Best Edinburgh Lockdown Walks

I’ve always loved a good walk. Walking immerses you in a place, and Edinburgh has no shortage of beauty to explore on foot. I always recommend walking aimlessly as a way to discover the city. When you wander down the closes of the Royal Mile or feel the pull of Edinburgh’s green spaces, without a destination or a deadline, you find the most magical spots and notice the little things.

A path leading up Blackford Hill. Image: my own

This past year, when walking and discovering new corners of the city was basically all I could do, I’ve fallen in love with walking in Edinburgh all over again. When you’re walking for the sake of it, not rushing to make a meeting or catch a train or get home at the end of the day, you notice things in a different way. You have the freedom to change course, to follow that interesting path or that building in the distance, and there’s a sense of discovery in the wandering.

Although the city centre has plenty of beauty and history to find on foot, my favourite places to walk are the wilder parts. Edinburgh is 49% green space – more than any other city in the UK – and much of it is nature reserves and dramatic hills that make you feel like you’ve left the city altogether. Here are three of the best places to walk in Edinburgh when you want to get away from it all.

Holyrood Park

Holyrood has the most dramatic landscape in Edinburgh, where the volcanic remains of Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags tower above the city. The park is enormous, with 260 hectares of varied terrain to explore and an amazing array of plants and wildlife. I’ve seen ravens on the higher ground, and I’ve often watched kestrels hovering from the top of the crags. Right now, the bright yellow gorse is coming into bloom and filling the air with the scent of coconut, and the vivid wildflowers are opening with the spring.

Gorse blooming in Holyrood Park. Image: my own

Everyone wants to climb to the top of Arthur’s Seat, which is the highest point in Edinburgh at 251m above sea level. The steep steps up definitely make it feel like an achievement – and the views are fantastic – but there are plenty of other areas with just as much to enjoy. The path along the top of the crags is another of my favourites, with a steep start and then a long semicircular wander along the edge with an ever-changing view of Edinburgh. 

Looking towards the path along the top of Salisbury Crags. Image: my own

There’s more to Holyrood Park than just Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags, though. Whinny Hill has the feeling of a highland moor with city views, with heather and gorse all around you. Crisscrossing paths show you views of the city or Arthur’s Seat, taking you past windblown trees and flitting birds. Somehow it feels remote and secret, despite the city surrounding you. It sits up above St Anthony’s Chapel, and one of the winding paths will lead you down the side of the hill towards the ruins.

St Anthony’s Chapel ruins. Image: my own

For a smaller climb, you can take the paved road up to Dunsapie Loch (look out for the resident otters!) and scramble up to the top of the hill above it. Dunsapie Crag was the site of one of at least four hillforts (fortified villages) that existed in the park 2000 years ago, and there’s something amazing about knowing that generations of people lived on this very spot. Look across to Arthur’s Seat from here and you can see the old farming terraces. These deep ridges carved into the hillside are where people grew crops, perhaps even thousands of years ago.

The farming terraces on the side of Arthur’s Seat. Image: my own

Holyrood Park and its millions of years of history offer a window into the past as well as an escape into nature. If you want to find out more, check out my short virtual tour or explore maps, accessibility info and more at Historic Environment Scotland.

Blackford Hill

Many visitors to Edinburgh spend some time in Holyrood Park, but far fewer make the trip out of the city centre to the local nature reserves. That’s understandable – after all, Edinburgh packs a lot into its wee city centre! – but there is so much to discover just a short distance from town. The Edinburgh bus network is an efficient and cheap way to explore further afield, but you can also walk about three miles from the heart of the city and discover beautiful residential neighbourhoods and quiet local parks.

Blackford Hill and the Hermitage of Braid is another of my favourite places to walk in Edinburgh, with beautiful views and a friendly, local feel. Click here to explore it on Google Maps. Although some of the paths are even steeper than in Holyrood Park, I think the reward is even greater. The hill sits in the south of the city, so you can see most of Edinburgh spread out in front of you towards the sea.

The view from Blackford Hill towards Holyrood Park. Image: my own

The nature reserve here has a bit of everything. You can make the climb to the top for the astonishing view, or you can wander through the woods to Blackford Pond to watch the ducks. On the south side of the hill, you can even find an old quarry. Its walls are now often used by rock climbers, but it also makes a lovely sheltered spot for a quiet picnic on a sunny day.

The Braid Burn running through the Hermitage of Braid. Image: my own

If you want a gentler walk, you can take the woodland path through the Hermitage. It leads you through a tree-dappled gorge along the Braid Burn, past a former stately home as it winds through the woods. I grew up not far from here, and my parents would often bring us to the Hermitage to run around. It was a magical place when I was wee, like a fairy glen full of hidden corners with rocks to climb and a stream to paddle in. To be honest, I still find it magical now – who says you have to stop paddling once you become an adult? Now I’m a grown-up without the boundless energy of a child, I also appreciate that you can stop for a takeaway coffee at The Lodge on your way out to fuel you for the walk home!

Easter Craiglockhart

Easter Craiglockhart – or Craighouse, as I grew up calling it – was the first hill I really loved. I lived two minutes away, so I walked my dog here, played in the woods with my friends after school, and took moody walks as a teenager when I was in a sulk. I now live a few miles away and don’t visit as often, but I took a long walk over here a couple of weeks ago and took just as much peace and comfort from the place as ever.

Easter Craiglckhart Hill. Image: my own

The hill itself is small and not too steep, but you’re still high up enough to get great views, and there’s plenty of woodland to explore. Wander down past the sports centre and you’ll find a tranquil pond and marsh with plenty of birdlife, or head past the golf course towards Wester Craiglockhart Hill and Napier University.

You wouldn’t know to look at it, but this peaceful place was once home to a convalescent hospital for officer-class veterans of the First World War, including the poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. You can still follow the woodland paths that these men must have walked while recovering from shellshock (there’s a great printable leaflet with a map here), and in normal times you can visit the War Poets Collection at Napier Uni to see photos and artefacts from the period.

These are just a handful of the parks and nature reserves that Edinburgh has to offer, and there are dozens of other incredible places to walk and escape the city without leaving it at all. These places are ours to enjoy: they’re open twenty-four hours a day, free for everyone.

If you’re planning a trip to Edinburgh when travel restrictions ease, leave yourself a free afternoon (at least!) to wander. For detailed info on a whole range of routes in Edinburgh, check out WalkHighlands – or just find the nearest nature reserve and see where the day takes you.

***

Thanks for reading! Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions or suggestions for topics you’d like to see me write about here. If you enjoy reading these posts, please consider sharing them with other people and following me on instagram. You can also leave something in my tip jar if you’re able. I’ll be back with another post next Friday! Hannah x