto stone buildings, a sofa and mounted television to the right.Moment George IV Bridge
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Edinburgh
  • Under a mile from Edinburgh Castle
Check datesA hotel studio room with a beige fitted kitchen unit and stainless sink beside a bed dressed in white and teal cushions, a wall of black-framed pictures above a patterned headboard.Old Town Chambers
  • To stay
  • In Edinburgh
  • Under a mile from Edinburgh Castle
Check datesWest End Muse
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Edinburgh
  • Under a mile from Edinburgh Castle
Check datesA turreted sandstone building with conical spires catches the evening light above rooftops, a large pine tree standing beside it.The Scott Hotel
  • A hotel
  • In Edinburgh
  • A mile from Edinburgh Castle
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in EdinburghAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
Hidden Scotland, the magazine

Scotland, in print.

We want to show you the best that Scotland has to offer. The makers and the creatives, the enduring experiences, the evocative tales, the concealed corners. The roads less travelled that take you to places that matter. The adventures that gather you up and sweep you away. The blend of the wild and the artistic that makes Scotland what it is. We’d love for you to join us.

Get Issue 13Read it here
Read on

What we have written about it, the collections it is in and more in Edinburgh.

From the magazineNew Town Walking TourFrom the magazineA Guide to Edinburgh’s Historic Sites and MuseumsCollectionCastles in Scotland Worth the Entry FeeCollectionThe Best Views in Edinburgh
More in Edinburgh
Find out more

For further reading, before you go. The details on this page were checked on .