In October 2015 we were lucky enough to spend a week in beautiful Edinburgh. Naturally we squeezed in a couple of routes to bring you the sights.
As runners, we’re all about the view, but we’ve kept you clear of the main tourist thoroughfare and shops, which is absolutely bursting each time a festival is on. Instead, you can check out a little walking tour of the very centre of the Old Town around Princes Street – the spectacular gardens in the heart of the city.
There are plenty of wonderful green bits and graveyards to discover on foot in the city. Similarly, you’re not too far from the coast, which provides a bracing wake-up for those running of the hangover (ehem, that was Runviewer’s half marathon experience at any rate)
CITY CENTRE
The first of our Edinburgh videos is a quick, walking snapshot of the central gardens in Edinburgh Centre begins facing South East from Princes Street, the main commercial district. We pass through the East Prince’s Street Gardens with two memorials on our left – the first a vast, gothic, Victorian structure to the author Sir Walter Scott and then a statue of the Victorian missionary David Livingstone.
We cross the bridge over Edinburgh Waverley train station, leaving behind the main shopping thoroughfare. Edinburgh is characteristic for it’s charming cut-throughs and we take one to climb the steep route to the high street which emerges opposite St. Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile. Heading uphill along Lawnmarket we approach the castle which is bustling with tourists and sightseers. We filmed this manic route as it seemed a crime not to capture a snapshot of these landmarks, but as you will see in our other video there are plenty more charming and less crowded places to run in and around Edinburgh City Centre. Read on!
CITY CENTRE TO WILLOWBRAE, DUDDINGSTON AND SOUTHSIDE VIA HOLLYROOD PARK
Filmed on a rather grey day in October, we begin on Thomas Telford’s Dean Bridge, a high viaduct that traverses some beautifully landscaped gardens and the Water of Leith. Leaving Dean Village behind, with the grid-like new town to our left. Crossing Princes Street, at the Chruch of St. John, we pass through the West End to the Old Town by scooping South of the castle and following the cobbled Grassmarket, historically a marketplace, now a shopping and dining district. Cowgate’s dark passages are home to plenty of pubs and clubs and might be troublesome to run along at night: Beware of stumbling merrymakers. Holyrood Road takes us downhill to Canongate.
From Canongate we dip into Holyrood Park and with a little shimmying about take in some fantastic views from St. Anthony’s Chapel, a mediaeval ruin, before heading back onto the skirting path via the loch.
The park itself is barely touched upon in this video, which loops it’s craggy outskirts. The park’s famous high point is Arthur’s seat, which is 251 metres above sea level. People have used the park since the 5th millennium BC and stone and flint tools, as well as later Bronze Age weapons have been found around the park and loch.
Piershill and Willowbrae are the residential areas North East of Hollyrood Park. We follow the vast and terraced Willowbrae road into Duddingston. The “village” to the West is far more charming than the rather unremarkable suburban scenery we’ve passed through. No thanks to the weather here. The church itself dates from 1124.
As we return to the park via Queens Drive, there are some lovely views of Duddingston Loch – a freshwater haven for birdlife which is managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust. To the left is the Innocent Railway tunnel path, which is shown in a rather fun video here on the Edinburgh Guide’s Youtube page. We again skirt the outside of Hollyrood Park, returning to the city centre via Southside.
Our route concludes, along with our Go Pro battery, at George Square Gardens, just before the University and beautiful meadows to the South.
GETTING AROUND
Edinburgh City Centre has two mainline stations: The architecturally resilient Edinburgh Waverley and Haymarket. These have connections to the airport and cross country. To the far East of our longer route is Brunstane: just one stop from Waverley if you’re out in the suburbs.
The Tramway operates a regular service between the airport and Waverley station.
The Bus Services are run by two companies, Lothian (the largest area) and First (serving further afield from the centre)
There’s no shortage of lovely and less-lovely hotels and hostels to stay here. We stayed in a beautiful mews house near Dean Bridge via Air Bnb which was very reasonably priced and in a perfect location for getting around the city centre.