A ridge runs through Edinburgh, and the Old Town hangs off both sides of it in closes and stairways that drop further than they look. The Royal Mile takes the top, wide and grand and busy, and an Edinburgh virtual walking tour that stayed up there would miss most of the city: step off and you are in a stone passage six feet across, going down. On the other side the New Town is the opposite argument — flat, ordered, Georgian. Moving between the two on foot takes minutes and explains the place better than any view does.
- Does the walk take the closes off the Royal Mile?
- Yes, and that is the interesting part. The main street is only half the Old Town; the rest is the narrow stepped passages dropping away from it on both sides, and the routes leave the ridge for them rather than staying on the Royal Mile.
- Is the rain in one of the walks falling today?
- That rainstorm belongs to the day the walk was filmed, and it comes back every time the walk does. All four were carried down the Royal Mile and into the closes by a person, not sent from a camera bolted to a building, so the light is whatever the walker met on the day.
- Is this a guided tour of Edinburgh?
- It is not, and nothing here can be reserved. No guide is talking over the footage, no group is forming at the top of the closes and no ticket exists — only the walk and the controls. Free walking tours of Edinburgh with local guides are listed on GuruWalk, and that is where to arrange one.
- Can I use the Edinburgh walk on a treadmill or walking pad?
- Yes. Put the Edinburgh walk on a screen in front of your treadmill or walking pad, then choose 1×, 1.5× or 2× in the dock to match your pace. The recording starts muted; switch the sound on for the real street ambience. It is prerecorded viewing, not a measured workout route.
- Which other cities can I walk through from Edinburgh?
- Use the Other walks links below to continue from Edinburgh to İstanbul, Kraków or Kyoto without searching another site. The dock selector contains every city currently available in English, and each link opens a real page that you can share or revisit directly. The available city list differs by language.