Free Edinburgh – Calton Hill, Two Galleries and the Museum
A day on foot, from Waverley Station to Chambers Street.
The route
Edinburgh gives away a surprising amount, and this day is made from it.
The great view, the national collections, a cathedral and a museum with a roof terrace all open without a ticket, so lunch, a bowl of soup by Greyfriars, is the only thing to pay for. Where a donation box sits by the door, what you give is up to you. Nothing needs booking ahead, and no walk between stops is longer than 15 minutes, so you can make the day as short or as long as you like. It's about two miles on foot on city pavements, with one stiff climb up the Mound, and most of the day is indoors.
The day
Edinburgh
The morning begins in the open air on Calton Hill, with the whole city laid out below. From there the day walks out of the New Town and up into the Old, stops for soup on the way, and finishes high above Chambers Street.
Calton Hill
An attraction
From Waverley it's a 10-minute walk along Waterloo Place and up the steps to the top of Calton Hill, a public park and free to all. Come up early, while the morning light is on the Old Town, and stand by the round Dugald Stewart Monument for the view over Princes Street to the Castle. The Nelson Monument charges to climb, so leave it to another day. From Wednesday to Sunday, Collective's free gallery in the old City Observatory opens at 10am. Give the hill half an hour.
15 min on foot
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
An attraction
It's a 15-minute walk down off the hill to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, at the east end of Queen Street. Robert Rowand Anderson built it in red sandstone, and it opened in 1889; famous Scots stand in niches round the outside. It's free, and the collection holds Mary, Queen of Scots, Bonnie Prince Charlie and Alexander Nasmyth's Robert Burns. Give it an hour. Rooms in the National Galleries close now and then, so look at their website the day before.
9 min on foot
Scottish National Gallery
An attraction
Walk 9 minutes by St Andrew Square and Princes Street to the Scottish National Gallery, known now as The National, at the foot of the Mound. William Playfair gave it the look of a Greek temple, and it opened in 1859. It's free, and the collection holds Titian, Rembrandt and Landseer's Monarch of the Glen, with Scottish painters from Ramsay to the Glasgow Boys. Give it most of an hour, and use the toilets before the climb up to the Old Town.
5 min on foot
St Giles’ Cathedral
An attraction
It's a 5-minute walk, steeply uphill, up the Mound and Bank Street to St Giles' Cathedral, whose crown steeple is dated by tree rings to the 1460s. There's no charge to go in: a donation is suggested, and what you give is up to you. Look for the Thistle Chapel in the south-east corner, finished in 1911, with its carved stalls and ceiling bosses. Give it half an hour; there are no toilets inside.
9 min on foot
National Museum of Scotland
The National Museum of Scotland is a 9-minute walk down George IV Bridge, past Greyfriars Bobby's statue opposite the churchyard gate. Stop for lunch on the way at Union of Genius, a soup café at 8 Forrest Road. The museum's free, with Dolly the sheep and eleven of the Lewis chessmen. Be on the Roof Terrace by 4.30pm for the Castle, St Giles' and Arthur's Seat; from late October to February the light is short, so go up first. The museum shuts at 5pm.
If it rains
Calton Hill and the Roof Terrace are the parts of the day out in the open, and the rest is spent in galleries, a cathedral and a museum. In rain or low cloud, leave the hill for another day, or for a dry summer evening, and start at the Portrait Gallery when it opens at 10am. Use the hour you gain at the Writers' Museum in Lady Stair's Close, free and 3 minutes' walk from St Giles', with last entry at 4.30pm. The walks come to about 35 minutes, none of them under cover, and the climb up the Mound is the steepest, so bring a coat with a hood.
Where to eat
EdinburghUnion of GeniusA café
EdinburghThe OutsiderBistro with castle views
EdinburghAngels with BagpipesRoyal Mile family restaurant
EdinburghHowies Victoria StreetTraditional Scottish cooking
EdinburghGordon Street CoffeeA café
EdinburghWhiski RoomsA restaurant
EdinburghHoly CowVegan café, burgers
EdinburghMimi's BakehouseA café
EdinburghJolly JudgeA restaurant
EdinburghDishoomA restaurant
EdinburghThe MilkmanSmall speciality coffee bar
EdinburghBurr & CoA caféMake it a weekend
More days out in Edinburgh.
Photograph by Alina via Google