How hilly/steep is Edinburgh?

Edinburgh is on the top of a steep hill. The castle is at the very top. It's a very vertical place. Stairs and stepped sidewalks are common. The main roads vary in steep-ness from just a little to a lot, but there is no way around the fact that you will encounter some inclined streets - some are steeper than others, but there's not a lot of completely "flat", level ground that remains completely flat for a great distance (there are plenty of level places, but in any direction you go the "level" is going to turn into steps, stairs, or at least inclined pavement pretty quickly).

Some of it is going to be a challenge for anyone with serious mobility issues. It's not insurmountable, but not to be dismissed with a shrug either.

I, too, have been thinking about this so my answer is from someone who hasn't visited Edinburgh since 2018 and then not with people who were big walkers. I'm going in June.

I saw a very good thread on Trip Advisor the other day with some geological information I knew (about the Castle being perched atop the volcanic core) and some I'd not come across before (hadn't looked either, lol!)

"Edinburgh Castle is perched atop a volcanic core, and the Royal mile stretches eastwards - crag and tail - down to Holyrood. To the north, again west to east, you had the Nor' Loch in a glacially sculpted trench. Now dried out, it contains Waverley Station and the railtrack from Glasgow. Beyond that the rolling ridge on which the New Town was founded."

Look at reply #5:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g186525-i108-k15332251-Need_Info_on_2_Walking_Routes_N_of_Waverly_Station-Edinburgh_Scotland.html

So, it looks like Market Street is on the south edge of the "glacially sculpted trench", so up to the Royal Mile but not sure how far down you'll have to go for the Princess Gardens, Princes St and then up to New Town for Dean Village.

I've been looking at some walking routes which include some of the stairs or AVOIDS some of the stairs, lol and have decided I will just have to see what's what when I get there.

There are plenty of steep hills in and around Old Town. I tried to figure this out before I went last summer, but a 2D map doesn’t really reflect conditions on the ground. If you’re looking on the map and you see a street that seems to turn at a very sharp angle, that’s on a hill. For example: Bank Street/The Bow is steep and sharply curved, as is Bank Street/The Mound on the other side of the Mile. Those two were the ones I walked most often and took me by surprise.

Thank you Camborne2018, David, Pam, CindyB for you responses and sharing of details.

I now see why I have heard mixed talk as to the hilliness -- depends where you go.

And the idea of taking a taxi up to the castle is brilliant and simple; I am embarrassed that I had not considered that.
(Oddly this reply is no longer visible, so I regret I cannot say thank you to the responder. The feedback was "Look at Edinburgh in Google Maps with TERRAIN selected. You could take a taxi UP, then walk back down, depending where you are staying. The Princes block area is probably the most level.")

If you get both the Lothian Buses and the CityMapper apps, you can use them to plot how to take the many buses to get around Edinburgh when you don’t fancy yet another hill.
You can tap in and out each time with your credit card, watch, etc.
If Princes St , say, is your central point, then it’s very much uphill to the Castle.
To the New Town or to Dean Village, Pam, it’s downhill.
To Leith, it’s downhill.
To the Grassmarket, the long way round is: along, then downhill.
To Holyrood Palace , it’s along, then down.

However, you’ve got to come back up again!
The buses are wonderful.

I’ve spent many Augusts in Edinburgh (which is a busy and exhausting month but I was there as part of the Fringe so…) and I came to the conclusion that the Old Town of Edinburgh was designed by Escher.

An excellent way of describing it, Golden girl !

Edinburgh is indeed very steep- it was built on seven hills, just like Rome, though you will probably only see three if you stay in the main tourist areas (the castle, Arthur's Seat, and Calton Hill). As suggested above, the buses are great for getting around without having to climb.

Thank you S J, Golden Girl, Kim, Cat VH
(@Golden Girl, as an aside, I am a huge Escher fan...now you have me squinting as I try to imagine Edinburgh as a labyrinth!)

My wife insists upon walking up to Arthur's Seat every day when we're in Edinburgh, and tries to get me to join her. I refuse.

Edinburgh is a fairly vertical city. Not like Orvieto, certainly, and much less so than the Cinque Terre villages, but still: vertical. The Old Town of Edinburgh is much hillier than the New Town. Walking the Water of Leith is a great way to get plenty of steps in, in a very scenic and tranquil environment without a lot of elevation change.