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Edinburgh Castle

Wander up the Royal Mile to the the Castle to take in (and photograph!) those stunning views.

Written by

Kate – Love From Scotland

Updated

Kate - Love From Scotland
Written by
Kate – Love From Scotland

I’m Kate Hopper, the Scotland-based travel writer behind Love from Scotland. With 30 years experience travelling around Scotland, let me help you plan your best ever trip.

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Updated
13 Apr 2026

I’ve been inside Edinburgh Castle just a handful of times in my 20 years of living in Edinburgh. The husband, who was born here in Scotland, surprisingly never had! Can you believe that? How can we have one of the UK’s most famous landmarks (and most Instagrammed!) be on our doorstep and we never visit?  Well, for most Edinburgh residents, the Castle is an everyday item, it is just there. We even tend to forget about it for months at a time. In fact, we spend more time directing people to it than thinking about going inside it!

Where is the Castle?

Errr. There?

(I’m not joking because it is true)

Last weekend we decided on an ‘Edinburgh day out’ to rectify this.

We took a wander up the Royal Mile to the Castle esplanade, popping into The Scotch Whisky Experience and Camera Obscura along the way (more soon on these) before heading into the Castle proper to take in (and photograph!) those stunning views. Well, what views we could actually see amongst the crazy weather we’ve been having lately…. snow does make things even more beautiful though. Even if I do find it hard work with my camera (tips please!)

Edinburgh Rooftops

Edinburgh Rooftops

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Canon

What struck me though was that it wasn’t just us that had forgotten about being tourists in our own city. We were asked so many times by the lovely venue staff where we were from – and our EH (Edinburgh) postcode and B’s strong Scottish accent raised everyone’s eyebrows! We even found ourselves explaining our ‘Edinburgh Day Out’ and kind of almost apologising for it.

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That isn’t right, is it? Maybe it is time to change things? We Edinburgh residents need to remember to explore too; before we find ourselves forgetting or taking where we live for granted… Edinburgh deserves more than that.

Let me know what is stopping you from being a tourist in your own city.

Visit Edinburgh Castle all year round / Opening times are weather dependent / Free entry to the esplanade part (first photo) / £16.50 for adults, £9.90 for children / Buy your ticket in advance to skip the queues / Oh and wrap up warm in winter – it gets very cold up there!

Love from, Scotland x

More Edinburgh Must Dos

Thanks to Visit Scotland and ASVA

, ,

Kate – Love From Scotland

I’m Kate Hopper, the Scotland-based travel writer behind Love from Scotland. With 30 years experience travelling around Scotland, let me help you plan your best ever trip.

12 responses to “Edinburgh Castle”

  1. Angela Hopper avatar
    Angela Hopper

    Glad you enjoyed your Edinburgh experience!

    Reply
  2. casacaudill avatar
    casacaudill

    Edinburgh Castle is such a great place to spend an afternoon! (And I’m laughing at your “where’s the castle?” conversation – we aren’t from there but someone asked us if we knew where it was and it took everything I had not to be like, “I’m sorry, what?”)

    Reply
    1. lovefrom avatar
      lovefrom

      During the festival it becomes a daily occurrence. I can’t help sometimes rolling my eyes when people are stood right in front of it! Thanks for popping in!

      Reply
  3. Anabel Marsh avatar
    Anabel Marsh

    I can’t remember the last time I visited the castle either, though we visit Edinburgh quite often. Tbh, I like Stirling Castle better! Though the Edinburgh views are stupendous as you’ve shown.

    Reply
    1. lovefrom avatar
      lovefrom

      As a Castle, Stirling is much better I agree, I just love the views out over Edinburgh though.

      Reply
  4. Sara @ Simply Sara Travel avatar
    Sara @ Simply Sara Travel

    Gorgeous photos of the castle! I totally agree, it’s easy to get comfortable and forget to keep exploring your own city. I recently moved back from living abroad in Paris, and now that I’m back home in NJ / the NYC area, I’m trying to keep exploring and discovering new places like I did when I was in a foreign country. It’s always a lot easier to remember to do that when friends come to visit though!

    Reply
    1. lovefrom avatar
      lovefrom

      Ah Scotland is a foreign country for me (even though I have lived here for 20 years) so exploring it is still fun. I popped over to your blog, what a year you had travelling!

      Reply
  5. Ruth avatar
    Ruth

    The castle is so pretty! And, the views from there are better. I understand your husband not having visited the castle (but it is weird that he was never taken on a school excursion). My grandfather was about 70 when he visited one of the Spanish fortifications in Puerto Rico, even thought he had lived his entire life not that far from the capital.

    Reply
    1. lovefrom avatar
      lovefrom

      I was really surprised by him not visiting with school. He thinks he was ill that day or something. I need to make a list of the things here I haven’t visited. Although I did do two of them in the same trip as to the Castle last weekend, so I’m catching up!

      Reply
  6. Leanne avatar
    Leanne

    I love visiting the Castle but it can be pretty expensive so I only go every other year when I’m visiting friends! x

    Reply
  7. mytravelmonkey avatar
    mytravelmonkey

    I’m ashamed to say I have yet to visit Edinburgh and I’ve been meaning to for so long! Love the photos of the castle. I’m the same in London – I never act like a tourist and then when we take our son out on a day trip it makes me remember what a great city it is despite the crowds and expense! Thanks for linking up with #MondayEscapes

    Reply
  8. restlessjo avatar
    restlessjo

    Beautiful! 🙂 I was talking to my daughter tonight and they had a wonderful time. They visited the Castle and were very impressed with The Witchery too (they could afford the set menu 🙂 ) And they mentioned ‘Frankenstein’s’ too- right up their street. Many thanks for the share.

    Reply

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hello from scotland!

Welcome to Love from Scotland – your guide to exploring Scotland. Whether you’re planning your first trip to Scotland or your fiftieth, I’m here to help you have a fabulous time.

Kate – Love from Scotland x

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