Two days of castle crags, Old Town closes and volcano views in a city you climb on foot.
Edinburgh works best as a 2-day city break. Edinburgh stacks a cliff-top castle, a medieval Royal Mile and an extinct volcano you can climb into one compact, walkable centre, all split between the tangled Old Town and the elegant Georgian New Town. The catch is the weather and the crowds: it rains often and August turns the whole city into one vast festival with tripled prices. This guide tells you exactly how to split two or three days, when to book the castle, and where to catch the skyline for free.
Ideal stay
2 days
Best months
May · Jun · Aug
Mid budget
130 EUR/day
Airport
From Edinburgh Airport
Four picks that cover the realistic range, from splurge to budget. Prices are low-season starting points; check live rates for your dates.
Landmark stay€€€Landmark clock tower · New Town
The grand railway hotel under the famous clock tower on Princes Street, where the New Town meets the Old. Castle-view rooms and the suite where the last Harry Potter book was finished are the reasons people splurge.
from ~350 EUR/night
Check prices
First visit€€On the Royal Mile · Old Town
A smart rooms-above-a-pub inn in a former bank right on the Royal Mile, so the castle and Holyrood are both a walk away. It can be lively below at weekends; ask for a room at the back.
from ~160 EUR/night
Check prices
Local life€€Dockside design · Leith
A design hotel in a converted seamen's mission on the Leith waterfront, among the docks that now hold some of the city's best restaurants. You trade the Old Town lanes for a quieter, more local base a tram ride out.
from ~130 EUR/night
Check prices
Budget€Hostel below the castle · Grassmarket
A characterful hostel right under the castle rock by the Grassmarket, with private rooms as well as dorms and a lively common room. You cannot sleep more central in the Old Town for the price.
from ~25 EUR/night
Check pricesReal hotel photos · prices are indicative from-rates, not live quotes · booking links support the site at no extra cost
A little history
Edinburgh has been the capital of Scotland for six centuries, and the castle on its plug of volcanic rock has been fortified for far longer than that. The medieval Old Town grew as a dense spine of tall tenements running down the ridge of the Royal Mile from the castle to the royal palace of Holyroodhouse. In the 1700s, during the Scottish Enlightenment that produced David Hume and Adam Smith, the city built the elegant Georgian grid of the New Town across the valley, and earned the nickname the Athens of the North. The first Edinburgh Festival Fringe ran in 1947 and is now the largest arts festival on earth, taking over the whole city every August. The cafes where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter are still doing a brisk trade.
Edinburgh is known for
Pick the itinerary that matches your trip. Each one is a full day-by-day plan, not a list of 30 things to squeeze in.
2
days
Yes, two days is enough for a first visit to Edinburgh, as long as you accept it covers the Old Town rather than everything. Two days comfortably does the castle, the Royal Mile down to Holyrood, the climb up Arthur's Seat and the free National Museum, with an evening in the Grassmarket pubs.
See the itinerary →
3
days
Three days is the sweet spot for Edinburgh, turning a tight tour into a relaxed one with room to leave the Old Town behind. Two days already cover the castle, the Royal Mile and Arthur's Seat, so the third day is the reward: a wander round the elegant Georgian New Town, the quiet stone lanes of Dean Village, and a run out to Leith for the Royal Yacht Britannia and the city's best food, or a full-day trip into the Highlands or to Stirling Castle.
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Edinburgh has a walkable center, so the neighborhood you pick sets the tone of the whole trip.
Old Town
First visit
The medieval spine of the city runs down the Royal Mile from the castle to Holyrood, a warren of narrow closes, tenement lands and hidden courtyards packed with history.
New Town
First visit
Laid out in elegant Georgian grids north of Princes Street, the New Town is Edinburgh at its most refined: broad terraces, private garden squares and the city's best shopping and restaurants.
Stockbridge
Local life
A leafy, villagey quarter a 15-minute walk northwest of the centre, Stockbridge is where Edinburgh actually lives: independent delis, brunch spots, antique shops and the Sunday market by the Water of Leith.
Colored months are the sweet spot. Struck-through months come with a warning. Each page covers weather, crowds, prices and what to pack.
Tight budget?
Edinburgh on a budget: same trip, around 65 EUR a day
Read the budget guide →
Pairs well with
2 days is the sweet spot for Edinburgh. Two days comfortably does the castle, the Royal Mile down to Holyrood, the climb up Arthur's Seat and the free National Museum, with an evening in the Grassmarket pubs
The best months are May, June, August, September. Think twice about January: Cold, wet and windy with highs near 7C and daylight gone by 4pm, the raw low point of the year outside the New Year buzz. Sights are quiet and rooms are cheap once the Hogmanay crowd leaves on 2 January, but pack for horizontal rain and short grey days.
Edinburgh sits around the European average. Plan roughly 65 EUR per day on a tight budget, 130 EUR for a comfortable mid-range trip, and 260 EUR and up if you want top hotels and restaurants.
Old Town is the safest first-visit base. The medieval spine of the city runs down the Royal Mile from the castle to Holyrood, a warren of narrow closes, tenement lands and hidden courtyards packed with history. It is the postcard Edinburgh and puts the headline sights on your doorstep, though it trades on that with tartan-shop tack and tourist-priced pubs. Staying here means you wake up inside the drama, minutes from the castle and Arthur's Seat.
Yes. Edinburgh has a walkable center, so most of a short trip is done on foot. From Edinburgh Airport, take the Airlink 100 bus straight to Waverley Bridge in the Old Town, or the tram to St Andrew Square in the New Town; both run every 10 minutes and take about 30 minutes for around 5.50 EUR (4.50 GBP) single. A taxi is roughly 30 EUR and no faster in traffic.
From Edinburgh Airport, take the Airlink 100 bus straight to Waverley Bridge in the Old Town, or the tram to St Andrew Square in the New Town; both run every 10 minutes and take about 30 minutes for around 5.50 EUR (4.50 GBP) single. A taxi is roughly 30 EUR and no faster in traffic. It is the cheapest and usually the fastest option.
Edinburgh is best known for Edinburgh Castle, The Royal Mile, Arthur's Seat, The Fringe festival, Scotch whisky, Harry Potter. Edinburgh has been the capital of Scotland for six centuries, and the castle on its plug of volcanic rock has been fortified for far longer than that.