Edinburgh in one or two days: a route that works round the bookings and the closed days

💡 The Short Version: One day: Edinburgh Castle at 9:30 on a timed ticket (£23.50 online, £26 at the gate, and nothing sold at the castle once the online tickets are gone), the One O’Clock Gun, the Royal Mile down to the Palace of Holyroodhouse (£22 booked), then Calton Hill or a vaults tour in the evening. Two days: add the Palm Houses (£5.50, timed), Dean Village, the free museums and Leith. Holyroodhouse is shut on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 17 September to 20 May, and St Giles’ Cathedral now charges £12. Or book a guide: the Edinburgh Castle: Guided Walking Tour with Entry Ticketad is from £35 for 1.5 hours.

What to book

One day

9:30, Edinburgh Castle

£23.50 online · timed ticket · allow at least 2 hours

Book before you travel: once the online tickets are sold out, the castle sells none at the gate. The Honours of Scotland, which the castle calls the oldest crown jewels in Britain, are in the Crown Room in the Royal Palace on Crown Square. The Stone of Destiny is no longer in the castle: it has been in Perth Museum since March 2024. An official guided tour adds 30 minutes and £6.50. See Edinburgh Castle tickets.

Edinburgh Castle from the Grassmarket. Photo: Stephencdickson, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

13:00, the One O’Clock Gun

The gun is fired every day at 1 p.m. except Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day, from the Argyle Battery. Lunch is on the Royal Mile, where Whiski Bar serves haggis and the Bow Bar and the Devil’s Advocate are open from noon: see where to eat in Edinburgh.

14:00, down the Royal Mile

Free to walk · St Giles’ £12 · the Writers’ Museum is free, 10:00 to 17:00

Walk from the castle to Holyroodhouse past the Scotch Whisky Experience and Camera Obscura at the castle end, the Writers’ Museum in Lady Stair’s Close, and St Giles’ Cathedral. Victoria Street and the Grassmarket are a short detour below the Mile. See the Royal Mile walk and St Giles’ Cathedral tickets.

15:00, the Palace of Holyroodhouse

£22 booked, £26 on the day · about 1 hour 30 · Thursday to Monday in winter

At the foot of the Mile, with a free multimedia guide. Last admission is 16:30 from April to October and 15:15 from November to March, so in winter go straight down the Mile after the gun. The palace is a working royal residence and can close at short notice. See Palace of Holyroodhouse tickets.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse at the foot of the Royal Mile. Photo: Kim Traynor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Evening, Calton Hill or the vaults

Calton Hill is free · the Nelson Monument is open 10:00 to 15:30

Calton Hill has views over the city, but the Nelson Monument closes at 15:30. For an evening indoors, the Real Mary King’s Close is open to 22:30 in October 2026, and the vaults tours run into the evening. The Mary King’s Close is a preserved 17th-century street, while the South Bridge Vaults are arches under the bridge and the Edinburgh Dungeon is a theatre show: see Edinburgh ghost tours and vaults. For views, see the best views in Edinburgh.

The view over the Old Town from Calton Hill, with the Dugald Stewart Monument. Photo: Ad Meskens, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

The second day

Morning, the Palm Houses and the Water of Leith

Garden free · Palm Houses £5.50 · timed slots 10:15 to 16:15

Walk from Princes Street to Dean Village and along the Water of Leith walkway through Stockbridge to the Royal Botanic Garden. The Palm Houses reopened on 2 October 2026 after a five-year restoration and need a booked slot; the other glasshouses are closed. The garden closes at 17:00 from February to October, 16:00 in November and January and 15:30 in December. See the Palm Houses.

Afternoon, the museums

Free · 10:00 to 17:00 daily

The National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street and the National Galleries of Scotland on the Mound are free, though some exhibitions charge. See Edinburgh’s museums and free things to do in Edinburgh.

Or, the Royal Yacht Britannia

£23 online from April to October · allow 2 hours

Britannia is berthed at Ocean Terminal in Leith, about 20 minutes from the city centre by tram according to the operator. See Royal Yacht Britannia tickets.

Evening, Arthur’s Seat

Free · 1.5 to 2 hours return

The climb starts in Holyrood Park. The Radical Road under Salisbury Crags and the climbing areas are closed. See the Arthur’s Seat hike.

If your days are different

• Tuesday or Wednesday, 17 September to 20 May: Holyroodhouse is shut. Use the day for Britannia, the Palm Houses and the museums.
• Sunday: the One O’Clock Gun is silent, St Giles’ opens at 13:00 and Rosslyn Chapel at 12:00.
• 25 December: the castle, Holyroodhouse, Britannia, Camera Obscura, the Botanic Garden, Rosslyn Chapel and the National Museum of Scotland are closed. On 1 January the castle opens at 11:00.
• A third day: Rosslyn Chapel is a half-day with a booked 90-minute slot, and the trips out are in day trips from Edinburgh.

The castle, Holyroodhouse and Britannia bought separately online come to £68.50 at the April to October prices; the passes are compared in Edinburgh City Pass: is it worth it?.

Where to sleep and what next

Where to stay in Edinburgh compares the areas, and hotels near the Royal Mile lists the hotels within 540 m of St Giles’. The best time to visit Edinburgh gives the weather by month. For the way in, see Edinburgh airport to the city and Edinburgh public transport. For a guided start, Edinburgh walking tours compares the walks, Edinburgh food tours the tastings, and Edinburgh whisky tours the distilleries. Where to eat in Edinburgh and afternoon tea in Edinburgh cover the meals, and the full list of bookings is in what to book before you go to Edinburgh.