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Arthur's Seat

Hello, I wanted to find out if any has done the hike up to Arthur's Seat from the Royal Mile. My family and I will be staying in an apartment near the Mile and where thinking about doing the hike. We wanted to know about how long it takes getting there and back to the Mile? We will be in Edinburgh for 3 days and thought that it would be something different than going to more museums. Thank you.

Posted by
7029 posts

We hiked up there quite a few years ago so it's hard to remember exactly how long it took. I would say maybe about 2 hours to go up, spend a little time taking photos, and then walking back down again. It's a pretty easy hike, most of our group were seniors, not all of whom were in great shape and one with a cane made it up there ok. We went up around sunset and got some terrific photos of Edinburgh with the sun going down and after dusk.

If you go up and plan a picnic up there, you'll need to add another 1/2 hour or so.

Posted by
149 posts

Agree. When I went, it probably would have taken a couple hours, but I kept stopping to take pics, so it took longer.

Posted by
5835 posts

We cheated and took a bus to the Holyrood Palace/Dynamic Earth trail head. Then we cheated again and only did half the walk exiting on the south end where the trail connected to Queen's Drive and Holyrood Park Road and took a bus back. The first half of the c'clockwise walk gave us an uphill workout and good enough views of the city.

Posted by
168 posts

Thank you very much, this was very helpful in planning one of our days.