One day in Edinburgh. How much can we cover?

This is a good list. Some thoughts from me (I used to live in Edinburgh):
-Calton Hill is nice but if you have time/energy to climb something, I would prefer Arthur's Seat- but note that does take longer than Calton Hill
-You are fine seeing Edinburgh Castle from the outside- there's not a whole lot inside
-I'm not sure how much that Old Town Walk covers but I bet it will be quite similar to the Royal Mile walk. If you want to do a walk in the old town that goes beyond the Royal Mile I definitely recommend one of the tours of the vaults (which are under the Royal Mile) or visiting Mary King's Close (also underground)
-National Museum of Scotland is huge- it took me weeks of visiting one section at a time to get through the whole thing- so have a look at the map and see which part interests you the most and just focus on that
-I would prioritise a tour of Holyrood House- very nice inside
-Honestly, one of my favourite things to do in Edinburgh is just walk the Royal Mile end to end. There are also a lot of nice independent shops on Victoria Street (down towards Grassmarket) and Cockburn Street, both of which lead off from the Royal Mile.

If you have to prioritise, my personal top items would be walking the Royal Mile, Holyrood House, and climbing Arthur's Seat.

Good luck with the rest of your planning!

A lot depends on when you arrive, then depart. An easy itinerary you should be able to do is the castle, St. Giles, Royal Mile walk, outside of parliament, then Holyrood. To me, anything else would be a bonus. I listed the locations in the order you’d pass them. The castle is on one end of the Royal Mile and Holyrood is on the other end of it.

Thanks Cat VH for you input, it is much appreciated and all of the comments will help us prioritize this day.

We had considered Arthur’s Seat and I even saw a video on YouTube about the shorter way of getting up there by taking a bus up halfway and walking the gravel circular way around. Supposedly cuts the time off from 1.5 hours to 20-30 minutes. It’s kind of a trade off I guess- time vs. the experience of the actual climb. I definitely would want to try the whole thing if we had more than a day. Still considering the short option, but Calton Hill might be the best option.

Great news about Edinburgh Castle. I was hoping I might get an opinion such as this. About the vaults…mardee has shared her fear of heights, so I will go on record as saying I have a fair bit of claustrophobia, so the thought of being in a closed space underground would do me in lol. I will share this with my travel buddies, though. They may go on their own while mom has a coffee!

Thanks for suggesting to look at the NMS website. I didn’t realize how large a museum it was. We will pick out maybe 3-4 collections for this time. Absolutely the Mary Queen of Scots, the Lewis Chess pieces, Galloway Hoard and the Hilton of Cadboll Stone.

For our dinner that night I was thinking either The Mussel Inn or Howie’s. My daughter really wants to go to Lannan bakery as well. She’s quite the foodie and has targeted this spot for months.

We are getting more excited as the trip gets closer! Thanks again to all who help me with the planning!

Edit: I was cross posting as you did Jaimee. Thank you. We’re hoping to get a very early start… hoping is the operative word.. and leave late in the day. I will consider it a win if we can get the places you mentioned in, icing on the cake if we do more.

Just back - not my first trip to Edinburgh, but first in over a decade. I'll summarize my thoughts after seeing many of your spots of interest. I do agree with the well-articulated thoughts above!

Arthur's Seat - this is more fun as a minimum half day (in my opinion). It's a long, even if striking, hike. More time consuming than might be worth the over-view for you with only a day and many other places to see. Taxi up and down?? Calton Hill - less time, but is a quick over view more valuable to you than spending time at one of the other venues? Only you will know - and, of course, inclement weather may help your decision!

New Town Walk and/or Royal Mile Walk - Probably not time for both if you want to make some of your other stops. As suggested above, Royal Mile would be my priority.

National Gallery of Scotland. I "reviewed" my experience here, scroll down:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/itinerary-feedback-please-edinburgh-york-cotswold-london
Summarizing - do your research and ask directions to the gallery(ies) you want to see. Sadly, I found my multiple hours there quite disappointing due to curation that I felt could use improvement. (I felt somewhat vindicated, although no less disappointed, after reading reviews from others who felt similarly.)

Holyrood Palace - this was my reason for including Edinburgh in last month's quick UK trip. I had always missed it on previous trips. The Palace didn't disappoint - read up a bit on Mary Queen of Scots and Darnley before you travel (if you aren't familiar with their "story"). Are there "tours"? I had a standard audio guide which was sufficient. You can move at your own pace. Obviously, Holyrood was a priority for me and I'm very glad I finally made it!

St Giles Cathedral - could be a quick stop along Royal Mile. Many include a walk through on their Royal Mile explorations. If you do stop in, The The Thistle Chapel is worth seeing - Order of Chivalry with long history. https://www.stgilescathedral.org.uk/the-thistle-chapel

Gladstone's Land - I had expected to enjoy this more. Staff in each room to explain the era and situation depicted, but somehow, maybe I didn't ask the right questions, but I didn't walk away feeling I'd learned anything. I enjoyed John Knox's House more. There, I did feel that I'd learned something of his experiences and times.

Castle - didn't visit inside this trip. I still remember being underwhelmed from a first visit many years ago.

National Library - not up to the Treasures at the British Library in London (if that is the level of expectation). I ran (literally) to see the exhibits on my final day in town before heading to the airport and am regretting to this day that I made the (rather strenuous) effort. There is currently an OK exhibit on R. L. Stevenson and his time in Samoa - but if you've read the recent book "A Wilder Shore: The Romantic Odyssey of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson" by Camille Peri, there wasn't anything new.

Just to give you some time reference - I had about 3.5 - 4 hours for a Royal Mile walk with stops including Writer's Museum, Gladstone's Land, John Knox House, Museum of Childhood, People's Story, and a quick run through Museum of Edinburgh. All of the museums are small, several free. I was watching the clock! Of these, I most enjoyed the People's Story, John Knox, and the Museum of Childhood (surprised me there). It does sound as if you have researched the stops that might be of most personal interest - my only thought is be open to changing to your mind if something doesn't hold your interest as expected.

Good luck - as you know, one day will just be a teaser for a return visit!!

edit - cross-post before your above reply. I'll leave my thoughts as they stand, even though you've addressed some of my "meanderings"

It looks like the Lannan Bakery is a short walk on the Water of Leith Walkway from Dean Village. Perhaps you could get your treats to go and have a little picnic along the Walkway, even if you don't go all the way to Roseburn. You won't regret any time spent on the Walkway.
Have a great trip!

I love Howie's- it's one of my favourites both from when I lived there and whenever we go back to visit. If you like sweet things definitely try the banoffee pie- one of my favourite desserts.

I agree that Calton Hill is a good way to get a nice vantage point of the city if you are too pressed for time to do Arthur's Seat. It also gives you an opportunity to see some of the "follies" up close.

Definitely do not go on a vaults tour or to Mary King's Close if you are claustrophobic! They are very cool and interesting places but you go through a lot of tight spaces. I am prone to claustrophobia myself but my love of seeing abandoned places wins out. Hopefully your fellow travellers can enjoy it :)

We had a short visit to Edinburgh recently and one of the things we did was a hop on hop off bus tour, so that we could get an overview of the city. There are several different ones, I recommend getting one that has live narration. (Some of the buses don't actually have a live person talking.) Edinburgh is very hilly in sections and I found it helpful to be on the bus for part of it.

I think Cat made a lot of good suggestions. You’re definitely fine just seeing the outside of Edinburgh Castle. And definitely prioritize the National Museum of Scotland. But try to see Dolly, the first cloned mammal. She is pretty noticeable, so I doubt you can miss her. But it was interesting to see.

And I’m so glad you have plans to see the Lewis Chessmen. I just love them so much much. I’ve seen them on display every place I can.

And like others have said, I think a quick walk-through of Saint Giles Cathedral would be fine.

I have mixed feelings about Gladstone’s Land. I enjoyed it, but I think if I was on such a limited schedule, I might save it for another time. They do have a nice café attached to it, though.

I’m sure the plans could change depending on weather, but after reading just the replies so far I am starting to get more of an idea time wise and what to include. We’re outdoor folks and would prioritize just exploring the city over time in a museum, so I hope to leave time with that in mind.

Updated plan now is:
Train to Waverly Station early
Walk around Edinburg Castle
Do RS Royal Mike walk stopping at St. Giles Cathedral, Thistle Chapel
Briefly into NMS to see just a couple of exhibits - Dolly, (I had forgotten about her!) the Lewis Chessmen
Victoria Street to shop a bit - Walker Slater Tweed, shops
Lunch at World’s End Pub
Pop into Celtic Design
Palace of Holyrood tour
Walk over to Calton Hill
Walk to Lannaan’s Bakery (1 mile) for afternoon treat to take as we walk to
Dean Village (another mile) and maybe walk further along Water of Leith Walkway
Back to dinner from Dean Village at either Howies (20 min walk) or the Mussel Inn

What do ya’ll think? If my legs are telling me no, no no at the end of this plan, I need to check into buses to get us to the last three stops probably. The museum of Childhood looks fun, too, and could be a stop in if we had time. annemargaret, we are probably going to do a HOHO bus in Glasgow the day before this. But again, weather conditions could make that an option in Edinburgh, too. Thanks.

I’m a walker. I could handle your day as laid out, but Edinburgh is hilly. Short-cuts may involve steep stairs. (My miscalculation on trying to get quickly from Waverly Station area to the National Library.) the Royal Mile is gradual enough that I didn’t much notice. I don’t know where you are coming from, but being from flat Chicagoland, I always have to remind myself that I may need to adjust for local circumstances!

As you say, weather may factor in, but it should be easy to have plans B and C in mind to account for that.

Report back as to what you were able to see and what had to get dropped. I think you’re underestimating the amount of time it will take to get to all the different places and how long you’ll spend at each. Better to over plan than under plan.

We purchased the day bus pass for £5.50 each today. That saved us time to get out to Calton Hill. You may want to have the Lothian Bus app to figure the preferred bus routes.

Yesterday we walked 6 miles, our first full day in Scotland. That included 1/2 of the Royal Mile, no entry into any sites, and walking to and from our apartment twice to scout out our neighborhood near Edinburgh University.

Start the Royal Mile at the Edinburgh Castle. That way it's downhill to Holyrood Palace. After September 7, the Palace of Holyrood is closed Tuesday and Wednesday, or when the King is in residence.

Thanks to the newest responses. I put the CalMac and Lothian apps on my phone today. I printed off my thread from Stuart way back abt waiting to buy train and ferry tickets to get from the airport to Paisley Gilmour Street and onto Ardrossan or Troon to Arran. Is that still the right plan, checking from the train or even at the airport, waiting till there as we are just foot passengers?

I was wondering about the tickets to the Palace at Holyroodhouse. Good news Leonard is we are to be there on a Thursday, so fingers crossed! (Hope you are having fun!) I can save a bit of money buying online and the good thing is it is a flexible ticket time all day. I may go ahead and get those. Do you think in September we would need dinner reservations for anything in Glasgow or Edinburgh? Daughter wants to go to The Butterfly and the Pig the first night in Glasgow, I’m looking for a great choice for our trip’s last night there. Any suggestions? Maybe with live music?

Edinburgh is one of the few places we visited where reservations were needed. If you want to eat at The World’s End, even for lunch, make a reservation. We couldn’t get in one day so we reserved for the next day. We were there in October 2022.