Just because I'm living in my home country again, doesn't mean I can't still write travel posts! Plenty of people can, and do, come to Scotland as tourists, and as a native of the country, I'm probably even better equipped to write about it than I am in the other destinations I've been to! Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities, because it has so much history and culture and stories in its streets, which fascinate me, and that I love to share. I could write a whole essay of Edinburgh's stories, but today I'm going to confine myself to the most iconic street in the city - the Royal Mile. I took a walk up it to snap some photos, and I'm going to give you a guided tour of it the same way.
First of all, the Royal Mile runs along the ridge between 2 extinct volcanoes - Arthur's Seat at the bottom, with its popular walking trail for fantastic views of the city, and Castle Rock at the top, with Edinburgh Castle built on it, funnily enough. The Mile also has 5 other names, splitting it into sections, which are handy to know so you do't get confused about where you are - from bottom to top, they are Abbey Strand, Canongate, High Street, Lawnmarket, and Castlehill. Despite what its name may lead you to believe, it's not actually a mile long. It's 1.12 miles, or 1.8km long, which is known as a Scots Mile. The 'Royal' part refers to the royal residences at either end, Edinburgh Castle at the top, and Holyrood Palace at the bottom - we're going to start with the latter!
