Edinburgh

Edinburgh’s Whisky and Gin Trail – Tours and Bars

A day by tram and on foot, from Waverley station to Ocean Terminal tram stop.

The route

Edinburgh makes its own whisky and gin again, and this is a day for adults to taste them without a car, on foot through the Old Town and by tram to Leith.

The Scotch Whisky Experience, beside the castle, tells the story of Scotch first, and the Canongate has the shop of a whisky bottler founded in 1842. Holyrood Distillery, in a building of the old St Leonard's railway station, is the afternoon's tour. Edinburgh Gin distils in the old arches on East Market Street, and the day calls in at its bar. The Port of Leith Distillery is built upward as a tower on the docks. The pours are small and spread through the day, with lunch in the middle and a bite with the last drink if the kitchen is serving, so take your time. It's about three and a half miles on foot.

Before you go

Book the Scotch Whisky Experience
Book the Silver Tour at the Scotch Whisky Experience for about 10.30am on a Wednesday to Saturday, when every stop on this day is open, and bring photographic ID.
Book Holyrood Distillery
Book a tour at Holyrood Distillery on its own website for the early afternoon, starting from about 1.45pm, which leaves time for lunch on the Canongate and the 15-minute walk.

The day

Edinburgh

A day of whisky and gin through Edinburgh on foot, from the top of the Royal Mile down to the docks of Leith by tram. Lunch is on the Canongate, the drams come slowly between the walks, and the day ends at the top of a distillery above the docks, with a view over the Forth.

The Scotch Whisky Experience
An attraction
It's a 10-minute walk up from Waverley to Castlehill, at the top of the Royal Mile by the castle. The Scotch Whisky Experience opens at 10am, and its Silver Tour takes 50 minutes. It ends with one whisky to nose and taste, from what the Experience calls one of the world's largest collections of Scotch. Bring photographic ID. The tour takes children too, but the rest of this day is for adults. Sip slowly, leave what you don't want and ask for water, here and all day.
More about The Scotch Whisky Experience
14 min on foot
Cadenhead's
A shop
Cadenhead's is a 14-minute walk down the Royal Mile, at number 172 in the Canongate. The firm was founded in Aberdeen in 1842 and calls itself Scotland's oldest independent bottler, and this shop sells its own bottlings of whisky, rum and gin. It's a shop, not a tasting room, open Monday to Saturday and shut on Sundays. Lunch is across the street at the Tolbooth Tavern, by the Canongate Tolbooth of 1591.
More about Cadenhead's
15 min on foot
Holyrood Distillery
An attraction
It's a 15-minute walk after lunch, down a close to Holyrood Road and up Dumbiedykes Road to St Leonard's Lane. Holyrood Distillery opened in 2019 in a building of the old St Leonard's railway station, and in 2025 it was named Distiller of the Year at the World Whiskies Awards. It makes single malt and Height of Arrows gin, and its tours suit first-timers. Take any tasting slowly, with a glass of water alongside.
More about Holyrood Distillery
10 min on foot
Edinburgh Gin Distillery
A tour
Walk 17 minutes back by the Pleasance, Holyrood Road and the Canongate, then down Cranston Street to the arches on East Market Street. Edinburgh Gin distils here, and this day calls in at its bar, which opens every day from 1pm and is for over-18s. One gin is plenty at this point in the day, or have something without alcohol. From here it's 10 minutes' walk up to the tram at St Andrew Square.
More about Edinburgh Gin Distillery
19 min by tram, 5 min on foot
Port of Leith Distillery
From St Andrew Square it's a 19-minute tram ride to Ocean Terminal, then 5 minutes' walk to Whisky Quay. Buy or tap your ticket on the platform first. The Port of Leith Distillery is a tower, built upward on the docks, with a bar on its top floor. Ask whether the kitchen is serving tonight and eat with your drink, not after it. Keep it small and slow, with water beside it, and check the times of the trams back.

If it rains

Nearly all of this day is under a roof, so rain changes little: the tours, the shop, lunch and both bars are indoors. Only the walks between are out in the weather, the longest 17 minutes, on cobbles and closes that get slippery, so wear shoes with a grip and bring a coat with a hood. At Edinburgh Gin, sit in the main bar rather than on the roof terrace. In heavy rain, a taxi from the Arches to Whisky Quay saves the walk to the tram.

Where to eat