Day itineraries
There and back in a day
Three distances from the Royal Mile
You can leave Edinburgh in three ways, depending on how far you want to go. The first is on foot: from the Old Town, Arthur's Seat starts behind the Palace of Holyroodhouse and takes a good hour up the path, and Calton Hill is ten minutes of steps from the end of Princes Street. To the west, the Water of Leith walkway takes you in half an hour from Dean Village to Stockbridge, with a market on Sundays. None of this needs transport, and it's all free.
The second distance is the tram. The line that comes from the airport carries on, past the centre, to Leith and Newhaven: in about half an hour from Princes Street you're at the port, with the Royal Yacht Britannia at Ocean Terminal and the seafood of The Shore. You pay with a contactless card, with the same daily cap of £5.70 as the bus, so the day in Leith barely adds to what you spend in the city.
The third is the Highlands, and there everything changes. Glencoe and Loch Ness are more than three hours away by road, through the Trossachs or the Tay valley, and public transport doesn't reach the viewpoints well. The practical option, if you don't want to hire a car or drive on the left, is an organised day trip. Rabbie's leaves at 7:45 from St Andrew Square bus station in a minibus of up to 16 people; Timberbush at 8:00 from Castle Terrace by coach. They return between 20:00 and 20:30 and cost from £56. The day lasts about twelve hours, with stops in Glencoe, on Rannoch Moor and by Loch Ness, where the boat on the loch is paid separately.
Which day for what
City plans sort themselves out with the weather. In sunshine, climb Arthur's Seat in the morning, when there's less wind and fewer people, and save Calton Hill for sunset. In rain, the Old Town has half a day under cover: The Real Mary King's Close and the South Bridge vaults are underground, and the National Museum of Scotland, free, fills a whole afternoon.
Put the Highlands day in the middle of the trip. The first and last days depend on flights, and a trip that returns at eight in the evening leaves no margin. In winter the days are short: in December the sun sets at around quarter to four, so much of the return is in the dark. Between May and August there's light until late, and in the Highlands, small mosquitoes, the midges, at dusk by the water.
Plans that start here
For a day in the Old Town with Rowling's places, the buried streets and dinner by the castle, see Harry Potter and the buried streets. For the long day by minibus, Loch Ness and Glencoe in a day. And if you're spending several nights, there are three plans to organise them: three nights for the first time, Edinburgh with the family and two nights for couples.
How to get there from Spain
Edinburgh airport has direct flights all year round from Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga, Alicante, Seville, Santander and the Canary Islands, and in season from other cities such as Valencia, Palma, Bilbao or Ibiza. From the terminal, the tram reaches the centre in about 30 minutes and the Airlink 100 bus, which runs 24 hours, in a similar time. To enter the United Kingdom you need a passport and the ETA, the electronic travel authorisation you apply for before travelling.